Alternate guitar tunings

Three families of tunings

Drop tunings change only one string, usually the lowest, lowered by a whole step: power chords can then be played with a single finger. Open tunings make a full chord ring out when you strum the open strings; they are widely used in blues, slide and folk. Finally, down-tunings lower every string by the same interval to get a heavier sound or suit a singer's range, while keeping your usual fingerings.

The table for each tuning, further down, lists the notes and frequencies string by string. In the tuner, pick the tuning you want: the targets change and the app flags the strings that need to go up.

Notes and frequencies

Drop tunings

• Drop D (D A D G B E): the 6th string goes down a whole step, from 82.41 Hz to 73.42 Hz. It is the most widespread alternate tuning, from rock to classical.
• Double drop D (D A D G B D): both E strings go down to D. Chords in D ring out fully, with a resonance close to an open tuning.
• Drop C♯, drop C and drop B: the same idea, one or more semitones lower. In drop C, every string goes down a whole step and the 6th string one more whole step, down to C2 at 65.41 Hz.

Open tunings

• Open G (D G D G B D): an open G major chord, reached by lowering three strings. The tuning of acoustic blues and countless rock riffs.
• Open D (D A D F♯ A D): a D major chord, popular for slide and folk. Four strings go down, none go up.
• Open E (E B E G♯ B E): the same intervals as open D, one whole step higher. The 5th and 4th strings go up a whole step and the 3rd a semitone, which noticeably increases the tension on the neck.
• Open A (E A E A C♯ E): the same intervals as open G, one whole step higher. The 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings go up: take the same care as with open E.
• Open C (C G C G C E): very deep and full, with the 6th string lowered by two whole steps. The 2nd string, however, goes up a semitone, from B to C.
• Open D minor (D A D F A D): the minor version of open D, with dark colors, often used in blues and film music.

DADGAD, all fourths and Nashville

DADGAD (D A D G A D) is neither major nor minor: it forms a suspended chord that leaves the third to your fingers. It is at the heart of Celtic guitar and fingerstyle. All-fourths tuning (E A D G C F) removes the irregular major third between G and B: every interval is the same, which appeals to jazz players and bassists moving to guitar; the two highest strings go up a semitone.

Nashville tuning, or high-strung tuning, keeps the standard notes but puts the four lowest strings an octave higher, using the thin strings from a 12-string set. It is used in the studio to double a normal guitar with a shimmering sound. Above all, never try to raise your regular low strings by an octave: you must fit a different set of strings.

Changing tuning without breaking a string

1. Identify the strings that go up: those are the ones at risk of breaking. The tuner flags them as soon as you select a new tuning.
2. Slacken the strings that go down first, then bring the others up slowly, plucking the string often.
3. For a string that goes up, approach the note from below and do not overshoot: the anti-breakage alert fires if the string heads toward the octave above.
4. Do a full second pass: the overall tension on the neck has changed, and the first strings will have drifted slightly.
5. For very low tunings such as drop C or drop B, switch to a heavier gauge. Strings that are too light and too slack buzz, sound flabby and go out of tune with every pick stroke.

Create and share your own tuning

The tuner comes with nearly 70 ready-made tunings for 6-, 7- and 12-string guitar, baritone guitar, bass, ukulele and other instruments. If yours is not there, build it note by note: it is saved on your device and you can send it as a link to a student or another musician, who opens it directly.

A handy detail: if you play in standard tuning with the low string dropped to D, the tuner notices and offers to switch to drop D.