Guitar: Alternate Tunings: An Open Learning Guide

Many guitar players use alternate tunings, which differ from standard tuning. The use of alternate tunings (non-standard tunings) are found throughout the history of the classical guitar and are a major factor in the playing of blues slide guitar. Many alternate tunings involve downtuning ("dropping") strings.

The most common alternate tuning is the dropped D (or "drop D") tuning. The lower E string is tuned down to a D. This tuning allows one to play power chords on the fourth, fifth and sixth strings with only one finger, and of course allows for lower bass notes. Used commonly in heavy metal, but also in nearly every other form of guitar music.

Waylon Jennings used this frequently, even dropping to D with the use of a scruggs banjo tuner on his famous telecaster in the middle of a song.

This progressive tuning is used in metal but often used by bands who stick with 6 string guitars to achieve an extra deep tone. Bands such as CydeDish, Deftones, System of a Down, KSE, August Burns Red and As I Lay Dying.

Alternatively, you can tune to BF#BEG#C#, if you are looking for a deep heavy hitting sound. This tuning is mostly used by nu-metal bands like Slipknot, August Burns Red, many deathcore bands, and some death metal bands.

Alternatively, you can tune to AEADF#B, if you are looking for a deep heavy hitting sound. This tuning is mostly used by nu-metal bands like Slipknot, August Burns Red, many deathcore bands, and some death metal bands.

Similar to Dropped D above, for this tuning just drop both 'E' strings a full tone. Neil Young often tunes his guitars this way.

Among alternative guitar-tunings, regular tunings have equal musical-intervals between the paired notes of their successive open-strings. Regular tunings simplify the learning of the fretboard of the guitar and of chords by beginning students. Regular tunings also facilitate improvisation by advanced guitarists.

Guitar tunings assign pitches to the open strings of guitars. Tunings can be described by the particular pitches that are denoted by notes in Western music. By convention, the notes are ordered from lowest to highest. The standard tuning defines the string pitches as E, A, D, G, B, and E. Between the open-strings of the standard tuning are three perfect-fourths (E-A, A-D, D-G), then the major third G-B, and the fourth perfect-fourth B-E.

For the regular tunings, chords may be moved diagonally around the fretboard, indeed vertically for the repetitive regular tunings (minor thirds, major thirds, and augmented fourths). Regular tunings thus appeal to new guitarists and also to jazz-guitarists, whose improvisation is simplified. On the other hand, some conventional chords are easier to play in standard tuning than in regular tuning.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Guitar/Alternate Tunings by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.