Requinto Guitar Tuning: The Ultimate Guide [2023 Edition]

Table of Contents

If you’re curious about requinto guitar tuning, this post is for you!

Although I don’t technically own a requinto guitar, I do own a guitalele.

And in case you didn’t know, a guitalele is a smaller version of a requinto guitar (with a few other minor differences).

Since I’m familiar with guitalele tunings, and the guitalele and requinto guitar have the same standard tuning, I thought I’d put together this guide for requinto guitar tunings.

So what is standard tuning for the requinto guitar?

A requinto guitar is tuned to ADGCEa in the same intervals as a guitar but up a fourth.

This is the same tuning as a standard guitar if you were to capo it on the fifth fret. 

Standard Tuning: ADGCEa

In this clip, I play a lick from the Here Comes the Sun in standard requinto guitar and guitalele tuning on my guitalele. Obviously, this isn’t a requinto. But you get the idea with a very similar instrument in standard requinto tuning.

Standard requinto guitar tuning will sound just like a flamenco guitar capoed on the fifth fret. 

In fact, a requinto is essentially a smaller scale flamenco guitar tuned up a fourth.

So what strings are best for standard requinto guitar tuning?

D’addario is one of the few manufacturers that actually makes strings for the requinto guitar!

So I recommend them.

Standard Guitar Tuning (EADGBe)

If you’ve ever wondered if a requinto guitar can be tuned like a guitar, the answer is yes, you can absolutely tune a requinto to standard guitar tuning: EADGBe.

However, note that it’s a non-standard tuning for the requinto guitar.

In effect, this tuning makes your requinto no different than a travel flamenco guitar since the only difference between it and a standard flamenco guitar in this case is its size.

For standard guitar tuning on a requinto, you can use the same set I recommended above.

You can also use Aquila’s low E guilele string set.

Or, you can use a set of standard Flamenco guitar strings like these.

You will likely need to experiment with your instrument to determine which string set is best.

High E/Octave Tuning (eadgbe) for the Requinto Guitar

If you prefer the sound of a guitar tuned up an octave, you can also try this tuning setup on a requinto.

This is the same tuning as a mando guitar.

High E tuning allows you to play in the same tonal range as higher-pitched instruments like the mandolin or mando guitar. 

I haven’t tuned my guitalele to high E tuning yet.

But I do have a mando-guitar, and its standard tuning is high E tuning.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any strings made specifically for high E tuning on the requinto guitar.

(If you know of strings designed specifically for this set up, let me know in the comments!)

But you can try tuning your standard requinto guitar strings up to E.

Of course, these strings have thicker gauges and are designed for a lower tuning.

The worst that can happen though is that you break a string when restringing!

You can also try Aquila’s high E strings for the guilele.

“DADGAD” Tuning

If you’re familiar with alternate tunings for the standard guitar, you’ve probably heard of DADGAD tuning.

This alternate tuning gives you a different sound from your instrument with more versatility than an open tuning.

Alternate tunings are more common on a steel-string than flamenco guitar, but I want to mention them all the same.

There are a few ways you can accomplish DADGAD tuning on a requinto.

First, when tuning away from standard requinto tuning, the equivalent of DADGAD tuning is actually GDGCDG.

This will give you that same DADGAD sound you would get on the guitar but as if you were to capo on the 5th fret.

In this video, I’ve tuned to the guitalele’s equivalent DADGAD tuning which is GDGCDG (as if you were playing in DADGAD but capoed on the 5th fret of the standard guitar). This is on my guitalele, but again, you get the idea.

You can also tune your requinto all the way down to DADGAD, just like you would on a standard guitar.

Finally, you can use a short-cut capo to capo only strings five, four, and three on the second fret of the guitalele.

This will give you an equivalent tuning of GDGCDG capoed on the 2nd fret or AEADEA.

In this video, I’m using the Kyser short cut capo to capo strings 5, 4, and 3 on the second fret to play with a tuning in the same intervals as DADGAD or GDGCDG but on capo 2 so no retuning is necessary.

Conclusion

I hope this guide helps you understand the various tunings for the requinto guitar.

Let me know in the comments if you have any further questions!

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