Alternate Tunings

Changing the tunings of individual strings relative to each other changes the chord and note relationships also.

Tuning Down

Tuning the guitar down but keeping the note relationships has several advantages.

1. The lower pitch makes singing easier for people with lower voices.

2. The strings are looser, so a bit easier to play. The looser strings are also less wear and tear on fragile or vintage guitars. Twelve string guitars have a huge amount of string tension, so tuning down a 12 string is common.

3. The lower strings have a more ominous, growly sound on the lower strings. In the 1990s, bands began a race to the bottom, trying to get that low, ominous sound. When learning music by these bands, matching the tuning is essential.

Typically, players tune down a step or a half step. Chord forms do not change, but the actual chords themselves will transpose down.

When tuning down, the guitar should have new intonation settings. String length, height, tremolo bar tension, and neck angle need adjustment or the guitar will play out of tune.

Tuning Up with a Capo

Tuning the guitar up using the tuning pegs is not recommended because of the strain on the guitar neck. Instead, use a capo to raise the key of the song. A capo can also adjust a guitar that has been tuned down to play in standard tuning. Alternately, barred chords can substitute for a capo, but barred chords lose some flexibility in fingerings. Retuning a guitar when adding a capo may be necessary. Try stretching the strings first before reaching for the tuning pegs. Press the right hand on the top strings to stretch and release any tension that got trapped behind the capo.

A capo on the first fret can also aid in playing difficult keys. With a capo on the first fret, an Eb chord now fingers just as a D chord. Similarly, Bb becomes A, Ab becomes G, Db becomes C, and F becomes E.

Drop D Tuning

The most common alternate tuning is to lower the sixth string down to D. This allows the lowest note of the D chord to play on the open string in a pleasing manner.

o	o	o

			2		2
				3

The fingerings for the other diatonic chords also change

Em						F#m						G
			o	o	o								x	o	o	o

2	2	2							2	2	2
																	3
						4	4	4
												5

A						Bm						C#o
x	o				o	x						x			o		o

		2	2	2			2				2			2		2
										3
								4	4				4

Drop D tuning works best in the key of D. For changes to other chords and form up the neck, access the Build your own Chord/Scale Drop D interactive table. This table functions just as the standard table, but outputs forms in the new tuning.

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO Drop D.

Double Drop D

This tuning

Matches the first string to the sixth string for more open drone notes in D.

The root chord in D becomes

o	o	o			o

			2
				3

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO Double Drop D.

G Tuning

Taking Double Drop D tuning and lowering the fifth string a whole step yield G tuning

This is the first of the open tunings, in which the open strings play a chord without any fingering adjustments. Major chords up the scale play with just one finger, C on the fifth fret and D on the seventh fret. But the power of open tunings is not the ease of playing chords, but the ability to leave strings open while playing up the neck, creating resonant sonorities.

G tuning, like all the open tunings, works great with a slide. This version of G tuning is similar to banjo tuning.

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO G.

Open D Tuning

Taking the Double Drop D tuning a step further, open D tuning allows for a D chord on all open strings.

This tuning, or similar variations, are often a quick way for a beginner to learn to play a few simple chords on the guitar. Simply bar one finger across the fretboard and slide it up and down. However, the true power is again in playing forms up the fretboard and allowing the open strings to ring.

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO Open D.

Open G Tuning

Another common practice is to tune the chord as so

This tuning relationship works tuned down also, in F or E or any close note. This is another great slide guitar alternative.

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO Open G.

Open G Overtone Tuning

This adventurous tuning works best with a higher gauge string on the sixth string

The lowest G two octaves below the standard third fret g. The name Overtone Tuning comes from the fact that tuning follows the overtone series.

Since this tuning and the other open tunings tend to work best when songs to not change key, the player is no longer bound by the limitations of equal temperament. The open strings can be tuned to the natural resonances of the strings.

A complete chord/scale generator is in the interactive table BYO Open G Overtone.

Other Tunings

The number of possible tunings is literally infinite when microtonal intonations systems are involved. To create your own tuning maps, open the interactive table

BYO Adjustable

In addition to entering notes, string tunings can change by changing the highlighted fields above the strings.

Use of open tunings is great for ambient music and acoustic sonorities.