Drop D tuning

Drop D, from the 6th string to the 1st: D A D G B E. Frequencies are for A4 = 440 Hz.

Drop D tuning lowers the 6th string by a whole step, from E to D, and leaves the other five strings alone: D A D G B E. The low string now sounds D2, about 73.4 Hz instead of 82.4 Hz, exactly one octave below the open 4th string. Everything you already play on the top five strings stays where it was.

That one change does two things. It gives songs in D major or D minor a low root that rings on an open string, and it turns the three lowest strings into a power chord you can play with one finger. Because only one string moves, drop D is also the quickest alternate tuning to get in and out of, even between songs.

String tension follows the square of the pitch, so the 6th string loses about a fifth of its tension at D. It feels a little looser and can rattle against the frets if you strike it hard. On regular string sets this is rarely a problem; if it buzzes, pick that string a bit softer or try a slightly heavier 6th string.

Check the guitar in standard first; drop D only sounds right if the other five strings are already in tune. Then lower the 6th string. Tapping the first button, D2, before you start keeps the tuner measuring against the 6th string the whole way down, so it never jumps to another string halfway. Go slightly below D and come back up into the green zone so the peg holds.

Two quick checks by ear. Play the 6th string at the 7th fret: that A should match the open 5th string. Or touch the 6th string lightly right above the 12th fret and pluck it for a harmonic: that D should match the open 4th string exactly.

On a guitar with a floating tremolo bridge, lowering one string lets the springs pull the bridge back a little, and the other five strings go slightly sharp. Play them with the tuner in Auto after the drop and touch them up. A fixed bridge or an acoustic guitar barely notices the change.

In drop D the 6th, 5th and 4th strings are D, A and D: root, fifth and octave. Lay one finger flat across those three strings at any fret and you get a power chord whose root is the note on the 6th string. Riffs that need three fingers in standard tuning become a single finger sliding along the neck, which is why drop D is so common in rock and metal.

Chords that leave the 6th string out, such as A, Am, C, D and Dm, are played exactly as in standard tuning. Only shapes that use the 6th string change.

Any note on the 6th string now sits two frets higher than before. The low G of an open G chord moves from the 3rd fret to the 5th, and an E major chord needs the 6th string fretted at the 2nd fret or left out. Barre chords rooted on the 6th string lose their shape, so in drop D most players move them to the 5th string or use the one-finger shape instead.

The reward is a full six-string D chord: fret the usual D shape on the top three strings and let the 6th, 5th and 4th ring open (frets 0 0 0 2 3 2, from the 6th string to the 1st). The deep D under it is why so many fingerstyle arrangements in D use this tuning.