Drop D

Drop D string notes

Low to high: D, A, D, G, B, E. Five of the six strings are exactly where standard tuning (E, A, D, G, B, E) puts them.

Neighbouring open strings are a perfect fifth, a perfect fourth, a perfect fourth, a major third and a perfect fourth apart, so the three lowest already stack a root, a fifth and an octave. Strummed alone they sound D5, a power chord, before a finger touches the fretboard. In standard tuning a movable power chord on those strings takes two or three fingers; here one finger does it.

How to retune from standard

The only job is the 6th string: bring it down a whole step, from E to D. Leave the 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings alone.

Pluck the open 6th string and ease its peg down until the tuner reads D. Then check by ear against the open 4th string, which is the same note an octave higher: when the two are in tune, the slow wobble between them disappears. Nothing is tightened, so the neck takes no extra strain; the only side effect is a slacker low string that can buzz if you dig in.

What Drop D is good for

A staple of rock, metal, folk, and grunge for its thick low end and easy power chords.

Barre the three lowest strings with a single finger and the shape is a power chord at any fret: G5 at the 5th fret, A5 at the 7th. Chords in D gain a foundation as well: the open-position D major and D minor shapes can ring all six strings with the low D under them, which standard tuning cannot give you.

Everything on the other five strings is untouched, so every chord shape and scale pattern that stays on strings 5 to 1 plays exactly as you know it. Only the 6th string shifts: the note you used to fret at the 3rd fret now sits at the 5th, because the string has dropped two frets.

Famous songs in Drop D tuning

Rock and metal guitarists reach for it whenever a riff wants one heavy low root, and blues, country, folk and classical players use it too.

• Everlong — Foo Fighters
• Harvest Moon — Neil Young
• Moby Dick — Led Zeppelin

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