Introduction to Alternate Tunings: Getting Started

If you’re a beginner, this is a great way to explore different sounds while your fingers get used to the strings and your hands get used to the neck. For more experienced players, this allows you to explore beyond the chord shapes and scales that you’re used to.

January 4, 2021

Written by

She Shreds

Illustration by

Mika Cook-Wright

In the 16th century, the vihuela was the first six-course guitar-shaped instrument to closely resemble—in shape, sound, and string courses—our modern day guitar. Since then, standard tuning has evolved into the most commonly used guitar tuning in the world, in which string pitches are defined as E-A-D-G-B-E.

Why IS standard tuning so commonly used? To make a long story short, thousands of years ago someone with a lot of patience experimented through trial and error to find that the E-A-D-G-B-E tuning—comprised of a series of perfect fourths with a single major third (Example: If you start on E then, counting up the alphabet, A is the fourth and then from G, B would be the third)—single-handedly allowed for more diversity when considering ability to play chords and scales with physical ease and comfort (there is much more theory surrounding this but we won’t get into that right now). All you need to know is that the “standard” chord shapes and scales revolve around this tuning, which is why tuning your guitar this way is usually one of the first things you’re taught.

What we don’t immediately learn—and might not even consider—is that there are endless ways to tune a guitar. These tunings are called “Alternate Tunings”, referring to a different arrangement of notes in your open strings.

How can these tunings be helpful and useful? Venturing into the open tuning world is like re-learning guitar, which can be incredibly palpable to creative experimentation. Depending on your tuning, you can play full chords with just one finger that slides up and down the neck. If you’re a beginner, this is a great way to explore different sounds while your fingers get used to the strings and your hands get used to the neck. For more experienced players, this allows you to explore beyond the chord shapes and scales that you’re used to. If you’re stuck in a rut, just start experimenting with your tuning knobs until you create something that sounds good to your ears! Let’s check out a few alternate tunings commonly used by other musicians:

Drop Tuning

Drop D: D-A-D-G-B-D

Ani Difranco- “Letting The Telephone Ring”

The only difference between Drop D tuning and Standard tuning is that the low E string (sixth string) is tuned one whole-step lower than E, making it an incredibly popular and easy to learn alternate tuning. Because you can play a power chord with one finger on the fourth, fifth, and sixth strings while maintaining that low D bass sound, this tuning is popular among heavy metal music; however, Ani Difranco was also known to experiment with this tuning, among many others. Check out Difranco’s “Letting The Telephone Ring” and listen to how the low D string adds some depth to her fingerpicking guitar melodies.

Open tuning

Open G: D-G-D-G-B-D

Open tunings form a full chord when all six strings are strummed. Because of this, open tunings are common among lap steel players and fingerpicking tunes. You can easily play barre chords with one finger and play a mean slide solo as well. Joni Mitchell is another player who is known for her extensive use of alternate tunings—over 60 to be exact. “The Circle Game” is a great example of simple playing that sounds more technical than it is.

For the aspiring lap steel players, try out the C6th open tuning (E-C-A-G-E-C), commonly used among Hawaiian lap steel players—where the lap steel originated!

Modal Tuning / BYOT (Build Your Own Tuning)

Low C: C-G-D-G-A-D

Modal tunings are weird ones. They are defined as tunings that do not produce major or minor chords, or any chords that are variations of them, but personally I think they are assigned to made-up tunings that aren’t used very often. When asked about alternate tunings, Kaki King has mentioned using the low C tuning at least once on every record she’s made. Like Ani Difranco and Joni Mitchell, Kaki King heavily relies on countless tunings, making it nearly impossible to make out which ones are used for what songs. Another band who’s famous for tuning experimentation is Sonic Youth—usually making up their own tunings and ways of playing.

The downside of alternate tuning is getting your guitar used to extreme shifting of tones. At the beginning you might expect to break a few strings if you’re tuning too low or too high for what the string gauge can handle. A good rule of thumb is to not tune 1 ½ steps higher or two steps lower than the standard tuning pitch.

