Tuning guide
Drop D
Free in TuneTheory
Tuning: D A D G B E, low to high. One string moves. Every chord you already know still works, and you gain a low D that turns power chords into one finger and D chords into something with a floor under them.
Tune to it in TuneTheory
- Open the Instrument tuner. Tap the capsule at the top (it reads Guitar · Standard) and choose Drop D.
- The retune guide shows one string moving: the low E comes down a whole step to
D2. Everything else stays. - Play the low string and turn the peg down until the pill turns teal and the chime plays the D.
Drop D is in the free app, on guitar and on bass.
Same chords, new bass
Five of the six strings are where they were, so every grip you know still works. What changes is what the low string gives you. Play an open D chord and let the low string ring: the chord has a root under it for the first time. Play your open A and hear the low D against it for a Dsus feel, or mute it with your thumb and nothing has changed.
Anything that used to want the low E string moves. An E-shape barre at the fifth fret is still A on the top five strings, but the low string is now at the seventh fret for the A, or you leave it out. G is easier than it was: the low G sits at the fifth fret with the rest of the open G shape underneath it.
Power chords with one finger
The bottom three strings are now D, A, D: a root, a fifth, and the root again. Lay one finger flat across them at any fret and you have a power chord. Open is D5, the fifth fret is G5, the seventh is A5. That is why Drop D is the default tuning of half of rock guitar: the riff moves with one finger while the others are free.
Songs in Drop D
Neil Young, "Harvest Moon." The Beatles, "Dear Prudence." Fleetwood Mac, "Never Going Back Again." Foo Fighters, "Everlong." Nirvana, "Heart-Shaped Box." Rage Against the Machine, "Killing in the Name." Play any of them and notice how often the low D is the whole point.
