← All tunings
Guitar tuning
Drop D
Drop the low E a whole step. Nothing else moves — which is why it is the first alternate tuning almost everyone learns.
Electric · 6 in line
Acoustic · 3 + 3
6th
D2
73.4 Hz
5th
A2
110.0 Hz
4th
D3
146.8 Hz
3rd
G3
196.0 Hz
2nd
B3
246.9 Hz
1st
E4
329.6 Hz
Note names won’t tune your guitar.
Knowing the strings should read D A D G B E is the easy half. Landing each frequency — and knowing whether you are nine cents flat or three — is the half that needs an ear or an instrument.
1
Open Dial and play a string
It listens as soon as you play. Nothing to press.
2
Turn each peg until the needle centres
Only the sixth string moves: down a whole step, from 82.4 Hz to 73.4 Hz.
3
Check the remaining strings
Changing tension on one string shifts the neck slightly. The rest usually need a nudge.
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Standard tuning free
Alternate tunings, one-time unlock
Alternate tunings, one-time unlock
What Drop D is for
The bottom three strings become a root, a fifth and an octave, so a power chord is one finger laid flat — slide it anywhere on the neck and it stays a power chord. Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Rage Against the Machine built careers on it.
A few chords to try
D5
Open
A5
7th fret
D
Open