a e’ a’ e” ; g d’ g’ d” ; bb f’ bb’ f” ; f c’ f’ c”
The tuning a e’ a’ e”, with its variants, is arguably the most common and widespread alternative tuning across a huge variety of music traditions.
In Western art music, the tuning has been used by numerous composers, mostly from – but not restricted to – the baroque period. Following is a list of the most notable examples:
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1620 – 1680): one suite and one sonata for solo violin;
Giovanni Maria Bononcini (1642 – 1678): one sonata;
Giuseppe Colombi (1635 – 1694): one untitled dance piece;
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 – 1704): Rosary Sonata no. 2 “Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth” and partita no. 2 from Harmonia Artificiosa Ariosa;
Carlo Ambrogio Lonati (1645 ? – 1715 ?): sonatas no. 7 and 10;
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741): violin concertos RV 343 and RV 348;
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750): trio sonata BWV 1038;
Pietro Castrucci (1679 – 1752): sonata no. 12;
Giuseppe Tartini (1692 – 1770): Pastorale.
Norwegian folk music is rich in repertoire in a e’ a’ e”, mostly on the regular fiddle but with many examples on the hardanger fiddle as well.
Swedish folk music has a rich repertoire on a e’ a’ e”.
The traditional Irish tune The Foxhunter’s Reel was originally played by Patrick Kelly in a e’ a’ e”. Today, a few contemporary Irish fiddle players such as Liz Carroll, Zoë Conway and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen experiment with this tuning. In the following recording by James Kelly one can hear the tune played in the original tuning:
Scottish traditional music is rich in examples written in a e’ a’ e”, and some of them keep being performed today.
Both a e’ a’ e” and g d’ g’ d” are very popular tunings in Appalachian old time music and Canadian folk music traditions, while f c’ f’ c” is popular in cajun fiddle music.
French fiddle player Jonathan Dour uses a e’ a’ e” to play Breton folk music.
The tuning, with its pich varying according to the drone, is the standard violin tuning in Indian carnatic classical music.
In Persian classical music, the tuning is used for modus Esfahân.
