Guitar tunings – standard and drop tune
In previous blogs I’ve discussed tuning devices that work and talked about how to get your guitar to stay in tune. This one’s about different tunings and how you tune strings to a particular note; in it I cover standard tuning and popular drop tune options. I also talk about how tuning affects your string choice and technique.
Standard tunings
Everyone starts with the standard tuning and many don’t ever go anywhere else. Standard tuning (from low to high) is:
E A D G B E
Most TABS and chord charts that you’ll find refer to standard tuning.
Quite a lot of guitar players will tune down a semi-tone across the board; chord shapes stay the same.
Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb ( D# G# C# F# A# D#)
When you tune down a semi-tone, you can get away with using heavier strings and you’ll retain a ‘slinky’ feel to the strings. Stevie Ray Vaughn was well known for doing this. He claimed he did it to stop bar owners, where he was playing, from jumping up and playing along on harmonica. Remember bigger strings give bigger output.
If you’re into acoustic guitar you might have tried or want to try a slightly different tuning:
D A D G A D (‘dadgad’)
With dadgad tuning, all of your chord shapes will be different and have a different result of course but it can be a fun experience. It will definitely give you fuller, more open sounding chords.
How to drop tune
Whilst it’s true to say that guitar players of all musical genres like to drop tune, it’s mainly ‘metal’ enthusiasts that find barring the lower three strings on the same fret to get a big ‘dark sounding’ power chord is what they want.
If you’re planning to drop tune your guitar, one thing to bear in mind is that you’re going to need thicker strings (and maybe even a setup of your guitar); this will become more evident the further you progress away from the standard tuning.
The first and easiest drop tune option is Drop D. To drop tune to Drop D, simply de-tune the low E on your guitar to a D:
D A D G B E
From here, you can drop tune to lower and lower settings but remember that you will need thicker and thicker strings. When I’m asked to drop tune to Drop A, I’ve got to the point of setting up guitars with .074” 6th strings that only just fit through the holes in the tuning pegs in order to drop tune to A with a reasonable action.
Drop C tuning is: C G C F A D
Drop B tuning is: B F# B E G# C#
Drop A tuning is: A E A D F# B
Tuning to an open chord
Tuning the guitar open to a chord is popular too, especially for slide players. Here’s where you can just barre all the strings in the same fret or open and get a chord.
You can successfully tune your guitar to most open chords without changing string gauges.
Open D is: D A D F# A D
Open E is: E B E G# B E
Open F is: F A C F C F
Open G is: D G D G B D
Open A is: E A E A C# E
Open B is: B F# B F# B D#
Open C is: C G C G C E
There are other exotic tunings out there and you might like to create tunings of your own. Alt tunings give a new voice to your guitar so it’s worth experimenting.
You’ll often see guitarists playing live with multiple guitars or maybe a guitar tech comes in and changes over their guitars for different songs. Although this may be to achieve a different sound from humbuckers, P90s or other Single Coil pickups it can also be because they keep different guitars in different tunings for the track they’re playing.
Or perhaps it’s just an excuse for buying another guitar!
If you’ve got any more questions on guitar tunings, or anything else guitar related, why not apply to join the BBZ Guitar Fix Group on Facebook and pose your questions in the group.
If you want someone else to drop tune your guitar and you need a guitar setup anyway, I can help. For information on BBZ guitar services in High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire click here.
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