Alternate Tunings Guitar Tuner

How to tune to an alternate tuning

1. Pick your tuning.

   Choose a category — Drop, Open, or More — then select the specific tuning you want.

2. Click "Start Tuning."

   Allow microphone access when your browser asks.

3. Pluck each string in turn.

   The headstock pegs relabel automatically to match your chosen tuning's target notes.

4. Watch the meter.

   Turn the tuning peg until the needle centers and the peg turns green.

5. Do a final pass.

   Tuning one string can slightly pull others out, especially with big pitch changes — recheck all six once done.

How this tuner detects pitch

When you pluck a string, this tool analyzes the sound through your microphone using an autocorrelation algorithm — it compares the waveform against slightly delayed copies of itself to find the point where they line up most closely, and that lag reveals the exact frequency you're playing. This runs entirely in your browser via the Web Audio API; your microphone audio is never recorded, uploaded, or sent anywhere, and it disappears the instant you close the tab.

Troubleshooting a jumpy or inaccurate reading

The needle won't settle, or jumps between notes

Background noise is the most common cause — a fan, a TV, or other instruments ringing nearby all confuse pitch detection. Mute any strings you're not testing and play a single, clean note rather than a chord.

It picks the wrong string

In Auto mode, a string that's very badly out of tune can land closer to a neighboring string's target pitch than its own, so the tuner locks onto the wrong one. Switch to manual string selection until it's roughly in range, then Auto mode will track it correctly from there.

Nothing registers at all

Check that microphone permission was actually granted — look for a blocked-mic icon in your browser's address bar — and confirm you're playing firmly enough for the microphone to pick up a clear signal above any background noise.

Why bother with alternate tunings?

Standard EADGBE tuning is where almost everyone starts, and it covers an enormous range of music — but it's far from the only option your guitar has. Stepping outside it opens up chord voicings, open drones, and textures that are awkward or flat-out impossible to reach in standard tuning, which is exactly why so many songwriters reach for an alternate tuning specifically to find a new sound rather than fight their way through a familiar one. It can also make certain riffs and chords genuinely easier under the fingers — some famously awkward stretches in standard tuning become simple open shapes once the strings are rearranged underneath them.

Drop tunings

Drop D — D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4

Only the low E string changes

The easiest alternate tuning to reach from standard — just lower the thickest string a whole step, from E down to D. It shows up across an enormous range of genres, from grungy 90s rock to gentle acoustic fingerpicking, largely because that single dropped string makes big, easy power chords available with one finger while leaving every other string exactly where a guitarist already expects it.

Double Drop D — D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 D4

Both outer strings drop to D

Starting from Drop D, lower the high E string a whole step too, and both your outermost strings become D an octave apart. This appears throughout classic rock from the 60s and 70s, and its lower overall range tends to suit heavier, moodier material especially well.

Drop C — C2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4

Every string drops a full step from Drop D

A favorite in heavy metal and hard rock for its dark, powerful low end. The much looser string tension at this pitch can cause noticeable buzz on standard-gauge strings, which is why players who live in Drop C regularly often switch to a heavier string gauge built for it.

Open tunings

An open tuning is arranged so all six open strings already ring out as a complete chord — no fretting required — which is exactly what makes slide and bottleneck playing, and drone-heavy fingerpicking, feel so natural in these tunings.

Open D — D2 A2 D3 F#3 A3 D4

Open strings form a D major chord

A rich, resonant D major chord rings out from the open strings, making this a favorite for slide guitar and fingerstyle playing alike. Several influential singer-songwriters built entire signature sounds around it, often specifically because it opened up voicings standard tuning couldn't easily reach.

Open E — E2 B2 E3 G#3 B3 E4

Only 3 strings change from standard

One of the easiest open tunings to reach from standard, since half the strings stay exactly where they are. It has deep roots in folk, blues, and rock, prized for the bluesy slides and licks its open chord makes effortless.

Open G — D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4

Classic blues and slide tuning

Blues-rooted and enormously popular with rock guitarists for slide playing, Open G rings out a G major chord across the open strings. It also translates naturally to banjo and dobro, which is part of why it's such a common crossover tuning for players who move between instruments.

Open C — C2 G2 C3 G3 C4 E4

Rich, low-register C major

A deep, resonant C major chord, useful whenever a song calls for a lower overall register than standard or even Open G can comfortably reach. Only four of the six strings need to move to get here, since the 1st and 3rd stay put.

Open F# (Black Key Tuning) — F#3 A#3 C#4 F#4 A#4 F#5

Mirrors a piano's black keys

An unusual, high-register tuning strongly associated with funk and soul guitar. Its name comes from mirroring the black keys of a piano — a deliberate constraint some players use specifically to force fresh melodic ideas.

Open D Minor — D2 A2 D3 F3 A3 D4

One string away from Open D

Drop the F# of Open D down a half step to F, and the whole open chord turns minor — a genuinely haunting, melancholy tuning associated with some of the most mournful acoustic blues ever recorded.

More alternate tunings

Eb Tuning — Eb2 Ab2 Db3 Gb3 Bb3 Eb4

Standard tuning, one half step down

Every string drops exactly a half step from standard, so every standard-tuning chord shape still works, just transposed down. It's a favorite for slightly looser string tension and a marginally darker overall tone without changing how anything is played.

DADGAD (Celtic Tuning) — D2 A2 D3 G3 A3 D4

Drone-friendly folk tuning

Deeply associated with folk and Celtic-influenced guitar, DADGAD keeps several open strings ringing as drones underneath whatever's being played, echoing the sound of traditional pipe music. It became widely known through the 1960s folk revival and remains a staple for fingerstyle and Celtic-leaning players.

D Standard — D2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4

Standard tuning, a full step down

Identical in shape to standard tuning but a whole step lower across every string, so every chord shape you already know still works exactly the same, just transposed. A very easy tuning to adopt for exactly that reason.

Nashville Tuning — E3 A3 D4 G4 B3 E4

Studio "high-strung" tuning

Several strings jump a full octave higher than standard, giving a bright, chiming, almost 12-string-like quality when layered with a normally tuned guitar in the studio. Because of the extra tension, this tuning genuinely calls for strings designed specifically for it, or you risk snapping one.

Ostrich Tuning — E2 E2 E3 E3 E4 E4

Every string tuned to the same note

About as unconventional as tunings get — every string tuned to E, collapsing the guitar into a single droning pitch. Not a practical choice for most songs, but a genuinely interesting one when the goal is pure, hypnotic repetition rather than harmony.

Understanding the note numbers

Every tuning on this page lists notes with a number attached, like D2 or E4 — that number is the octave. Two notes can share the same letter name, like the low and high E strings in standard tuning, while sitting two whole octaves apart in actual pitch. The octave number is what makes each target unambiguous, which matters a lot once tunings start spreading strings across unusual octave combinations, like Nashville tuning's jump up an octave on several strings.

More tools on ProDeviceTest

Practicing music rather than just tuning up? These run the same way — instant, no download, right in your browser.

• Guitar Tuner — standard tuning with the same interactive headstock
• Bass Guitar Tuner — 4-string bass tuning with Standard and Drop D
• Guitalele Tuner — the guitar-ukulele hybrid, in A or E tuning
• Chromatic Tuner — tune any instrument to any of the 12 notes
• Metronome — practice with a steady, accurate beat
• Pitch Detector — see the note, Hz, and cents deviation of any sound
• All Instrument Tuners — the full category