Changing your tuning is one of the fastest ways to make your guitar sound like a completely different instrument. Whether you’re after heavier riffs, a jangly shimmer, or that wide-open Celtic sound, there’s an alternate tuning that’ll get you there. This page covers the main alternate tunings I teach and links to the full lessons for each one.
Drop Tunings
Drop tunings lower one or more strings to give you deeper bass notes and easier power chord shapes. They’re the go-to for rock, metal, and heavy blues.
Drop D Tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E)
The most popular alternate tuning in guitar. Drop your low E string down one whole step to D and you get easy one-finger power chords, a great D drone note for folk and country, and that heavy low-end chunk for rock riffs. If you’ve never tried an alternate tuning before, start here.
Drop C Tuning (C-G-C-F-A-D)
Take drop D and go lower. Drop C tunes everything down a whole step first, then drops the 6th string another step to C. This is where metal and hard rock players live — massive low-end power without needing a 7-string guitar. You’ll want heavier gauge strings to keep the tension right.
Standard D Tuning (D-G-C-F-A-D)
Every string drops one whole step from standard. Same chord shapes, same patterns, but everything sounds darker and fuller. It’s also the starting point for drop C — tune to standard D first, then drop that 6th string one more step.
How to Tune Down a Whole Step
A practical walkthrough of what happens when you lower every string by a whole step. Covers the lighter touch you’ll need, string gauge considerations, and why your familiar chord shapes now produce different actual pitches.
Open Tunings
Open tunings give you a full chord when you strum all the strings without fretting anything. They’re essential for slide guitar and popular in blues, folk, and fingerstyle playing. I cover these in detail as part of the slide guitar pillar:
- Open G Tuning for Slide Guitar (D-G-D-G-B-D) — The classic Keith Richards / Robert Johnson tuning
- Open E Tuning for Slide Guitar (E-B-E-G#-B-E) — Duane Allman’s go-to for that bright, singing slide tone
- Open D Slide Guitar Tricks (D-A-D-F#-A-D) — Combining rhythm and lead in one tuning
Other Alternate Tunings
DADGAD Tuning (D-A-D-G-A-D)
One of the most versatile alternate tunings. DADGAD gives you a suspended fourth chord on the open strings — neither major nor minor, so it works over both. Popular in Celtic, folk, and fingerstyle music, but blues and rock players use it too. The 1-4-5 pattern makes it easy to find your way around the neck.
Nashville Tuning
Same notes as standard tuning, but the bottom three strings are tuned up one octave. This creates a bright, shimmering, almost 12-string-like quality that’s beautiful layered with a standard-tuned guitar. Requires special string gauges and some setup work, but the sound is worth it. Used by the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and countless Nashville session players.
Which Tuning Should You Try First?
If you’re brand new to alternate tunings, drop D is the easiest entry point — one string change, and all your other chord shapes still work normally. From there, try tuning everything down a whole step to hear how the same shapes sound in a lower register.
For something more adventurous, DADGAD opens up a completely different approach to the guitar where you can explore suspended chords and drone-based playing. And if you want to double your guitar’s sonic palette without learning new shapes, Nashville tuning transforms your instrument into something that sounds like a new guitar entirely.