Open C

Open C string notes

Low to high: C, G, C, G, C, E. Four of the six strings move from standard tuning (E, A, D, G, B, E).

Read the open strings as a stack: a perfect fifth, a perfect fourth, a perfect fifth, a perfect fourth and a major third. C sounds on the 6th, 4th and 2nd strings, the same root in three octaves, and G on the 5th and 3rd; the top E is the only third. Strummed open they sound C major, and the two lowest strings sit exactly where a cello’s C and G strings do, which is where the cello-like low end comes from.

How to retune from standard

The order matters here, because two of the four moves are tuned against a string you have just retuned. Leave the 3rd and 1st strings alone and work through the others like this.

• First the 5th string, A to G: down a whole step, against the open 3rd string, which is the same note an octave higher.
• Next the 4th string, D to C: down a whole step, against the 5th fret of the 5th string, the same note.
• Then the 6th string, E to C: down a major third, the longest drop, against the open 4th string, the same note an octave higher.
• Last the 2nd string, B to C: up a half step, the only string that rises, against the 5th fret of the 3rd string, the same note.

The 6th string falls furthest, so on light strings it can sound loose or buzz; a heavier gauge on that string firms it up. Check each note on the tuner as you go.

What Open C is good for

Favored in modern acoustic and fingerstyle for its cello-like low register and full ring.

Every open string is a note of the chord, so a single barre moves the whole sound: all six strings at the 5th fret are F major and at the 7th G major, the IV and V of C. The bass strings are stacked fifths and fourths, a ready-made drone under a melody on the top strings.

Famous songs in Open C tuning

John Fahey and William Ackerman, two American fingerstyle guitarists, used this tuning for the pieces below.

• Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt — John Fahey
• Townshend Shuffle — William Ackerman

More on String Warrior