21 Alternate Guitar Tunings to Explore and Create Awesome New Sounds

By Szilard Schuszbauer
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Here are 21 alternate guitar tunings that will help you to boost your creativity with your instrument and grow as a guitarist.

I’ve been experimenting with alternate tunings for about 10 years. In this article, I collected 21 variations that will help you start exploring this world.

By using alternate guitar tunings, you get access to new sounds that you cannot play in standard tuning. As a big plus, you can innovatively create new music. As your playing habits (developed in standard tuning) will not work, you’ll be able to come up with new ideas in a very organic way. 

There are hundreds of alternate tunings available out there. My goal was to show you a good variety of them. I cover the most popular ones and I also include extreme individual examples from famous artists.

You can start exploring the “proven” ones, but later on, you can even create your own version of alternate tunings as many artists already did. 

Here is the list of alternate guitar tunings that I cover:

Keep reading and get inspired. 

#1 – Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E)

Drop D alternate guitar tuning

Drop D or DADGBE is probably the most popular alternate guitar tuning. You can use it in any style of music while was mostly used by rock and metal bands. You only need to tune down your low E string to D, and you are ready to go.

It’s well worth it for every guitarist to explore this tuning to create new sounds. The story of the writing process of Everlong by Dave Grohl is a great example. He found good-sounding chords in Drop D tuning in an intuitive way to create the song.

Advantages of DADGBE tuning:

  • Heavier fuller sound
  • Extends the lower range of the guitar
  • Easy to play power chords with one finger, barring the lowest 3 strings
  • Very good for riffs
  • Easy to switch to it from standard tuning

#2 – Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)

Double Drop D alternate guitar tuning

Double Drop D or DADGBD is very similar to the regular Drop D tuning but you need to tune down the high E string as well to D. You will have the same advantages but you can have some different voicings.

With an electric guitar, you can use this tuning very well to create some darker psychedelic rock sounds. It can be also great to create fingerstyle folk or blues rock vibes on an acoustic guitar.

Advantages of DADGBD tuning:

  • Heavier fuller sound
  • Extends the range of the guitar
  • Very good for open string chords and fingerstyle patterns
  • Access to some chords that are hard or impossible to play in standard tuning

#3 – DADGAD tuning (D-A-D-G-A-D)

DADGAD alternate guitar tuning

DADGAD or Celtic tuning is very well known among fingerstyle acoustic guitarists and widely used in many genres like blues, folk, or rock music. For a reason. It’s one of the best tunings to experiment with to create new sounds. With three open D strings and without the major or minor thirds, you can quite intuitively create your own shapes, patterns, or progressions. 

Advantages of DADGAD tuning:

  • Encourages artistic playing
  • Very good for open string chords and fingerstyle patterns
  • Easy to use in different keys
  • Fits in many atmospheres

#4 – Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D)

Open D alternate guitar tuning

Open D or DADF#AD tuning is probably the most popular one among open tunings. If you play all strings open, it’s a warm-sounding D major chord. This tuning is ideal for slide players as they can play complete chords with the slide. It’s mostly used in folk and blues.

Advantages of DADF#AD tuning:

  • Ideal for slide players
  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes

#5 – Open D minor (D-A-D-F-A-D)

Open D minor alternate guitar tuning

All open major tunings have their open minor variant. Open minor tunings have sad and melancholic characters.

Open D minor aka DADFAD tuning was mainly used in blues and folk music. You can start using it easily and works particularly well in fingerpicking style acoustic songs to create a notable atmosphere. 

Advantages of DADFAD tuning:

  • Extends the range of the guitar and creates a good body for the sound
  • Works well with fingerpicking style and open notes
  • Ideal for creating a dark and sad atmosphere

#6 – Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D)

Open G alternate guitar tuning

Blues, folk, and classic rock players often use Open G or DGDGBD. It offers a major chord note across the six strings but has a kind of different character than other open tunings. It’s also popular among today’s alternative rock musicians.

Advantages of DGDGBD tuning:

  • Ideal for slide players
  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes
  • Has a unique sound character

#7 – Orkney tuning (C-G-D-G-C-D)

Orkney alternate guitar tuning

It is a kind of open tuning. When it’s played with all strings open, it is a Gsus chord. Because of that, it is easy to play major or minor chords as well.

