Guitar tuning
Drop D Tuning
D·A·D·G·B·E
Drop D changes one string: the low E drops a whole step to D. Everything else stays exactly where standard tuning left it, so every chord shape you already know still works — you have just gained a low D and a one-finger power chord on the bottom three strings.
That small change is why Drop D turns up everywhere. Metal and hard rock use the low D and the barre-with-one-finger power chords for weight and speed — Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Nirvana. Folk and country players use the same low D as a drone under open chords. It is the gentlest way into alternate tuning and usually the first one a guitarist tries.
How to tune to Drop D
From standard tuning:
- 6th (lowest) E → D (down a whole step)
- 5th A — unchanged
- 4th D — unchanged
- 3rd G — unchanged
- 2nd B — unchanged
- 1st (highest) E — unchanged
Open—Shape’s tuner listens for one string at a time and tells you which string it is and how far off — including in alternate tunings like this one.
What Drop D does well
- One-finger power chords. Barre the bottom three strings at any fret and you have a fifth — fast to move, easy to palm-mute.
- A low D drone. The open 6th string sits a whole step below standard and rings under anything in D, G and related keys.
- Everything you know still works. Only the 6th string moved, so standard shapes on the top five strings are unchanged.
- A heavier low end. The extra low note thickens riffs and root-position chords without changing your fingering.
Common chords in Drop D
Standard shapes on the top five strings are unchanged in Drop D — the grid below focuses on the chords the dropped 6th string changes. Each is the first voicing the engine returns; tap to browse the rest.
Numbers read low string to high; 0 is open, × is muted.
A progression to try
A straightforward Drop D loop that leans on the low string:
Songs in Drop D
- Everlong — Foo Fighters
- Heart-Shaped Box — Nirvana
- Killing in the Name — Rage Against the Machine
- Harvest Moon — Neil Young
- Moby Dick — Led Zeppelin
Where you’ll hear it
Across rock, metal, folk and country — from Rage Against the Machine and Foo Fighters to Neil Young acoustic tracks. Drop D is common enough that most guitarists reach for it without thinking of it as an alternate tuning.
Open a Drop D canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.