At some point you will have to change your guitar from standard tuning to something else. This is called an alternate tuning, and this article shows you how to do that, as well as some common tunings you may come across in fingerstyle guitar.
What Are Alternate Tunings on the Guitar?
Alternate tunings are any tuning in guitar that differs from the intervals between the strings in standard tuning. In standard guitar tuning, the strings are tuned to the following pitches, starting from the thickest string (lowest pitch) to the thinnest string (highest pitch): E, A, D, G, B, and E.
Switching any one of those strings to a different note puts you in an alternate tuning.
For example, in Drop D tuning, we drop the lowest string from E to D. This increases the interval between the two lowest strings from a perfect fourth to a perfect fifth.
Half Step Down Isn't an Alternate Tuning
As I explain below, half-step or whole-step down tunings aren't true alternate tunings, because the guitar can be brought up to standard tuning simply by using a capo.
Why Use Alernate Tunings in Fingerstyle Guitar?
With alternate tunings, you can:
- Use different chord shapes with more open strings
- Play in different or unusual keys without a capo
- Play harmonics that aren't present in standard tunings
Some Common Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar
Here are some common tunings in fingerstyle guitar that you may come across:
- Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E)
- DADGAD tuning (D-A-D-G-A-D)
- Open G tuning (D-G-D-G-B-D)
- Drop C Open tuning (C-G-D-G-A-D)
- Open E tuning (E-G#-B-E-B-E)
How to Tune Your Guitar in an Alternate Tuning
There are two main ways that you can change your guitar into an alternate tuning:
- Using an app (paid version) or a guitar tuner
- Entirely by ear
For easy alternate tunings where you only have to tune one string, you can tune your guitar by ear. For more complex alternate tunings I recommend using an app.
Tuning the Guitar with an App
You can use a freely downloadable app for your smartphone to tune into alternate tunings. Some premium versions of the app have presets with alternate tunings that you can use.
You can also use a guitar tuner that allows chromatic tuning to tune your guitar in an alternate tuning. Decide which pitches you want to use for your alternate tuning, and change one string at a time.
How to Alternate Tune By Ear
Most alternate tunings involve changing other strings to match the note of an open string on the guitar. We can therefore use the acoustic phenomenon known as beats to tune by ear.
The method of listening for beats involves playing two strings simultaneously: an open string and the string that we would like to change to the same note as the open string.
Tuning Your Guitar to Drop D by Ear
For example, let's say you want to tune the sixth string down to D.
This means you will change the sixth string from E down to D and simultaneously pluck the fourth string. As you approach the correct note, you will hear a pulsating sound called "beats".
These beats will get slower and finally disappear as you approach the note D on the sixth string.
Master Standard Tuning Before Using Alternate Tunings
Before diving into alternate tunings, become an expert at tuning your guitar in standard tuning.
To use alternate tunings, you must be aware of the difference between tightening the string (making the note sharper) and loosening the string (the note becomes flat). Not doing so can damage your guitar.
A Word of Warning: Only Tune Down (never tune up)
I always advocate tuning down to your alternate tuning and not tuning up. This means never tightening any of the strings beyond their normal tension in standard tuning unless strictly necessary.
In the instances where you need to tune up, I recommend using a capo.
Why not tune up?
If you are an expert at alternate tunings, you can most certainly tune the guitar strings in whichever direction you like.
However, tuning down prevents the extra stress that a higher tuning (tighter strings) puts on your instrument. It also prevents you from accidentally over tightening and snapping your strings.
Chords with Alternate Guitar Tunings
Alternate tunings on the guitar can give your instrument a really cool sound by using open strings.
However, when we tune our guitars in other alternate tunings, it will be impossible for us to use the same fingering to play the notes on our guitar in an alternate tuning for our song composed for standard tuning.
You must learn new chord shapes
In other words, chord shapes, like cowboy chords, won’t work in your alternate tuning. If you finger a standard chord, it will sound totally off in your alternate tuning.
On the other hand, other really cool and awesome sounding chord shapes will emerge in your alternate tuning. Thankfully, these chords can often be easier to play.
Open Tunings
A true open tuning occurs when you strum all the open strings and you get a chord. For example, a true open tuning such as “open Low E” tuning that Sungha Jung uses in his song On Cloud Nine gives you an E Major chord.
DADGAD tuning is a logical tuning to use after mastering Drop D tuning. It is almost, but not quite, an open tuning.
You can play very easy chords using DADGAD tuning all across the guitar neck. However, playing open strings on the guitar in this tuning doesn't give you a major or minor chord.
Here’s why Half Step Down tuning isn’t an alternate tuning.
Now we will get to the controversial declaration: Half Step Down tuning is NOT an alternate tuning.
In half step down tuning, the intervals between the open strings stay exactly the same as they do in standard tuning.
The intervals, or the distances between the notes of the individual strings, starting from the thickest string (lowest pitch) to the thinnest string (highest pitch), are as follows:
- From E to A: perfect fourth
- From A to D: perfect fourth
- From D to G: perfect fourth
- From G to B: major third
- B to E: perfect fourth
If you put a guitar capo on a given fret, say the fourth, you will raise the entire pitch of the guitar by two whole steps. Put another way, we’ve raised each string by exactly the same interval.
Half step down tuning is like using a capo, except going in reverse. Tuning all the strings a half step down involves lowering the guitar strings by the exact same interval, while keeping the intervals between the strings exactly the same.
So, placing your capo on the first fret raises the whole guitar by one half step, where tuning the guitar a half step down lowers it by one half step.
Half Step Down tuning won't give you any new chord shapes
Moreover, you can play any song that uses half step down tuning using the exact same finger placement as in standard tuning. Recall that one of the requirements of alternate tunings is to use brand new fingerings and chord shapes.
Songs by Sungha Jung that Use Alternate Tunings
Some of the songs by Sungha Jung that use alternate tunings include:
- Irony
- On Cloud Nine
- Sprint
- Felicity