Orkney or CGDGCD tuning is very well known among fingerstyle acoustic guitarists. You can use it similarly to the famous DADGAD tuning but with a different tonal center. It’s used in Celtic music and folk music, but we can also find several alternative rock bands using it.

Advantages of CGDGCD tuning:

  • Truly unique and unusual-sounding chords
  • Inspires the creative process to create new sounds
  • Chord progressions have a character

#8 – Open A (E-A-E-A-C#-E)

Open A alternate guitar tuning

Many blues players used Open A or EAEAC#E tuning. It offers the A major chord when played open. It adds a good body to your chords and has similar advantages as other open tunings.

Advantages of EAEAC#E tuning:

  • Ideal for slide players
  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound

#9 – Open C (C-G-C-G-C-E)

Open C alternate guitar tuning

Open C or CGCGCE tuning gives you the C major chord when strumming your guitar all open.

For this tuning, you need to tune down your strings quite a bit from standard tuning. Because of the lower tension of the strings you might experience fret buzz when you play. You can get rid of the fret buzz by using thicker gauge strings and you might also need a neck set up by a luthier.

Advantages of CGCGCE tuning:

  • Extended sound range
  • Ideal for slide players
  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound
  • It can work well with lower-voiced singers

#10 – Open C6 (C-A-C-G-C-E)

Open C6 alternate guitar tuning

Open C6 or CACGCE tuning is also a popular choice of blues and rock guitarists and probably the most common tuning for steel guitars. As the name suggests, played all open it gives you a C6 chord. It is a variation of the open C tuning with an added A note. 

Advantages of CACGCE tuning:

  • Ideal for slide players
  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound

#11 – Open C “Chris Cornell” tuning (C-G-C-G-G-E)

Open C "Chris Cornell" alternate guitar tuning

This is a variation of the standard open C tuning. The open strumming still gives you the major C chord but the 5th string is tuned down to G instead of C. Your patterns and progressions will sound a little different in this tuning compared to the standard open C.

CGCGGE is a good example that changing the tuning of only one string can very well support your ideas and creativity. Chris Cornell was inspired enough to write a couple of songs using this alternate guitar tuning.

Advantages of CGCGGE tuning:

  • Simple movable chord shapes
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound
  • Good for unique chord voicings

#12 – “Ben Howard” alternate guitar tuning (C-G-C-G-G-C)

"Ben Howard" alternate guitar tuning

Ben Howard is also one of those artists who uses several alternate tunings and has his own version of tuning for a couple of songs.

CGCGGC is almost the same as Chris Cornels version of open C tuning but the 6th E string is tuned down to C. As a result, only C and G notes are available as open strings. It creates a very good body and gives fullness to the guitar sound. 

In some of his songs, he tunes up all his strings from this tuning. For example, he uses DADAAD tuning which is the same as CGCGGC with a capo on the 2nd fret. It’s better to use a new tuning instead of a capo, as the open strings will sound fuller.

Advantages of CGCGGC tuning:

  • Easy to create a special atmosphere throughout the songs
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound
  • Unique chord voicings

#13 – “The Rain Song” tuning (D-G-C-G-C-D)

"The Rain Song" alternate guitar tuning

Jimmy Page is one of the most famous users of alternate tunings. He used DGCGCD tuning in “The Rain Song”. Some call this tuning “Open Page” tuning after its creator. Page inspired many guitarists to explore this uncommon tuning which is excellent to create some alternative open-string guitar sound progressions.

Advantages of DGCGCD tuning:

  • Easy to create a special atmosphere throughout the songs
  • Good for open notes and adds body to your sound
  • Unique chord voicings

#14 – “Sonic Youth G” alternate tuning (G-A-B-D-E-G)

"Sonic Youth G" alternate guitar tuning

Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth is the guitarist who used alternative tunings in a very extreme way. He just tuned up or down any strings at any time in the creative process of songwriting so he ended up using quite a lot of individual “Sonic Youth” tunings.

