Every tuning we know
28 tunings with songs, 7 waiting for their first. Yellow strings are the pegs you touch from standard.
Standard, shifted
6 tunings Half step down Same shapes, darker voice, easier bends. Hendrix, Slash, Van Halen, half of the blues. Little Wing · Voodoo Child (Slight Return) · Purple Haze Standard The one your guitar came in. Everything else on this site is measured from here. Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground · Death Letter · Wild Horses D standard A whole step down across the board. Thrash, doom, Sabbath on a bad day. Dr. Feelgood · Kickstart My Heart · Walk C standard Four frets down. Sludge and stoner territory. Needs a proper setup. Dragonaut · Green Machine · Go with the Flow C♯ standard Three frets down. Where metalcore lives when it isn't in drop tunings. Children of the Grave · Into the Void · Sweet Leaf B standard A fourth below standard. Baritone guitars live here by design, regular guitars with heavy strings and a long scale. Heartwork · Blinded by Fear
Dropped
6 tunings Drop D One peg. Low E down a whole step. Open chords still work, power chords become one flat finger. Dear Prudence · Moby Dick · Outshined Drop C♯ Drop D with everything a half step lower. Alice in Chains, early Slipknot on some tracks. Unchained · We Die Young · Dam That River Drop C D standard with the low string dropped again. System of a Down, Killswitch Engage, a decade of metalcore. Sugar · Aerials · Chop Suey! Drop B Drop C a half step lower. Slipknot, Bullet for My Valentine. Strings go floppy without a heavier set. Wait and Bleed · Send the Pain Below · Before I Forget Drop A B standard with the low string dropped. Baritone scale or very heavy strings, otherwise it won't hold pitch. Psychosocial Drop C (low string only) Standard with the 6th string two whole steps down. John Mayer's "Neon". The low string flaps unless it's heavy. Neon
Double dropped
1 tuningOpen
7 tunings Open E Open D two frets up, three strings raised. Duane Allman's slide tuning. Mind the extra tension. No Expectations · Prodigal Son · Both Sides Now Open G Strum nothing, get a G. Keith Richards took the 6th string off entirely. Delta and Chicago slide. I Can't Be Satisfied · Honky Tonk Women · Brown Sugar Open C Huge low C, ringing high E. Devin Townsend's home tuning, John Butler, Ben Howard. Deadhead · Ocean · Old Pine C6 Open C with an A on the 5th string. Jimmy Page on "Friends" and "Bron-Yr-Aur". Bron-Yr-Aur · Friends · Poor Tom Open A Open G two frets up, three strings raised. Jimmy Page's slide tuning on "In My Time of Dying". In My Time of Dying · Seven Nation Army · Catch Hell Blues Open D A D major chord with nothing fretted. Slide heaven, fingerstyle too. Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". Dust My Broom · Time for Me to Fly · The Cave Open F (low) An F chord with the whole guitar pulled down. "When the Levee Breaks". When the Levee Breaks
Modal
2 tuningsOne-offs
6 tunings CGCFCE Nick Drake's tuning on most of "Pink Moon". Low and open, with a suspended ring. Pink Moon CGDGBE Richard Thompson's tuning for "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". Open G shapes on top, standard high E. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning DGCGCD Jimmy Page's tuning for "The Rain Song". Suspended, cello-like. The Rain Song DGDGBE Open G but the high string stays E. Soundgarden used it on "Superunknown". Superunknown FACGCE The emo and math rock tuning. American Football built a whole sound on it. Never Meant Nashville Standard pitches, but the four low strings are an octave up (the high set of a 12-string). Shimmer for overdubs. Same shapes, different strings. Dust in the Wind
No songs yet
know one? add it Drop A♯ Drop C a whole step down. Deathcore and modern metal on six strings. No songs yet. Know one? Open D minor Open D with the third flattened. Skip James and the Bentonia blues sound. No songs yet. Know one? Open G minor Open G with a flattened third. Rarer, darker, same slide logic. No songs yet. Know one? Open E minor Open E with a natural third. Two strings raised, one lowered. No songs yet. Know one? Orkney Celtic modal tuning, DADGAD's lower cousin. Steve Cooney, Martin Simpson. No songs yet. Know one? All fourths Fourths all the way up, no major third between G and B. Same shape everywhere on the neck. Jazz and fusion players. No songs yet. Know one? New Standard Tuning Robert Fripp's fifths tuning with a minor third on top. Needs a dedicated string set. No songs yet. Know one?