Guitar tuning

Open E7 Tuning

E·G#·D·E·B·E

Tonal centre E7 — the open chord is already a dominant seventh Also called E7 tuning, EG#DEBE Difficulty Easy — two strings move

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open E7 is a slide tuning with the blues seventh built in. From standard you drop the 5th string a semitone to G# and the 3rd string a minor third to E — the open strings then spell E7, E, G#, D, E, B, E, dominant seventh and all.

Where Open E gives you a plain major chord to slide around, Open E7 hands you the chord the blues actually runs on. Strum the open strings and the flat seventh is already there; barre a fret and you have a dominant seventh at that pitch. It is a narrow, specialist tuning — but for a droning, slide-driven blues in E it removes a step.

How to tune to Open E7

From standard tuning:

6th (lowest) E — unchanged
5th A → G# (down a semitone)
4th D — unchanged
3rd G → E (down a minor third)
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 Open E7 does well

A dominant seventh, open. The open strings are E7, so the blues chord is there with nothing fretted — and a straight barre gives a seventh at any fret.
Slide-ready. The parallel intervals mean a bar laid across the strings sounds a full seventh chord anywhere on the neck.
A strong E drone. Three E strings ring as a pedal tone under fretted notes and slides.
A small change from Open E. Only two strings differ from Open E — the 5th drops a semitone, the 3rd drops to E — so the slide vocabulary carries over.

Common chords in Open E7

The open strings already form E7, so seventh chords come free and other shapes are close to Open E. The grid shows the easiest voicing the engine finds for each; tap to browse the rest.

E7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 of 730 → E 0 0 x 0 0 0 1 of 783 → A 5 5 x 0 5 0 1 of 285 → A7 5 5 5 0 5 0 1 of 304 → B7 7 7 7 7 7 7 1 of 136 → B 7 7 x 7 7 7 1 of 94 → C#m 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 of 364 → G#m x 0 1 x 0 x 1 of 250 →

Numbers read low string to high; 0 is open, × is muted.

A progression to try

A 12-bar blues in E — E7, A7, B7:

E7→A7→B7→E7

Songs in Open E7

Droning, slide-driven blues in E
A specialist variant of the Open E slide tuning
Used when the dominant seventh should ring without fretting

Where you’ll hear it

Slide blues players who want the flat seventh droning under everything, rather than fretting for it in Open E. A narrow tuning with a specific job.

Open a Open E7 canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open E7 tuning FAQ

What are the notes in Open E7 tuning?

From lowest to highest: E, G#, D, E, B, E. From standard, the 5th string drops a semitone from A to G# and the 3rd string drops a minor third from G to E. The open strings form an E7 chord.

How is Open E7 different from Open E?

Open E is a plain E major chord open. Open E7 lowers the 3rd string to a D, adding the flat seventh, so the open chord is a dominant seventh — the chord the blues is built on.

Is Open E7 good for slide?

Yes. The parallel tuning means barring any fret gives a dominant seventh chord, so slide blues in E needs almost no left-hand shaping.

Does Open E7 strain the neck like Open E?

Less — Open E raises three strings, while Open E7 lowers two from standard, so the overall tension is close to standard or slightly below.

Can I use a capo in Open E7?

Yes — a capo raises the whole E7 shape to a higher key while keeping the open-seventh trick. Open—Shape recalculates every voicing for the capo position.

Related tunings

Open D Minor Open E Minor Open A Minor Open G Minor Open C Minor Open E Minor 7 Open A Minor 7 Open G Major 7