Guitar Tunings Explained — Drop D, DADGAD, Open G and Beyond

Every guitar in the world is set up the same way: E-A-D-G-B-E, low to high. It's so universal that most guitarists never question it. But standard tuning is just one option. Change the tuning, and you change everything — the chords under your fingers, the resonance of the instrument, and the musical territory you can explore.

Some of the most iconic guitar parts ever recorded use alternate tunings. "Kashmir" is in DADGAD. "Start Me Up" is in Open G. "Dust My Broom" is in Open D. These songs don't just use different tunings for novelty — they're written in those tunings because the music couldn't exist any other way.

This guide covers the most important alternate tunings: what they are, why they sound the way they do, who uses them, and — most importantly — why you might want to try them yourself.

Why Alternate Tunings?

Standard tuning (EADGBE) was designed as a practical compromise. It balances chord shapes, scale patterns, and open string resonance across many musical styles. But every compromise has trade-offs. Standard tuning makes some things easy and others unnecessarily hard.

Alternate tunings solve specific musical problems:

• Open tunings let you play a major chord with zero fingers — just strum. This makes slide guitar possible and creates rich, droning sounds that standard tuning can't match.
• Dropped tunings give you one-finger power chords and a heavier bass range. Essential for rock and metal.
• Modal tunings like DADGAD produce suspended, ambiguous harmonies — neither major nor minor — that are perfect for Celtic and folk music.
• Lowered tunings like Eb Standard reduce string tension, making bending easier and giving the guitar a darker tone.

The common thread: each tuning unlocks sounds and techniques that standard tuning makes difficult or impossible. Musicians don't use alternate tunings to show off — they use them because the music demands it.

Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E)

The single most popular alternate tuning. You lower only the 6th string from E to D — one whole step down. Everything else stays the same.

Why it exists

Drop D was born out of a practical need: heavy power chords with minimal effort. In standard tuning, a power chord requires two or three fingers across two strings. In Drop D, you can barre the bottom three strings with one finger and slide it anywhere on the neck. Instant power chords in any key, with a deeper bass note.

The lower D also creates a natural resonance when playing in D — the open 6th string drones underneath everything, adding weight and depth.

Who uses it

• Nirvana — most of Nevermind, including "Heart-Shaped Box"
• Soundgarden — Chris Cornell's heavy riffs rely on it
• Foo Fighters — "Everlong" is the classic Drop D anthem
• Rage Against the Machine — Tom Morello's riff machine
• Led Zeppelin — "Moby Dick"
• The Beatles — "Dear Prudence"

What changes

Only chords that use the 6th string change. Your A, C, and open D shapes stay the same. The big win: one-finger power chords on the bottom three strings, moveable anywhere.

DADGAD (D-A-D-G-A-D)

If Drop D is a small tweak, DADGAD is a portal to another world. Three strings change from standard (the 6th, 2nd, and 1st), and the open strings form a Dsus4 chord — neither major nor minor. That ambiguity is the entire point.

Why it exists

In the early 1960s, British guitarist Davey Graham traveled to Morocco and heard oud players. The oud's tuning creates floating, modal harmonies that Western standard tuning can't replicate. Graham adapted the concept, arriving at DADGAD — a tuning that suspends between major and minor, perfect for accompanying modal melodies.

The open strings (D, A, G) naturally support the modes most common in Celtic and folk music: Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian. You can play intricate modal melodies over droning open strings without any harmonic clashes. A single fretted note can shift the mood from bright to dark.

Who uses it

• Pierre Bensusan — the DADGAD virtuoso, has played exclusively in this tuning for decades
• Jimmy Page — "Kashmir" (one of the most famous guitar riffs of all time) and "Black Mountain Side"
• Tony McManus — one of the finest Celtic fingerstyle guitarists alive
• Andy McKee — modern fingerstyle YouTube pioneer
• Davey Graham — the inventor, who brought it from Morocco to the British folk scene
• Dick Gaughan — Scottish folk master

What makes it special

DADGAD has moveable barre shapes that produce suspended chords — barre all strings at any fret for an instant sus4 chord. Add one finger and you get major or minor. The tuning rewards simplicity: some of the most beautiful DADGAD music uses only two or three fingers at a time, letting the open strings do the rest.

Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D)

Open G is the sound of the blues. Strum all six strings and you get a G major chord. Slide a bottleneck to fret 5 and you're in C. Fret 7 is D. Every major chord is one finger — or no fingers at all.

