On this page you will find a selection of alternate tunings for guitar, general notes on how to tune guitar, as well as detailed instructions on how to tune your guitar by ear.

Standard Tuning and Popular Alternative Tunings

Starting with the thickest (6th, or 'bottom') string, this is standard tuning for a guitar:

E, A, D, G, B, E

Another popular tuning, particularly in the rock world, is to simply drop the thickest string down one tone to D:

D, A, D, G, B, E

One advantage of this tuning is that one finger across the three thickest strings gives a power-chord. Used quite frequently by the likes of Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine.

Another popular rock tuning is to take all the strings down one tone, often referred to as dropped-D tuning:

D, G, C, F, A, D

This obviously makes everything lower and suits darker sounding rock. It works best if you use a thicker gauge of string.

For slide guitar I tend to use open-E tuning. This is where the open strings are tuned to an E major chord, as if an open-E chord is being fingered:

E, B, E, G#, B, E

Another popular tuning for slide and blues playing is open-G tuning, although it has also been adopted by bands such as Queens Of The Stone Age. It can seem a bit of a confusing name as the thickest string is actually tuned to a D, not a G. Upon closer inspection it all makes sense, as the open strings are all the notes that form a G major chord. By barring all but the thickest string, you create a major chord:

An alternative tuning that is often used to create a Celtic or ethnic sound is DADGAD:

D, A, D, G, A, D

General Notes On Tuning

New guitar students often come to a lesson and say something like, "It should be in tune - I tuned it yesterday." I suggest that this is faulty thinking, and that you will be well served by checking your tuning every time you pick up your instrument.

Two of the most consistent failings of guitarists are their tendencies to play out of time and out of tune. To a certain degree, the latter is due to the instrument - every guitar tends to be in tune with one chord and slightly out with all others.

Playing in tune is fundamental to playing well. Every time you pick up your instrument it should be the first consideration.

Most learners find tuning difficult. As with playing music on any instrument, the skill lies in developing a 'good ear'. This can be learned and is a skill which develops the more you play. You'll find detailed instructions on how to tune by ear below.

Half the battle lies in having a good attitude. You want to be relaxed and approach it calmly - don't hurry the process or you're likely to get it wrong.

Always tune up to the required pitch, never down. If the string is ever so slightly sharp, try gently tugging it to lower the pitch slightly.

Most guitarists who consistently suffer from 'slipping strings' do so due to incorrect fitting of the string in the first place. When fitting strings - and prior to tuning - it's useful to 'stretch' each string, pulling it away from the neck and 'tugging' it a few times.

The lighter the strings, the easier they will lose there tuning. Other circumstances which result in de-tuning include knocking or dropping of the instrument, change of temperature and constant 'bending' - particularly with new strings.

The best approach is to loosen each string, get them all roughly in tune and then fine tune them. You should make a point of remembering which note each string is tuned to and obtain a reference to ensure you are in concert pitch ie a tuning fork or pitch-pipes.

Don't rely on an electronic tuner all the time. The art of playing any instrument well depends on training your ears to hear properly. Learning to tune is an excellent method of training your ears and should not be avoided.

In my experience, a guitar that is regularly and frequently tuned will be easier to tune and will 'hold' it's tuning for longer.

How To Tune Guitar By Ear

This is a method where we tune all strings in relation to the thickest.

To do this you will need to know when two strings are sounding the same note. This is a skill that most people need to learn / develop.

When two notes are almost the same pitch, a ‘beat’ or ‘pulse’ is produced. It is this pulse that you will need to detect in order to tune your instrument ‘by ear’.

As one notes frequency / pitch approaches another; as one becomes more in tune and identical; the pulse will decrease in speed, becoming slower and slower until it stops – and the two notes are the same.

This is true whether tuning up or down, shown in the following diagram:

Before you try this for yourself, click here and listen as I tune up to the required pitch on my 5th (A) string, then overshoot; taking it slightly too high; before bringing it down again to the correct point.

The pulse is quite fast to begin with, whilst the 5th string is flat (too low). It slows as I approach the correct tuning, then speeds up again when I overshoot; making the note slightly sharp (too high). The pulse has all but gone when I finally get it tuned in correctly.

I’ve played through an effects pedal in order to make the pulse more prominent - it doesn't sound nice, but it does make the pulse prominent. A distortion or overdrive effect will achieve this. Using your treble pickup will also make the pulse more prominent. It’s exactly the same process on an acoustic, the pulse is still there, but you can get an electric guitars volume etc to make the pulse more prominent.

Note that two notes have to be fairly similar before the pulse becomes apparent.