Guitar tuning
Open G Minor Tuning
D·G·D·G·Bb·D
Open G minor is Open G with one string moved: the B drops a semitone to Bb, turning the open major chord minor. From standard you tune the 6th, 5th and 1st strings down to D, G and D, and the 2nd string down to Bb — the open strings then spell G minor, D, G, D, G, Bb, D.
It is the minor counterpart to the tuning Keith Richards built his sound on, and it works the same way: a straight barre at any fret is a minor chord, and the doubled D and G strings drone under everything. Fingerstyle and slide players use it for darker, modal open-tuned writing — the same trick as Open D minor, centred on G.
How to tune to Open G Minor
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 → Bb (down a semitone)
- 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 Minor does well
- A minor chord, open. Strum the open strings for Gm; barre any fret for another minor chord with one finger.
- The Open G drone, made minor. Two D strings and two G strings ring as pedal tones, now under a minor third instead of a major one.
- The cross-note move. Raise the Bb a semitone to B for G major, and slide between the two for the classic cross-note bend.
- One string from Open G. Everything you know in Open G transfers — the only change is the flattened third.
Common chords in Open G Minor
Open G minor is Open G with the 2nd string lowered a semitone. The grid shows the easiest voicing the engine finds for each chord; tap to browse the rest.
Numbers read low string to high; 0 is open, × is muted.
A progression to try
A Gm–Cm–Dm loop, the minor mirror of an Open G progression:
Songs in Open G Minor
- Where Do My Bluebird Fly? — The Tallest Man on Earth
- Mist-Covered Mountains of Home — John Renbourn
- Chester County — John Miller
- Sparkling on the Wind — Stefan Grossman
Where you’ll hear it
A small circle of steel-string fingerpickers — John Renbourn, John Miller, Stefan Grossman, and more recently The Tallest Man on Earth — reaching for Open G’s drone with a minor centre. Sometimes called “banjo minor,” after the open G-minor banjo tuning it echoes. A niche tuning, but an easy step for anyone already in Open G.
Open a Open G Minor canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.