Why it exists

Open tunings emerged from the earliest days of the blues. Delta blues players in the Mississippi needed a tuning where a single finger (or a knife blade, or a bottleneck) could produce clean chords. Open G made slide guitar possible — one of the most expressive techniques in all of guitar playing.

Beyond slide, Open G creates a uniquely resonant sound. Three strings tuned to D and two to G means the guitar is practically vibrating in sympathy with itself. Fingerpicked patterns ring out with an overtone richness that standard tuning can't match.

Who uses it

• Keith Richards — "Brown Sugar", "Start Me Up", "Honky Tonk Women", "Gimme Shelter" — the Rolling Stones' rhythm guitar sound is Open G. Richards famously removes the 6th string entirely, playing a 5-string guitar.
• Robert Johnson — foundational Delta blues, "Cross Road Blues"
• Muddy Waters — "Rollin' Stone" (the song the band named themselves after)
• Ry Cooder — world/roots slide guitar master, introduced Keith Richards to the tuning
• Joni Mitchell — used Open G among many alternate tunings
• The Black Crowes — "She Talks to Angels"

The Keith Richards trick

Keith Richards removes the low 6th string entirely, playing only five strings (G-D-G-B-D). This eliminates the bass D (which can muddy up rhythm parts) and creates his signature chunky, mid-range sound. Nearly every Rolling Stones song in Open G uses this five-string approach.

Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D)

Open D is Open G's sibling — same concept (open strings form a major chord), different key. Strum all strings for D major. The interval structure is identical to Open G, just five semitones lower.

Why it exists

Open D gives you the same slide guitar possibilities as Open G but in the key of D, which is central to many blues, folk, and fingerstyle traditions. The D root on the lowest string provides a deep, resonant bass that Open G (which has D, not G, on the bottom) handles differently.

For fingerpickers, Open D is particularly rewarding. The three D strings (6th, 4th, and 1st) create a natural drone, and the spacing of the remaining notes (A and F#) gives you the entire D major chord spread across the neck. Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell wrote some of their most famous songs in this tuning because it let them create complex harmonies with simple finger movements.

Who uses it

• Joni Mitchell — "Big Yellow Taxi", "Coyote"
• Bob Dylan — "Tangled Up in Blue", "Buckets of Rain", "Simple Twist of Fate"
• Elmore James — "Dust My Broom" (1951) — arguably the most famous slide guitar riff ever recorded
• Richie Havens — legendary Woodstock performance
• John Butler — "Ocean" (though often in Open C)
• The Tallest Man on Earth — modern folk fingerpicking

Open E (E-B-E-G#-B-E)

Open E is Open D shifted up a whole step. Same chord shapes, same intervals, but tuned to E major. The difference matters: E is the most common blues key, so Open E puts slide guitarists right at home.

Why it exists

Blues lives in E. The raw, electrified slide guitar sound of Chicago blues demands Open E. When Duane Allman picks up a slide and plays over "Statesboro Blues," the open strings are already vibrating in E — the key of the song. No transposition needed, no capo required.

The tension trade-off: Open E tunes three stringsup, which increases tension. This can cause string breakage, especially on acoustic guitars. Many players prefer to use Open D with a capo at the 2nd fret — same sound, less stress on the guitar. Derek Trucks, who plays slide exclusively, goes back and forth between both approaches.

Who uses it

• Duane Allman — "Statesboro Blues", "Little Martha" — the gold standard of slide guitar
• Derek Trucks — carries on the Allman Brothers tradition with one of the purest slide tones in music
• Bob Dylan — various recordings
• Joe Walsh — "Rocky Mountain Way"
• Johnny Winter — blistering electric blues slide

Eb Standard (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb)

Every string tuned down one half step. Your fingers play the exact same shapes — everything just sounds a half step lower.

Why it exists

Three practical reasons, all compelling:

• Easier bending. Lower tension means your fingers don't have to work as hard. This is why Stevie Ray Vaughan — who used notoriously heavy .013 gauge strings — tuned to Eb. The heavy strings gave him a fat, authoritative tone, and the Eb tuning kept the tension manageable enough to bend.
• Vocal range. A half step down can make or break a singer's performance. Many bands tune to Eb so the vocalist can hit every note comfortably. Guns N' Roses tuned to Eb largely for Axl Rose's voice.
• Darker tone. The slightly lower pitch gives the guitar a thicker, heavier quality. It's subtle but audible — and for blues and hard rock, that extra weight matters.

