“I’d tune to the numbers in a date; I’d tune to a piece of music I liked on the radio; I’d tune to bird songs and the landscape I was sitting in… “
Not every guitarist is as esoteric, or as talented, as Mitchell, who is as well-known for her alternative guitar tunings as for the beautiful, exotic ballads she wrote with them.
Slide and blues guitarists will already be familiar with open tunings—in which a guitar’s strings are tuned to a major chord—but it’s worth all guitarists investigating at least a few of the more common alternates, if only to play the songs of Mitchell, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, John Fahey, Nick Drake, and other greats who have used them.
The Encyclopedia Of Alternate Guitar Tunings
In the tunings shown, we have indicated the number of frets—or half-steps—you must tune each string down from its standard tuning note. Each fret on a guitar is a half-step, or semi-tone, apart (the first fret of the bottom E string on a standard tuned guitar is F, for instance). Therefore, there’s little chance you will break a string when re-tuning, and there should be no need to buy heavier gauge strings.
While open tuning is great for playing slide guitar, these alternative tunings can be used to reinvigorate familiar chord shapes and picking patterns, too.
Remember, if you retune your guitar, you are entering a whole new world that may take a little time to get used to. But, the investigation can be worth it.
Guide To Open Tuning On Guitar: 5 Basic Alternate Tunings
Or, to paraphrase David Crosby, when you first tune that low E down to a D, you’ll be hooked, and “from that day on, you’re a lost soul.”
A good tuning for rock as power chords can be fretted easily on the lower three strings. Play the low D and A open to accompany songs in the key of D.
A cross between open G (DGDGBD) and Dropped D, you can use standard chord shapes on the middle four strings and play open G blue licks with the top three strings.
An Introduction To The Wide World Of Alternate 12 String Guitar Tunings
Preferred for a number of reasons: to make bending strings easier, to accompany a saxophone, or to better suit a singer’s vocal range
Popularized by British folk pioneer Davey Graham, this is a good tuning for finger-style guitarists to explore interesting melodies accompanied by open strings.
Often employed by classical guitar composers, this is the tuning on which standard tuning is based. Another good one for finger-style guitarists to explore.
The Best Strings For Open E Guitar Tuning
Instead of being dedicated to one instrument, young musicians, or professionals, is a lifestyle resource for all music makers, regardless of age, instrument, or ability. We focus on providing educational articles teaching people how to play an instrument, but we also favor travel pieces, music related health articles, interesting news stories, and plenty more.Alternate tunings may seem intimidating, but simply tuning a few pegs on your guitar to different notes can create a whole new world of sound for guitarists. In this lesson we’ll show you how to tune your guitar to open G, an alternate tuning that’s popular in blues and folk genres. We’ll also talk about a few different songs you may already know that use open G tuning.
Open G tuning is an alternate tuning that allows guitarists to play a G major chord without having to touch any frets or use a capo. Open G tuning gets its name from the open G chord because it requires guitarists to tune their strings to the notes that make up a G chord: G, B, and D.
In open G tuning, you can play a G chord without having to use your fretting hand. Strike your strings in an open position and you have a G chord!
What Is A Guitar Set Up?
One of the reasons to tune your guitar to open G tuning is to make it easier to play certain chords. For instance, the G chord can be played in an open position, while most other major chords can be created in this tuning by using a simple barre fingering. This makes open G ideal for slide guitar enthusiasts, too.
Open G tuning also lends itself to a different, bluesier tone than standard tuning. This alternate tuning has woven its way into several genres, most notably blues and folk music. Robert Johnson, the forefather of blues used open G tuning, as did folk pioneer, Joni Mitchell. You can also listen for open G tuning in blues-tinted rock, by such legends as The Rolling Stones, George Thorogood, The Black Crowes, and more.
Open G tuning changes the tuning of only three of your strings, but it makes a big sonic impact. Let’s walk through the differences between standard tuning and open G:
Alternate Guitar Tunings You Should Try
In open G tuning, your low E string is tuned down a full step to a low D. Your next highest string, A, will drop down a full step to G. Your D, G, and B strings will stay the same, while your high E string is lowered a full pitch to D.
Now that you have an idea of the differences between standard tuning and open G, there are a few ways you can tune your guitar to achieve this sound: Start by plucking your low E string. Tune it down a whole step by turning the tuning peg clockwise towards you. Keep plucking the string until you hear the correct note. Repeat for other strings that need tuning.Pro tip: You can use the Online guitar tuner to help you tune your guitar to the correct note. Use either the Electric Guitar Online Guitar Tuner or the Acoustic Guitar Online Tuner. Or download the app for your phone. Both the web and app versions give you the ability to adjust your settings and tune specifically to Open G and other alternate tunings. If you don’t have a tuner, you can get your guitar into open G tuning by ear: Start by playing the note you’re trying to tune to on another string and try to match it. For instance, to tune your low and high E strings down to a D, play your D string and adjust the tuning peg until the notes sound similar. Keep in mind that your high and low E strings that are lowered to a D will be, respectively, one octave higher and one octave lower than the D string you pluck on your guitar. To tune your A string down a full step from G, pluck your G string and match the tone of your A string to it as you twist the peg clockwise towards you.
Both the blues and folk genres have leaned on open G tuning to deliver a rich, soulful sound. Classic rock (and even modern rock with classic rock flavoring), also uses open G to add a distinctive bluesy tone. Here are a few ways these genres have embraced open G tuning.
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Folk icon Joni Mitchell used quite a few alternate tunings on many of her early hits. Open G tuning made it easier for her to fingerpick her acoustic guitar and create beautiful arpeggios that accented her high soprano voice on her lyrically poetic songs. Both “Little Green” and “Nathan LaFraneer” were examples of songs in open G tuning.
“Little Green, ” ironically, appeared on Mitchell’s colorfully-titled album, Blue. The song touches on a variety of emotions and evokes beautiful imagery. On the flipside, “Nathan LaFraneer” is also oddly poetic in its way, conveying an image of a specific time and place, both good and bad. Open G tuning helps add to the atmospheric quality of both songs.
Originator of the Delta blues and perhaps the founding father of American blues, Robert Johnson paid homage to his mentor, Son House, in his slide-laden version of “Walkin’ Blues.” House recorded the song in 1930 and it may have been one of the very first instances of open G tuning that listeners were exposed to. Johnson’s heavy, rhythmic style was a nod to House’s original, but Johnson’s slide guitar stylings gave new life to this song when he recorded it six years after the original.
Alternative Tunings For Guitar
Blues great Muddy Waters also later recorded “Walkin’ Blues, ” putting his own stamp on it, as did ol’ Slowhand himself, Eric Clapton. Clapton’s version added more of a rock element while still keeping a fairly traditional blues sound, true to its roots.
Many classic rock artists embraced a bluesy sound, merging it with heavy electric guitar. They also embraced open G tuning to further root their rock in a more blues-tinted tradition. Keith Richards was notorious for his use of open G tuning, which could be heard in The Rolling Stones’ classic, “Honky Tonk Women, ” as well as a slew of the band’s other hits, including “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up.” Open G tuning has given Richards -- and the Stones -- iconic songs that continue to make an impact six decades later and still hold up!
Led Zeppelin also tapped a blues-influenced vein on many of their songs. Listen for open G tuning on the acoustic “Going to California” and “In My Time of Dying.” While Jimmy Page’s guitar and Robert Plant’s vocals on “Going to California”
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