If you’ve never tried Nashville tuning, you’re missing out on one of the most interesting sounds you can get from a guitar. It’s part of a family of alternate tunings that can completely change the character of your instrument. Nashville tuning isn’t just for country music either — it shows up in rock, blues, and all sorts of styles where players want that shimmering, jangly quality.

What Is Nashville Tuning?

Nashville tuning uses the same notes as standard tuning — E, A, D, G, B, E — but the bottom three strings (6th, 5th, and 4th) are tuned one octave higher than normal. The top three strings (G, B, and high E) stay the same as standard tuning.

The result is a one-octave spread between your low E and high E instead of the usual two-octave spread. That changes everything about how chords ring out and how your picking patterns sound. For more on this, check out fingerpicking patterns.

One thing that takes some getting used to: the strings actually cross over each other in pitch. Your D string ends up higher than your G string, which is the opposite of standard tuning. That creates this beautiful inverted voicing when you fingerpick — arpeggios sound completely different, almost harp-like. For more on this, check out drop D.

You can still play all your regular chord shapes. A G chord is still a G chord, a C is still a C. But they ring out in this bright, chimey way that pairs perfectly with another guitar in standard tuning. That’s actually one of the most popular uses for Nashville tuning — layering it with a standard-tuned guitar for a huge, full sound. The Rolling Stones used this approach on “Wild Horses,” among other tracks.

How to Set Up Your Guitar for Nashville Tuning

Here’s where it gets a bit technical. You can’t just crank your regular strings up an octave — the tension would snap them or damage your guitar. You need thinner gauge strings for those bottom three.

Think of it like the high strings on a 12-string guitar. The 6th, 5th, and 4th strings on a 12-string have octave pairs, and Nashville tuning is basically using just those high octave strings.

Recommended String Gauges

For the bottom three strings (tuned up an octave):

• 6th string (E): .028 wound (bronze wound)
• 5th string (A): .018 plain
• 4th string (D): .014 plain

For the top three strings (standard tuning):

• 3rd string (G): .022 wound
• 2nd string (B): .013
• 1st string (E): .010

You could go slightly heavier — a .030 for the 6th, a .020 for the 5th — but keep it light since you’re putting a lot of tension on the guitar tuning up that full octave.

Setup Adjustments

When you swap to these lighter strings, a few things will need attention. The string tension changes will affect your neck relief, so you’ll likely need a truss rod adjustment. The string nut grooves may also need filing — they were cut for thicker strings, and thinner strings can rattle in oversized grooves. A very fine nut file or even a thin hacksaw blade can fix that, but go carefully. Cut too deep and you’ll need a whole new nut.

I’d suggest starting with a cheaper guitar to experiment with. Once you’ve made the change, the guitar may not switch back to standard easily without more setup work. Dedicate one guitar to Nashville tuning and you won’t have to fuss with it again.

Playing Tips

The lack of deep bass notes is something to embrace, not fight. You won’t have those low rumbling bass lines, but you gain this gorgeous ringing quality that works well for arpeggios and . Think of it less as a rhythm guitar and more as a texture instrument.

Nashville tuning also works in any tuning approach you already use. You can apply it to , half-step down, or any variation — the concept stays the same. Bump those bottom three strings up an octave from wherever they normally sit.

It’s like playing a whole new instrument while using all the chord shapes and patterns you already know. Give it a try — once you hear that shimmer, you’ll want to use it everywhere.