Alternate Tuning Notes

As an addition to my last post on how to tune, I created another page with sound files of the tuning notes for standard tuning (accessible from the menu, above, under “TUNING”).

If you read the previous post, or watched the video, you probably realised that in the video I talk about downtuning the low E string to D or B. Although I haven’t included these notes on the tuning page, I’m putting them here (as you wont need them as often as the standard tuning notes). Once you get the hang of relative tuning, though, you should be able to tune to these notes using other notes on the guitar (as you see me do in the video).

Alternative Tunings

So here are the extra notes that you might need if you’re tuning your guitar down (known as “downtuning”) lower. Links open in a new window. The most common alternate guitar tuning is “Drop-D” where the low E string is tuned down to a D, so lets start with that:

Low D String

Low D

…and the furthest you’ll ever need to downtune the low E string is to a low B…(although some guitars have 7 strings and so have a separate B string!). Here is that note:

Low B String

Low B

Finally, here are the notes in between (just in case):

Low C String

Low C

Low C# String

Low C#

I don’t expect you’ll be using those lower notes that often (unless you’re into lots of extreme metal…), but I thought I’d provide them just in case. If you want to experiment with other tunings, you’ll have to use a relative tuning method (such as the one I mention in my blog on tuning).

Finding these notes on guitar is pretty easy, the low B is actually an octave lower than the note on the second fret of the A string. The low D is an octave lower than the open D string (these are the notes that I tune to in the video).

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Rob.

March 17, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Developing Your Ears, How to | No comments