9-String Guitar
My main instrument is a custom made 9-string guitar. The instrument is made by Hasse Larsson of Ad Lib Guitars, Sundbyberg, Sweden. It is tuned in perfect fourth all the way and has a register of five octaves and a tone. The register and the tuning allows me to play things, such as certain piano pieces, in a way I could never do on a regular guitar.
There are many advantages of tuning the guitar in a symmetrical system such as perfect fourths or perfect fifths. The most obvious advantage is that there is less information to be learned since everything you know can be recycled in all keys. For example, a Cmaj7 chord using drop 2 voicing needs only four fingerings to cover the entire range of the guitar, when tuned in a symmetrical system such as perfect fourths. Using a regular guitar tuning, twelve fingerings are needed to cover the entire range of the guitar. This adds up so in the long run you save a lot of time by tuning to a symmetrical system.

Up until the 1920s, except for in classical circles, the guitar was mainly an instrument used for accompaniment. The regular guitar tuning E, A, D, G (sometimes F#), B and E allowed for use of open strings and a minimum of fingering to be used to play the fundamental chords in keys such as C, D, E, G and A major. Since the performer often accompanied himself these fingerings were easy and comfortable to play and allowed the performer to put most energy into the singing part of the performance.

In classical, country, blues and rock music the music is streamlined for the guitar using keys where open strings can be incorporated to advantage. In other music such as modern jazz there are no such advantages. The music is determined by instruments such as horns and piano, which means that the keys will more often than not be in flats. Much of contemporary harmony is also built on symmetrical structures such as diminished and whole-tone.

Here is where a symmetrical tuning comes in handy. For example, a diminished scale will have the exact same fingering across all strings. There is no need to adjust to make up for the third interval between the G and B string, that is present when using a regular guitar tuning. Since the fingers are smart and can sense the logic of a symmetrical tuning they find there way on there own. This frees the mind so that the creativity can flow and the music can speak more easily.

Here I am in action playing my axe at Hotagen's Church, Jämtland, Sweden.
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