Open G

Open G string notes

Low to high: D, G, D, G, B, D. Against standard tuning (E, A, D, G, B, E), the 6th, 5th and 1st strings come down and the rest stay put.

Every open string belongs to one chord. The 5th and 3rd strings are G, the root; the 2nd is B, the major third; the 6th, 4th and 1st are D, the fifth. Strummed open they sound G major, and neighbouring strings sit a perfect fourth, a perfect fifth, a perfect fourth, a major third and a minor third apart.

How to retune from standard

Three strings come down a whole step each: the 6th from E to D, the 5th from A to G and the 1st from E to D. The 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings do not move.

Each one has a twin among the strings you leave alone: the 6th matches the open 4th string, which is the same note an octave higher; the 5th matches the open 3rd string, the same note an octave higher; and the 1st matches the open 4th string, the same note an octave lower. Let the tuner confirm each.

What Open G is good for

The classic slide-guitar and country-blues tuning — and Keith Richards’ signature five-string sound.

Because every string is part of the chord, one finger plays the others. Barre all six strings at the 5th fret for C major and at the 7th for D major, the IV and V of G, and slide between them. A bar across all six strings is always a major chord, which is the main reason open G suits a bottleneck slide.

The 6th string puts the chord’s fifth below its root, since the lowest open note is D rather than G. Keith Richards takes that string off and plays five-string open G, G major with the root at the bottom, as on Start Me Up.

Famous songs in Open G tuning

Blues players call this Spanish tuning, and Hawaiian slack-key guitarists use the same notes under the name taro patch. All three songs below are Keith Richards on five strings.

• Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones
• Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones
• Brown Sugar — The Rolling Stones

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