Alternate guitar tunings

A tuning is the set of pitches of the open strings. Standard tuning is the reference for chord shapes and most written guitar music, but much recorded guitar music uses something else. Changing the tuning changes which chords lie under the fingers, how low the guitar reaches and how open strings ring against fretted notes.

Notes below run from the lowest (6th) string to the highest (1st).

Standard tuning

Standard tuning is E–A–D–G–B–E, spanning two octaves from low E to high E (E2 to E4 in scientific pitch notation). Neighboring strings are a perfect fourth apart (five half steps), except G to B, a major third (four half steps). That one irregular interval is why chord and scale shapes shift by a fret when they cross the G and B strings.

The common tunings

Drop and lowered tunings

Drop D lowers only the 6th string, from E to D, a whole step. The bottom three strings then form D–A–D, so one finger across them at any fret plays a root–fifth–octave power chord. The low D also sits under chords in the key of D, which is why folk and fingerstyle players use it as well as rock and metal players.

Drop C♯ is E♭ standard with the 6th string dropped a further whole step; drop C is D standard with the 6th string dropped to C. The shapes are those of drop D, sounding lower. Drop B and drop A go further and are more common on baritone and seven-string guitars.

Half step down tunes every string down one fret. Chord shapes are unchanged and every chord sounds a half step lower; the slightly slacker strings make bends a little easier, and the lower pitch can suit a singer's range. Whole step down does the same by two frets.

Open tunings

An open tuning sounds a major chord when the open strings are strummed. A finger or a slide across all strings at any fret then plays another major chord, which makes open tunings the usual home of slide guitar.

• Open G (D–G–D–G–B–D) lowers the 6th, 5th and 1st strings a whole step. The root G is on the 5th and 3rd strings.
• Open D (D–A–D–F♯–A–D) lowers the 6th, 2nd and 1st strings a whole step and the 3rd string a half step. The root is on the 6th string, giving a full, low chord.
• Open C (C–G–C–G–C–E) drops the 6th string a major third, lowers the 5th and 4th a whole step and raises the 2nd a half step, for a deep, wide C chord used mainly in fingerstyle.

A square-neck resonator, the lap-style instrument of bluegrass, is usually tuned to open G with a high bass: G–B–D–G–B–D.

DADGAD

DADGAD lowers the 6th, 2nd and 1st strings a whole step. The open strings form a D chord with no third (D, A and G over a D bass), so the chord is neither major nor minor. One shape can sit under both major and minor melodies while the open strings ring. It is closely associated with Celtic and other folk fingerstyle guitar.

Nashville tuning

Nashville tuning uses the higher octave strings from a twelve-string set. The note names are standard, E–A–D–G–B–E, but the 6th to 3rd strings sound an octave higher than usual. The result is bright and shimmering with no low end, used mostly to double a standard-tuned part in recording. The thin strings can sit loosely in nut slots cut for a standard set.

Baritone and seven-string guitars

A baritone guitar is a six-string with a long scale, typically 27–30 in, which keeps the low strings tight and clear in B or A standard. Chord shapes stay the same and sound lower.

A seven-string keeps standard tuning on the top six strings and adds a low B, a fourth below the low E. Both are compared in kinds of guitar.

Strings for lower tunings

String tension depends on pitch, scale length and string mass. Tuning the same string down lowers its tension: by about 11 percent for a half step and about 21 percent for a whole step. On a standard-scale guitar, a string tuned well below its intended pitch goes slack: it buzzes, wavers and goes sharp when picked hard.

The fix is a heavier gauge. Half step down often works with the same strings; drop C and lower usually call for a heavier set, or one with heavier low strings, to restore normal tension. Heavier strings can bind in nut slots cut for lighter ones, and any change of gauge or tuning shifts the relief and intonation, so it is a reason for a setup check.

A capo is not a tuning

A capo clamps across the strings at a fret and shortens them all equally. It raises the pitch by a set number of half steps and leaves the intervals between strings unchanged, so standard shapes simply sound higher. It cannot lower the pitch or change the relationships between strings, which is what a tuning does.

A capo works with any tuning: a capo at the 2nd fret in DADGAD gives the same open sound in E.

Getting advice

Lessons include the songs a student chooses, and Bill writes each one out in the tuning it was recorded in, so a song in drop D or open G is learned in drop D or open G. He also advises on strings and setup for lower tunings, and on baritone guitars. Rock and metal, grunge and punk, blues and folk and acoustic lessons use the tunings their styles call for, and the tuner plays the open strings of each one.

Questions