Drop D Tuning: How To Tune Your Guitar to Drop D

Drop D tuning is very commonly used in all varieties of genres and is very simple to put your guitar into, making it an invaluable tool for guitar players of all experience levels. In this article, we’ll discuss how to tune your guitar to Drop D and how to make the most out of it!

How To Tune Your Guitar to Drop D Using a Tuner

Thankfully, Drop D tuning only requires the adjustment of one of your strings, which is one of the reasons it's so widely used. All you really need to do is ensure all of your strings are in proper tune, then adjust your low E string down a whole step to the D!

After doing this, double-check that all of your strings are in proper tune, as adjusting your 6th string (or any string at a certain point) can have an effect on the other strings, especially with the new octave you've created between the 6th and the 4th strings.

What Are the Benefits of Playing in Drop D Tuning?

What makes Drop D so popular in hard rock music is that it turns the power chord hand shape into a simple and easy barre chord, which means that you can simply press down the bottom three strings and suddenly you're playing rich chords with ease!

Instead of having to adjust your hand position to the different chord shapes or focus on maintaining the power chord finger positions as you move up and down the fretboard, you can just slide your index finger up and down to create powerful chords - especially when you use effects like overdrive or distortion. Combining drop D power chords with the right effects can make playing your guitar even more enjoyable and help you find your own distinct tone.

The other big difference between Drop D tuning and standard is in the name: That one lower note that the tuning provides adds just a touch of weight to your playing, which can make a bigger difference than you might think. Just a few extra notes open up a whole range of new riffs to play, and the slight adjustment from standard tuning means there are new ways to experiment and explore the instrument compared to before.

What Are Some Tips and Tricks for Drop D Tuning?

Drop D tuning is a great skill to have in your arsenal --- and there are a few things you can do to use Drop D to its full potential.

Push Drop D Past Hard Rock

As we mentioned, you won't have any difficulty finding rock songs that use Drop D - it's extremely common. But don't feel like that means all you can play in Drop D is hard rock. There are plenty of songs in other genres that use this tuning because of how easy it makes power chords to play and the amount of harmonic richness it brings.

Tune As You Go

Drop D makes use of the new octave between the 6th and the 4th string, making it easy to play power chords. However, keeping these strings in tune, along with the other four, is essential when practicing, recording, or performing.

Always tune while you practice to ensure that everything you play sounds exactly how it should, and when your strings begin to lose their tension quickly, replace them. Unless you have perfect pitch, it's important to use a reliable and convenient tuner - these days, even your phone can become a tuner with the Rocksmith Guitar Tuner app.

Practice Your Rhythm With Palm Muting

Because Drop D tuning means you can quickly create bar chords anywhere on the neck, a lot of rhythm guitar players utilize this simplicity in their fretting hand and create more complex picking rhythms with their right hand while palm muting.

Palm muting is the technique of lightly covering the strings with your pick hand while simultaneously strumming, creating a muted but distinct chord. Practicing this technique will become extremely useful as you start picking up more complicated tracks to play!

Conclusion

Drop D tuning is popular across the board of playing guitar because it opens up chord possibilities, adds a level of weight that standard just can't reach, and does all of this while only requiring one minor adjustment.

If you still feel unsure of your tuning abilities, always refer to a tuner, and practice adjusting back and forth from Drop D to standard. Remember that any time you adjust one string, the rest may fall out of alignment, and even though we've said it before, it's worth repeating - regularly check your strings while playing!

Whether you're running it through heavy distortion or enjoying the deeper chords you can play on an acoustic guitar, Drop D tuning is an absolute must for every guitar player's bag of tricks!

Sources:

Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Accidentals | OPEN MUSIC THEORY

The Magic of Power Chords | Music Interval Theory Academy

What Is An Octave In Music? A Complete Guide | Hello Music Theory