← All tunings
Guitar tuning
Half Step Down
Everything down one fret. Same shapes, a slacker feel, and a friendlier key for most voices.
Electric · 6 in line
Acoustic · 3 + 3
6th
E♭2
77.8 Hz
5th
A♭2
103.8 Hz
4th
D♭3
138.6 Hz
3rd
G♭3
185.0 Hz
2nd
B♭3
233.1 Hz
1st
E♭4
311.1 Hz
Note names won’t tune your guitar.
Knowing the strings should read E♭ 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
Every string drops a half step — one fret — from standard.
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 Half Step Down is for
Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a large share of the rock canon lived here. Strings bend more easily, the tone thickens slightly, and songs written around E-shaped chords land in E flat — often a better fit for a singer.
A few chords to try
E♭
E shape
A♭m
Am shape
G♭
G shape