Guitar · 6 STRINGS
Guitar Open G Tuning
The open strings ring a G major chord, so a single barre anywhere on the neck gives you a major chord.
How to tune
Getting into Open G
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
3 strings a whole step down
The other 3 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 Open G Tuning
Open G lowers the first, fifth and sixth strings a whole step, leaving D G D G B D. Strum the open strings and you get G major. Lay one finger flat across any fret and you get the major chord at that fret — the whole system of shapes collapses into a single moveable barre.
That is why it belongs to slide guitar. The slide is the barre, and because the tuning is already a chord, the player can move it freely without ever fretting anything cleanly. Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters built a vocabulary out of it, and Keith Richards took the same tuning into rock by dropping the sixth string entirely and playing the top five.
The trade is that minor chords and anything outside the key take real work — you have to fret against the open tuning rather than with it. Most players treat open G as a tuning for particular songs rather than a general-purpose setup.
Also known as
- Spanish tuning
- Slack-key G
- DGDGBD tuning
Used in
- Blues
- Slide guitar
- Rock and roll
- Country blues
Played by
- Keith Richards
- Robert Johnson
- Muddy Waters
- Joni Mitchell
What it buys you
- The open strings are already a G major chord
- One barre finger covers any major chord on the neck
- Built for slide: the slide does the work of the barre
- Drone strings ring on either side of the melody
Note frequencies
Open G string frequencies
The 6 open strings of Guitar Open G, 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 |
| G2 | — | Sol | 98.00 Hz |
| D3 | — | Re | 146.83 Hz |
| G3 | — | Sol | 196.00 Hz |
| B3 | — | Si | 246.94 Hz |
| D4 | — | Re | 293.66 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 Open G
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.
- Honky Tonk WomenThe Rolling Stones · 1969
- Brown SugarThe Rolling Stones · 1971
- Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones · 1981
Questions
Open G tuning, answered
The open strings ring a G major chord, so a single barre anywhere on the neck gives you a major chord. The 6 strings are tuned D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4, from the lowest-pitched string up.
It moves string 1 from E4 to D4, string 5 from A2 to G2, string 6 from E2 to D2. The remaining 3 strings stay at standard pitch.
The low D doubles a note already present higher up and muddies the chord. Keith Richards plays five-string Open G for that reason — with the sixth string gone, the lowest note is the root G.
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 Open G 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 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4. Play one string at a time in a quiet room, and let the note ring rather than strumming.
No. This Open G 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 Open G
Each one is described as the move from Open G, so you can see how far away it is before you commit to turning a peg.
Drop D
2 strings a whole step up
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
1 string a whole step down, string 5 a whole step up
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
Standard
3 strings 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
Half Step Down
Every string moves, by different amounts
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