Guitar · 6 STRINGS
Guitar Drop D Tuning
Standard tuning with the sixth string lowered a whole step to D, which turns the bottom three strings into a power chord you can barre with one finger.
How to tune
Getting into Drop D
Work down the list in order — each string's tension moves the ones already set.
Allow microphone access
Asked once. Detection runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.
Play one string at a time
Let it ring open. A strummed chord gives the detector several pitches.
Centre the needle
Sharp means loosen, flat means tighten. Inside three cents is in tune.
Work up from string 6, one at a time
The lowest string carries the most tension, so setting it first means the rest hold. The panel below lists every target in that order.
Run through every string once more
Setting one string drifts the rest; the second pass makes it hold.
Changing from Standard
1 string a whole step down
The other 5 strings keep their standard pitch.
Each bar shows how far that string sits from standard tuning. Select a string in Note Locking above to hold the tuner on it while you turn the peg.
About this tuning
About Drop D Tuning
Drop D changes exactly one string. The sixth drops from E to D, a whole step, and the other five stay where they are. That makes it the cheapest alternate tuning on the instrument: you can reach it mid-set by ear against the open fourth string, and reverse it just as fast.
What you get for that one turn is a fifth on the bottom two strings instead of a fourth. Barre the lowest three strings at any fret and you have a power chord, so riffs that would need a stretch become one finger sliding up the neck. Fingerstyle players use the same change for the opposite reason: a low D drone sitting under everything played in the key of D.
It is the most common alternate tuning on the guitar, and the least disruptive. Chords on the top five strings are untouched, so you can play a full song in standard and only reach for the low D when the riff calls for it.
Also known as
- Dropped D
- DADGBE tuning
Used in
- Grunge
- Alternative rock
- Metal
- Folk fingerstyle
Played by
- Rage Against the Machine
- Foo Fighters
- Soundgarden
- Queens of the Stone Age
What it buys you
- One-finger power chords across the bottom three strings
- A low D drone for anything in D major or D minor
- Only one string moves, so you can switch between songs
- Every chord on the top five strings stays exactly as it was
Note frequencies
Drop D string frequencies
The 6 open strings of Guitar Drop D, lowest first, at A4 = 440 Hz. Each one is the pitch the tuner is listening for — D2 is D in octave 2.
| Note | Also | Solfège | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| D2 | — | Re | 73.42 Hz |
| A2 | — | La | 110.00 Hz |
| D3 | — | Re | 146.83 Hz |
| G3 | — | Sol | 196.00 Hz |
| B3 | — | Si | 246.94 Hz |
| E4 | — | Mi | 329.63 Hz |
Sharps and flats share a pitch on a tuner: C♯ and D♭ are the same frequency, and which name you use depends on the key you are in, not on what the meter reads.
Songs in this tuning
Recorded in Drop D
Load one of these up and check your tuning against the record — it is the fastest way to hear whether you landed on the right pitch.
- Killing in the NameRage Against the Machine · 1992
- EverlongFoo Fighters · 1997
Questions
Drop D tuning, answered
Standard tuning with the sixth string lowered a whole step to D, which turns the bottom three strings into a power chord you can barre with one finger. The 6 strings are tuned D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4, from the lowest-pitched string up.
It moves string 6 from E2 to D2. The remaining 5 strings stay at standard pitch.
No. Drop D lowers only the sixth string to D and leaves the other five in standard tuning. D standard lowers all six strings by a whole step, so the intervals between strings stay identical to standard while the whole instrument sits lower.
A standard set reaches the pitch but goes slack at it. Dropping the lowest string a whole step down costs enough tension that the string starts flapping against the frets and the intonation drifts sharp when you dig in. On a 25.5" scale, moving from a .010 set to .011 or .012, with a wound low string to match, is the common answer.
No. The neck is built for the tension of standard tuning, and lowering the strings only reduces it. What changes is the relief: less pull straightens the neck slightly and lowers the action, which is what causes buzzing rather than any damage. If you keep the instrument in Drop D permanently, a truss rod and action setup fixes it. Switching back and forth harms nothing.
Yes. The tuner on this page listens through your device microphone and compares what it hears against the exact frequencies for D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4. Play one string at a time in a quiet room, and let the note ring rather than strumming.
No. This Drop D tuner runs in your browser — there is nothing to download, nothing to install and no account to create. Allow microphone access when the browser asks and the tuner starts listening. It works the same way on a phone, a tablet and a desktop.
Related tunings
Where to go from Drop D
Each one is described as the move from Drop D, so you can see how far away it is before you commit to turning a peg.
Standard
1 string a whole step up
The reference every other guitar tuning is described against: fourths between the strings, with one major third between the third and second.
E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4
Open G
2 strings a whole step down
The open strings ring a G major chord, so a single barre anywhere on the neck gives you a major chord.
D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4
D-A-D-G-A-D
2 strings a whole step down
A suspended fourth tuning that is neither major nor minor, with three strings tuned to D ringing under whatever you play.
D2 A2 D3 G3 A3 D4
Half Step Down
5 strings a semitone down, string 6 a semitone up
Every string lowered by one semitone. Nothing about the fretboard changes — the whole guitar just sits a half step lower.
D#2 G#2 C#3 F#3 A#3 D#4