Oud later), tuned in successive fourths. Curt Sachs said they were called (from lowest to highest pitch) "bamm", "maṭlaṭ", "maṭnā" and "zīr". "As early as the ninth century" a fifth string "ḥād" ("sharp") was sometimes added "to make the range of two octaves complete". It was highest in pitch, placed lowest in its positioning in relation to other strings. Modern tuning preserves the ancient succession of fourths, with adjunctions (lowest or highest courses) which may be tuned differently following regional or personal preferences. Sachs gives one tuning for this arrangement of five pairs of strings, d, e, a, d', g'. Historical
Tenor guitar six string guitar. As string tension for any pitch increases with length, some have said these guitars cannot be tuned to the normal CGDA fifths tuning because the A string cannot be tuned to pitch without breaking. However, there are a variety of available methods for addressing this point and bringing the longer-scaled tenor guitar up to standard tuning and pitch: special string sets; strings extracted from a seven string guitar set; etc. Tenor guitars can also be tuned to a reentrant CGDA tuning where the A and sometimes the D are pitched an octave lower. The plectrum guitar is