[m^a(t)h]

Originally Posted by lunberg

I think if people didn't misuse words we wouldn't have this lame debate :
- standard tuning has NOTHING to do with whether something is tonal or not : just because u use non standard tuning doesnt mean you make atonal music

- that said, SONIC YOUTH has never been atonal. Yes of course, there's a non tonal part in almost every song but every song they did as SY(except those found in WM or NYCGF ) is TONAL : meaning it has a tonality.
DDN is definitely TONAL (or MODAL depending on the song ). However the released SYR is rarely tonal.
The reason why Sonic Youth (and they're far from being the only ones) uses alternate tunings is because :
- Some chords are easier to play in a certain tuning
- The harmonics when sounding the guitar aren't the same.

This may seem obnoxious but you can't let people bullshit you with this tonal - non tonal stuff.

lunberg no, your wrong. When the tones of a chord are in close-voicings, or non-standard scale tones they are considered atonal. Every song on Confusion is Sex LP has atonal guitar, if you want you can try and prove me wrong by mentioning a song or part of a song that has a chord or lick that has tones that can be found in a standard western scale during 1981 to 1983....


I do agree with your first sediment though. The tuning does not tell wheiter the song is tonal or not, for instance the SY EP has most songs in standard, and yet they are atonal...