All Types of Guitar Tuning

The standard tuning for a six-string guitar is E-A-D-G-B-E, but many songs require different tuning. Different guitar tunings allow guitarists to play different kinds of chord progressions and riffs more easily. Songs using these tunings may not be practical or possible to play with standard tuning.

Standard Tuning

Most guitarists are familiar with the standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning. The standard tuning is the most common one used in most styles of guitar. The intervals between strings used in standard tuning can be kept the same but the pitch changed. Tuning each string down an equal number of steps allows the same chords and scale patterns to be used, but allows a lower key to be used. The same open chord pattern to play a song in A minor can be used to play the same song in G minor if the strings are all tuned down one step. A capo placed across the frets can raise the key in the same manner.

Dropped Tuning

Dropped tunings lower the pitch of the six-string in relation to the other strings. The most common dropped tuning is Drop-D, which is D-A-D-G-B-E. These tunings are most commonly used by rock, metal and classical guitarists. These tunings are commonly used to play songs in the key of D, using the open lower D string as a bass note for guitar parts. Some guitarists will also down tune the strings an equal number of steps from the Drop-D tuning to play in lower tunings.

Open Tunings

An open tuning is any tuning that forms a chord. This allows a guitarist to strum all six strings of the guitar unfretted and produce a usable chord. Open tunings normally form the major or minor chord, but a more complex chord can be used. Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D) is the most common version of this tuning. Slide players frequently use this tuning because they need to form chords straight across a single fret due to the shape of the slide. Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones is well known for his use of Open G tuning. Keith Richards frequently uses chord changes that are physically impossible to perform in standard tuning. This tuning allows the first chord to be formed with the index finger barring a fret. This leaves the other three fingers free to make fast chord changes.

Instrumental Tunings

Instrumental tuning imitates the interval pattern of another stringed instrument. These tunings allow a guitarist to play parts reminiscent of those instruments more easily. For example, a six-string violin tuning would consist of F-C-G-D-A-E. These tunings may be an octave higher or lower than the original instrument. The open strings of a guitar in a violin tuning would be lower in pitch than a violin because the guitar is a much larger instrument.

Regular Interval Tunings

The standard tuning of a guitar has the interval between most adjacent strings as a perfect fourth. The interval between the 3 (G) and 2 (B) strings is a major third. One method of alternate guitar tuning is to use a regular interval for all the strings. This can be any interval except for unison or octave, which would make all the strings the same note. A guitar with a perfect fourth regular interval tuning would be tuned to E-A-D-G-C-F.

Other Tunings

Any combination of six notes can be a guitar tuning. There are tunings that do not fulfill the requirements of the other guitar tuning types. One example of this would be drone tunings, with all the strings on the same note (D-D-D-D-D-D). The Four and Twenty is another example, with the guitar tuned D-A-D-D-A-D. This tuning does not qualify as an open tuning because it only has two different notes. Open chord tuning requires the open strings to form a chord, which requires at least three different notes.

References

• Alternate Tunings for Guitar
• Guitar Tunings: A Comprehensive Guide; Dick Weissman; 2006

Resources

• The 6 strings of a guitar