Guitar tuning
Eb Standard Tuning
Eb·Ab·Db·Gb·Bb·Eb
Eb Standard is standard tuning with every string lowered one semitone: Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb from low to high. As with D Standard, the intervals between strings are untouched, so nothing about your playing changes — every shape simply sounds a half step lower.
It is the most common small retune in rock. Jimi Hendrix played most of his catalogue here; Stevie Ray Vaughan used it with very heavy strings for an enormous tone; Slash, Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett and Alice in Chains all followed. The reasons are a slightly fatter tone at lower tension, easier bends and vibrato, and a half-step drop that often lands a song better for the voice or alongside horns.
How to tune to Eb Standard
From standard tuning:
- 6th (lowest) E → Eb (down a semitone)
- 5th A → Ab (down a semitone)
- 4th D → Db (down a semitone)
- 3rd G → Gb (down a semitone)
- 2nd B → Bb (down a semitone)
- 1st (highest) E → Eb (down a semitone)
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 Eb Standard does well
- Every shape, a half step down. Identical intervals to standard tuning, so all your chords, scales and songs work unchanged — only the pitch moves.
- Fatter tone, heavier strings. Dropping a semitone lets you fit a heavier gauge at comfortable tension — the Stevie Ray Vaughan route to a bigger sound.
- Easier bends and vibrato. Slightly lower tension makes expressive bending and wide vibrato less work for the hands.
- Plays well with others. The half-step drop matches many horn keys and brings songs down into an easier range for a lot of singers.
Common chords in Eb Standard
Ordinary shapes; the names are the chords as they sound a semitone below standard. 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 blues I–IV–V, a half step down — Hendrix territory:
Songs in Eb Standard
- Most of Jimi Hendrix’s catalogue
- Most of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s catalogue
- Sweet Child o’ Mine — Guns N’ Roses
- Much of Alice in Chains and Van Halen
Where you’ll hear it
Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Slash, Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Pearl Jam — a large slice of blues, hard rock and metal is recorded a half step down.
Open a Eb Standard canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.