Who uses it

• Jimi Hendrix — almost every recording, from "Purple Haze" to "Little Wing"
• Stevie Ray Vaughan — "Pride and Joy", "Texas Flood" — with .013 strings for his legendary thick tone
• Slash / Guns N' Roses — "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Paradise City"
• Alice in Chains — "Rooster", "Would?", "Man in the Box"
• Nirvana — "Come As You Are", "Lithium"
• Kiss — most recordings

What changes

Nothing, from a fingering perspective. Every chord shape, scale pattern, and lick you know works identically. You just need to remember that your "E shape" actually sounds as Eb, your "A shape" sounds as Ab, and so on. If you need to play at concert pitch, use a capo at fret 1.

Open C (C-G-C-G-C-E)

Open C is the deepest common open tuning. The 6th string drops all the way to C — four semitones below standard. The result is a massive, wide-range instrument with a thundering low end.

Why it exists

Open C is about sonic range and dramatic resonance. Multiple C's and G's across the strings create powerful overtone interactions — the guitar almost sounds like a piano with the sustain pedal held down. The enormous range (from low C to high E) gives fingerstyle players the ability to create orchestral arrangements on a single guitar.

Who uses it

• John Butler — "Ocean", his signature 12-minute fingerstyle masterpiece
• Devin Townsend — uses Open C almost exclusively across his entire career, from the heaviest metal to ambient soundscapes
• Led Zeppelin — Jimmy Page used it on "Friends" and "Bron-Yr-Aur"
• Soundgarden — "Burden in My Hand", "Pretty Noose"
• Ben Howard — modern folk/indie

Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)

Both E strings drop to D. The middle four strings stay in standard tuning, so most of your standard chord knowledge still applies. The paired D strings (low and high) create a natural frame.

Why it exists

Double Drop D is the gentlest introduction to alternate tunings. You get the benefits of a low D drone (like Drop D) plus a high D drone — bookending every chord with the same note. This creates a rich, harp-like quality that fingerpickers love. The D-on-both-ends effect is especially beautiful for songs in D, where the open 6th and 1st strings ring as a constant pedal tone underneath whatever your other fingers are doing.

Who uses it

• Neil Young — "Cinnamon Girl" (the famous one-note solo is on the high open D string), "Harvest Moon"
• Led Zeppelin — "Going to California"
• Fleetwood Mac — "The Chain"
• Joni Mitchell — used Double Drop D extensively
• The Beatles — "Dear Prudence" (John Lennon's descending fingerpicking pattern)

Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D)

Drop C is Drop D taken further — tune every string down a whole step from standard, then drop the 6th string one more step. The result is the heaviest commonly used guitar tuning.

Why it exists

Metal. Drop C exists because metal guitarists needed to go lower than Drop D while keeping the one-finger power chord advantage. The low C string produces a deep, aggressive growl that is the backbone of modern metalcore, post-hardcore, and nu-metal. Like Drop D, you get one-finger power chords on the bottom three strings — but everything sounds significantly heavier.

Who uses it

• System of a Down — "Toxicity", "Chop Suey!"
• Queens of the Stone Age — various tracks
• Bullet for My Valentine — "Tears Don't Fall"
• August Burns Red — modern metalcore staple
• Killswitch Engage — defining the metalcore sound
• Godsmack — "I Stand Alone"

String gauge matters

At Drop C tension, standard .010-.046 strings become floppy and buzzy. Most players use a heavier set — .011-.052 or .012-.054 — to maintain definition and playability. Some players use a single heavy 6th string (.056 or .060) with lighter strings on top.

Which Tuning Should You Try First?

That depends on what you play:

• Rock and metal: Start with Drop D. It's one string change, your existing knowledge mostly still works, and the power chord payoff is immediate.
• Blues and slide guitar: Try Open Dor Open G. Pick up a slide and you're instantly making music. Open G if you love the Rolling Stones; Open D if you lean toward Delta blues.
• Celtic and folk: Go straight to DADGAD. The suspended sound is addictive, and there's a wealth of Celtic repertoire written specifically for this tuning.
• Singer-songwriter: Try Double Drop D or Open D. The droning open strings create a lush backdrop for vocals with minimal finger effort.
• Fingerstyle: Explore Open C or DADGAD. Both reward creative fingerpicking with complex, layered harmonies.

Quick reference table

Whichever tuning you choose, give it more than five minutes. Alternate tunings reward exploration — noodle around, find what sounds good, and let the tuning guide you. Some of the best songs ever written started as someone just messing around in a new tuning and stumbling onto something beautiful.

Ready to dive in? Our Scale Diagram Builder and Chord Sheet Builder now support all of these tunings — select your tuning from the dropdown and create printable reference sheets to keep on your music stand.

Frequently Asked Questions