I recently purchased a Baritone guitar, I’ve fancied one for years but I didn’t feel like I could justify the expenditure, until Squier released their own one at an affordable price, (though it was hard to get my hands on one as they sold out near instantly).
For those who don’t know, a Baritone guitar sits in between a guitar and a bass guitar. It is traditional tuned to B standard, but I have decided to tune it down to A standard so I don’t have to worry about an open F# string! Because it is tuned the same intervallically as guitar, it means you can play it instantly, you just have to learn the names of the notes! Traditionally the Baritone was used for Surf music but recently has made its way into Heavy Metal (as it can be tuned so low). My interest came from watching Mark Lettieri’s instagram (brilliant Jazz/Rock/Funk/Everything else guitarist), who would release ‘Baritone Funk Tuesdays,’ which showed off the instruments potential.
I haven’t had much of a change yet to play it, though I had a socially distanced jam with my good friend and bass player of The Sandwich, Andy, where we had fun swapping the traditional roles of the guitar and bass with me playing the bass line and Andy playing the melody/lead line.
The Baritone guitar also enables me to play in keys such as Eb which without detuning can be a bit thin sounding, the Baritone guitar means I can play this with a down the octave giving me a fatter sound. The guitar will also be useful when you’re double tracking the same guitar part or for accompanying a singer where you would normally use a capo around the 5th fret, as you can play the same chords with different voices to help beef up the sound.
I’m looking forward to exploring this instrument to see it’s full capabilities and having fun playing this unique guitar!