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Comment by Julia Egan on January 4, 2021 at 5:35 pm
Excited to experiment with alternate tunings for today’s 1RAD!!
Comment by Xtina on January 5, 2021 at 8:37 am
I am experimenting with a 6 string Harlin bros pedal steel and have it in near open G: DGBGBD. I like this and have tuned one of four pedals to a an open G7 and and open GMinor and prefer that second B over the second of 3 D. I don’t know anything about music theory I’m just doing this all trial by error and gumption and absorption??✊???? I’d give more details but I need my notebook.
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Comment by Peter on February 15, 2021 at 7:16 am
Alternate & different tunings are awesome & so much fun. It is a good way to create a mood or feeling that is completely different from standard tuning. Many of these tunings are used on some classic rock songs by several of the big names in that genre & there are also experimental & instrumental players that use these tunings as well. One of my favorite singer/songwriters of the 1990s was Chris Whitley. Chris used different tunings on every CD. Album he released never using the standard tuning once for any song . His first LP “Living With The Law” is an excellent recording & it is still in my rotation of CDs today even after I wore it out in the 1990s. Michael Hedges is another guitarist who was experimental playing instrumental songs & singing on some. He used many different tunings & I do not think he used the standard tuning once either. Both Chris W & Michael H died young unfortunately but they both left a decent amount of their work behind & I recommend checking them both out if you are interested in these tunings. It might surprise people to know several classic rock songs from the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s used open & different tunings. Open tunings work excellent for slide guitar. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones mostly plays open G & most of the Rolling Stones songs are in this tuning with Ron Wood using standard tuning so they get both tunings on most of their songs. Gimme Shelter( the intro) Start Me Up, Give Me All Your Lovin” all use Open G. Led Zeppelin used Open Tunings & also used Modal Tunings. Jimmy Page used the tuning DADGAD quite often & that tuning sounds amazing!! It can create a Middle Eastern sound at times and was/is used in some music in Morroco. I always keep one of my “beater” acoustics tuned to DADGAD & use Open G at times. Some Led Zeppelin songs that use DADGAD are “Black Mountain Side” “Kashmir” & the “Acoustic 1995” version of “No Quarter” I can play all of those songs & the acoustic version of No Quarter sounds incredible in my 12 string which is what Jimmy uses for that song. The Rain Song by Led Zep is also in a modal tuning. Led Zeppelin used open G & Open E on several songs as well. “That’s The Way, Bron Yr Stomp” “Traveling Riverside Blues” “Going To California” “In My Time Of Dying” all use Open G & they are fun songs to play on acoustic. Led Zeppelin also uses Open C on the songs “Friends” from Zeppelin III & “Bron Yr” from Physical Graffiti. Bron Yr is a beautiful instrumental & not to be confused with their other song I mentioned “Bron Yr Stomp” Also the classic hit by Zeppelin “When The Levee Breaks” is in Open E. I was heavily influenced on acoustic by Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin so I learned many of these tunings when I first bought an acoustic & it opened up another creative door for me. I love electric & never get bored with it but I also need to play acoustic & use these alternate/different tunings. The Black Crowes song “She Talks To Angels” is in Open G along with some of their other songs. Many “Grunge” Bands & Metal Bands use Drop D tuning quite often. Tool uses Drop D on basically every song they write. Kings X uses Drop D often, Alice In Chains, Nirvana all use Drop D frequently. Jimi Hendrix used Drop D often & tuned down either a 1/2 step or even a whole step sometimes. Stevie Ray Vaughn also used Drop D & tuned down a 1/2 step on almost all of his music. Eddie Van Halen .. Drop D & tuned down a 1/2 step. Yvette Young from the band “Covet” uses different tunings on all her music & she has such a unique sound & is always looks so happy when she plays. She has created her own awesome sound and has done it at a young age. She is a virtuoso in my opinion & I can’t wait to see how her career goes & cannot wait to hear more of the art she will be putting out. If you have not heard of Yvette Young or Covet I highly recommend checking them out both she & the band are amazing. These tunings work in almost any genre as well. That is why I tried to list many songs by many different bands & artists. If you are in a rut or bored with playing start experimenting with these tunings & I bet you will be happy you did. I could list many more bands & artists who used different tunings or modal tunings I am sure I forgot a few. I am hoping I am able to show how versatile these tunings are regardless of the genre & also hope my love & excitement for tunings such as DADGAD or Open G comes through in this post. If you need help getting started with using these tunings there are many resources online for free that discuss them & show examples of songs & artists who use them. There is also a lot of free tablatures available showing how to play many of these songs. I wish I had the resources available today when I started playing. You can also ask people for advice on or how to use them. There are plenty of people around like me who loves to assist people in how to start using them. Like the author of this article stated, make sure you buy a few extra sets of strings & do not get discouraged if you break a few dozen strings while learning them. 🙂 Keep on going with them & before you know it you are not breaking strings anymore & you are creating different & even exotic sounds at times & people do notice when you sound different from the average guitar player. These tunings can give you an edge that makes you stand out & make people remember you as a player. Thanks for posting this article “She Shreds” I am so happy I came across this site today it made my morning & I think I know what tuning I will be playing later on this afternoon. 🙂
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