Guitar tunings

Guitar tunings by category

Every guitar tuning on the site, grouped by category, with the notes from string 6 to string 1. Select a tuning to open its tuner.

How to switch to a new tuning with the tuner

1. Choose a tuning from the list below to open its tuner, or select it in the tuning menu of any guitar tuner.
2. Open the tuning changer to see which strings go up, which go down and by how many semitones.
3. Turn Detect String off and tap the peg of the string you are changing. A string moved several semitones can otherwise be mistaken for its neighbor.
4. Tune each changed string to its new note. When a string must go down, go slightly below the note and come back up to it.
5. Play every string again in the final recheck. A change of tuning alters the pull on the neck, so strings you tuned first will have moved.
6. Check the tuning again after a few minutes of playing, because the strings keep settling at their new tension.

Standard and lowered tunings

Standard tuning, E A D G B E from string 6 to string 1, is the tuning almost all chord charts and lessons assume. Learn it first and use it as the reference point for every other tuning.

Lowered tunings move every string down by the same amount, so all the chord and scale shapes stay the same and only the pitch changes. Half step down is E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, whole step down is D G C F A D, and C standard is C F B♭ E♭ G C. Players use them to match a singer's range, to get a darker sound or to make string bends easier, because the strings are slacker.

Drop tunings

A drop tuning lowers only the lowest string, usually by a whole step. In drop D, D A D G B E, the three lowest strings form a power chord that you can play with one finger across a single fret. This makes heavy riffs fast to play and gives the guitar a lower bottom note.

Drop C and drop B combine a lowered tuning with a dropped string 6, and double drop D also lowers string 1 to D. The drop tunings page compares them.

Open tunings and other tunings

In an open tuning, the open strings sound a major chord when you strum them. Open G is D G D G B D, open D is D A D F♯ A D, and open E and open C work the same way in other keys. Slide players use open tunings because a slide laid straight across one fret plays a full major chord. The open tunings page compares them.

Some tunings fit neither family. DADGAD is neither major nor minor, which gives it an open, suspended sound used in Celtic music and fingerstyle playing. All fourths, E A D G C F, keeps the same interval between every pair of strings, so scale and chord shapes repeat the same way across the neck. New Standard, C G D A E G, tunes most strings in fifths for a wider range.

How to choose a tuning

If you are learning a particular song, use the tuning the recording uses, because some parts cannot be played in standard. If a song is too high for your voice, a lowered tuning moves everything down without changing your fingering. For heavy riffs, start with drop D. For slide, start with open G or open D. For fingerstyle pieces with ringing open strings, try DADGAD.

Large changes from standard need different strings. Tunings far below standard feel slack and buzz on light strings, so heavier gauges help. Raising strings above standard adds tension and risks breaking them. If you switch between two tunings every day, a second guitar set up for the other tuning saves time and keeps both guitars stable. The guide on changing tunings safely explains the limits.