Guitar tuning

Open G Tuning

D·G·D·G·B·D

Tonal centre G major Also called Spanish tuning, slack-key G Difficulty Easy — barre chords do most of the work

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open G lowers the 6th, 5th and 1st strings so the six open strings spell a G major chord. Strike them and you have G major with nothing fretted; barre straight across any fret and you have another major chord.

It is the sound of slide guitar and of the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards took up open G in 1968, removed the low 6th string entirely, and built most of his rhythm parts on the five that were left — “Brown Sugar,” “Start Me Up,” “Honky Tonk Women.” Delta blues players used it long before that, and it is still the first tuning most slide players learn.

How to tune to Open G

From standard tuning:

6th (lowest) E → D (down a whole step)
5th A → G (down a whole step)
4th D — unchanged
3rd G — unchanged
2nd B — unchanged
1st (highest) E → D (down a whole step)

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 G does well

Instant major chords. A straight barre at any fret is a major chord — 5th fret C, 7th fret D, and so on up the neck.
Slide guitar. Because the open strings form a chord, a slide laid flat across the strings always sounds a full chord.
The Keith Richards five-string. Drop the 6th string and the remaining five put the root on the bottom, which is why his chords sit so close and bright.
Ringing suspensions. Adding or lifting one finger from a barre gives sus2, sus4 and add9 colours almost for free.

Common chords in Open G

Open G major chords are mostly straight barres; the shapes below are what the engine returns as the easiest voicing for each. The G shape shown mutes the low string — the Keith Richards five-string approach. Tap any chord to browse the rest.

G x 0 0 0 0 0 1 of 806 → C x 5 5 0 5 5 1 of 255 → D 0 7 0 7 7 7 1 of 282 → D7 0 2 0 2 1 4 1 of 340 → Em 2 0 2 0 0 2 1 of 393 → Am x 2 2 2 1 2 1 of 165 → G7 x 0 0 0 0 3 1 of 696 → Cadd9 x 5 0 0 5 0 1 of 506 →

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

A progression to try

A I–IV–I–V loop in G, the shape of countless Stones rhythm parts:

G→C→G→D

Songs in Open G

Brown Sugar — The Rolling Stones
Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones
Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking — The Rolling Stones
Death Letter — Son House

Players who use Open G

Keith Richards, Robert Johnson, Son House, Muddy Waters, Duane Allman, Ry Cooder, Lowell George, Joni Mitchell (among her many tunings).

Open a Open G 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 G tuning FAQ

What are the notes in Open G tuning?

From lowest to highest: D, G, D, G, B, D. The three strings that change from standard are the 6th (E to D), the 5th (A to G) and the 1st (E to D).

Why did Keith Richards remove a string?

In open G the low 6th string is a D — the fifth of the chord, below the root. Taking it off puts the root (G) on the bottom, which makes the chords sound tighter, more like a piano’s left hand. He has played a five-string guitar for open G ever since.

Is Open G good for slide guitar?

Yes — it is the most common slide tuning alongside Open D. Because the open strings form a chord, a slide laid flat across all six strings sounds a full major chord at any position.

How is Open G different from Open D?

Same concept, different root. Open G is a G major chord; Open D is a D major chord and sits a little lower and darker. Slide players often keep one guitar in each.

Can I play in keys other than G?

Yes. Barre chords cover every major key, and Open—Shape will find the minor, seventh and extended shapes for whichever key you are working in.

Related tunings

Open D Open C Open E Open A