Guitar · 6 STRINGS
Guitar Half Step Down Tuning
Every string lowered by one semitone. Nothing about the fretboard changes — the whole guitar just sits a half step lower.
How to tune
Getting into Half Step Down
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
Every string a semitone down
Nothing keeps its standard pitch, but every string moves together — the intervals between them, and so every shape on the neck, stay exactly as they were.
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 Half Step Down Tuning
Half step down moves all six strings by a single semitone, so the intervals between them are untouched. Every chord shape, scale and riff you already know lands in exactly the same place; it simply sounds a half step lower than the fret numbers suggest. Play an open E shape and you get E♭.
Bands reach for it for two reasons. Singers get a little more room at the top of a phrase without anyone rewriting a part, and the drop in tension makes the strings noticeably easier to bend — which is most of why the tuning is so closely tied to blues rock. Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan both worked in it, and heavy sets that would be a fight in standard become playable.
The one thing to watch is that you are now in a different key from anyone playing in standard. Tab written for standard tuning still works note-for-note under your fingers, but you cannot jam with a piano or a second guitar without transposing.
Also known as
- E♭ Standard
- Eb tuning
- Half step flat
Used in
- Blues rock
- Hard rock
- Heavy metal
- Glam rock
Played by
- Jimi Hendrix
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Guns N’ Roses
- Metallica
What it buys you
- Easier bends and vibrato at the same string gauge
- Drops the key for a singer without changing a single shape
- Heavier gauges become comfortable, for a thicker tone
- Every shape, scale and tab position stays where it is
Note frequencies
Half Step Down string frequencies
The 6 open strings of Guitar Half Step Down, lowest first, at A4 = 440 Hz. Each one is the pitch the tuner is listening for — D#2 is D# in octave 2.
| Note | Also | Solfège | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| D#2 | Eb2 | Re♯ | 77.78 Hz |
| G#2 | Ab2 | Sol♯ | 103.83 Hz |
| C#3 | Db3 | Do♯ | 138.59 Hz |
| F#3 | Gb3 | Fa♯ | 185.00 Hz |
| A#3 | Bb3 | La♯ | 233.08 Hz |
| D#4 | Eb4 | Re♯ | 311.13 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 Half Step Down
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.
- Voodoo Child (Slight Return)Jimi Hendrix · 1968
- Pride and JoyStevie Ray Vaughan · 1983
- Sweet Child O’ MineGuns N’ Roses · 1987
Questions
Half Step Down tuning, answered
Every string lowered by one semitone. Nothing about the fretboard changes — the whole guitar just sits a half step lower. The 6 strings are tuned D#2 G#2 C#3 F#3 A#3 D#4, from the lowest-pitched string up.
It moves string 1 from E4 to D#4, string 2 from B3 to A#3, string 3 from G3 to F#3, string 4 from D3 to C#3, string 5 from A2 to G#2, string 6 from E2 to D#2. The remaining 0 strings stay at standard pitch.
Only if one of you transposes. Half step down puts you a semitone below concert pitch, so an open E chord sounds as E♭. The fret positions are identical, but the pitches are not.
Yes. The tuner on this page listens through your device microphone and compares what it hears against the exact frequencies for D#2 G#2 C#3 F#3 A#3 D#4. Play one string at a time in a quiet room, and let the note ring rather than strumming.
No. This Half Step Down 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 Half Step Down
Each one is described as the move from Half Step Down, so you can see how far away it is before you commit to turning a peg.
Standard
Every string a semitone 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
Every string moves, by different amounts
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
Drop D
5 strings a semitone up, string 6 a semitone down
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.
D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4
D-A-D-G-A-D
Every string moves, by different amounts
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