Warp refraction, also known as the warp refraction principle, is a term coined by the guitarist
Jon Finn
Jonathan M. Finn (born 1958) is an American rock musician and guitarist. He is the founder and leader of the Jon Finn Group, and is a professor at the Berklee College of Music; he joined the guitar faculty there in 1988. He is also the author o ...
in his 1999 publication, ''
Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation''. Warp refraction takes into account the
major third
In classical music, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones.Allen Forte, ...
tuning interval between the second and third strings in the
standard guitar tuning
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By ...
. Warp refraction is the inconsistent tuning anomaly which occurs on the second and third strings of the six-string guitar. All of the other strings have a fourth interval relationship and are tuned as such.
Musical performance techniques
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