How to Tune Your Guitar to D-Standard
Alternate tunings provide a new voice for your guitar, allowing for a versatile range of sounds. Usually tuned in E Standard, the guitar can be easily drop-tuned to D Standard to match a song's mood or a singer's vocal range. The name "D Standard" denotes a tuning with the standard intervals between strings, beginning and ending with the D note on the lowest and highest strings.
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Instructions
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Using an Electronic Tuner
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Begin with your guitar tuned normally, in E Standard. In these instructions, the strings will be referred to by their position because their tunings will change: The thickest, lowest tuned string is the sixth string, and the thinnest, highest tuned string is the first. Starting from the sixth string, E Standard tuning is E, A, D, G, B, E.
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If your tuner uses a microphone, turn it on and place it near the guitar. If you're using an electric guitar, plug a cable from the guitar to the tuner. Finally, if you have a clip-on style tuner, attach it to the headstock of your guitar.
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Drop the note to which each string is tuned by one whole step. Starting with the sixth (lowest and largest) string, drop the string's note from an E to a D.
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Continue dropping the notes of the other strings. The fifth string will drop from A to G. The fourth string will drop from D to C. The third string will drop from G to F. The second string will drop from B to A. Finally, drop the first string from E to D.
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Check to make sure your tuning is complete. From lowest to highest, the strings should be tuned to D, G, C, F, A, D.
Tuning by Ear
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Begin with your guitar tuned to E Standard. Ensure that its tuning is precise, because small errors will compound themselves when tuning by ear.
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Pluck the sixth string and the fourth string, to sound the notes E and D. With both notes ringing, drop the tuning of the sixth string until it coincides with the note of the fourth string, lowering the original note of E down to a D.
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Fret the sixth string at the fifth fret to sound a G note. At the same time, pluck the fifth string, and drop its tuning until it coincides with the G.
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Fret the fifth string at the fifth fret to sound a C note. At the same time, pluck the fourth string, and drop its tuning until it coincides with the C.
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Fret the fourth string at the fifth fret to sound an F note. At the same time, pluck the third string, and drop its tuning until it coincides with the F.
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Fret the third string at the fourth fret to sound an A. At the same time, pluck the second string, and drop its tuning until it coincides with the A.
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Finally, fret the second string at the fifth fret to sound a D note. At the same time, pluck the first string, and drop its tuning until it coincides with the D.
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Tips & Warnings
After dropping the strings' notes, carefully check the guitar's tuning again. Changing one string's tension affects the others', and it may be necessary to tune more than once.
References
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