GABDEG is a weird tuning that inspires guitarists how to think “out of the box” when experimenting with tunings. He tuned DOWN the 2nd string 7 steps to reach the E note instead of tuning it up 5 steps. He tuned DOWN 9 steps the high E string to reach the G note instead of tuning it up by 3 steps. I recommend using at least 0.17 G strings as your three highest strings.

As a result, this tuning sounds unique.

Advantages of GABDEG tuning:

  • Truly unique and unusual-sounding chords
  • Inspires the creative process to create new sounds
  • Chord progressions have a character

#15 – “Sonic Youth C” alternate tuning (C-C-E-B-D-G)

"Sonic Youth C" alternate guitar tuning

Another interesting tuning from Thurston Moore is CCEBDG. It is worth exploring this tuning to open your creativity toward unusual sounds. It can be very well used in experimental and alternative rock genres. 

Note: Thurston tuned up the 6th E string 8 steps to reach the C note which is extreme. I advise you to use an A (5th) string for that. To explore this tuning, you can also tune down your 6th string 4 steps to reach the C note and keep using your regular E string.

Advantages of CCEBDG tuning:

  • Truly unique and unusual-sounding chords
  • Inspires the creative process to create new sounds
  • Chord progressions have a character

#16 – “Nick Drake” tuning (C-G-C-F-C-E)

"Nick Drake" alternate guitar tuning

For singer-songwriters, alternate tunings offer several advantages when playing solo live with an acoustic guitar.

The CGCFCE tuning named after Nick Drake is a perfect example. It gives you lower notes that compensate for the lack of a bass guitar. Sounds full and works well with open string notes as well. For acoustic players, this tuning is highly recommended to explore new sounds.

Advantages of CGCFCE tuning:

  • Extends the range of the guitar with lower notes
  • Good body and fuller sound with open notes
  • Provides a notable character to your playing

#17 – “New standard” tuning (C-G-D-A-E-G)

"New standard" alternate guitar tuning

New standard tuning (CGDAEG) was developed by Robert Fripp from the band King Crimson. The name “new standard” is a bit misleading as the tuning is mostly used by Fripp and his followers. His idea was to use all fifths (as in the case of violins, cellos, or mandolins) instead of the fourths used in the standard tuning.

It has some advantages. For example, you can easily have two-string power chords on any string (as you have the fifths on all strings). But, it has obvious shortcomings like you can only do close intervals on the top 2 strings. That’s why some say you need big hands for this tuning. Still, sound-wise it’s an interesting one to experiment with.

Advantages of CGDAEG tuning:

  • Extends the range of the guitar with lower and higher notes
  • Chord voicings have an open and spacious quality
  • Power chords require one finger and you can do it on any strings
  • Robert Fripp from the King Crimson
  • California Guitar Trio

#18 – “Hejira” tuning (B-F#-C#-E-F#-B)

"Hejira" alternate guitar tuning

Joni Mitchell wrote songs in more than 60 tunings so she is a good source of inspiration if we are talking about alternate tunings.

She used BF#C#EF#B tuning in her song “Hejira” and I believe this is a wonderful tuning to get lost in. Grab your guitar and explore this mysterious and dark world for yourself.

Advantages of BF#C#EF#B tuning:

  • Extends the range of the guitar with lower notes
  • Good body and fuller sound with open notes
  • Mysterious and dark sound character

Joni Mitchell – Hejira

#19 – D 6/9 “José González” tuning (D-A-D-F#-B-E)

D 6/9 “José González” alternate guitar tuning

Many artists use DADF#BE but probably José González was the one who popularized it among many guitarists. It’s basically the popular Drop D tuning with a small twist: you tune down your G string one step to reach F#. You can use it in any genre, even Paco De Lucia used it in flamenco music.

Advantages of DADF#BE tuning:

  • Extends the range of the guitar with lower notes
  • Good body and fuller sound with open notes
  • Provides a notable character to your playing

#20 – “Bruce Palmer” modal tuning (E-E-E-E-B-E)

“Bruce Palmer” modal alternate guitar tuning

If you want to open your creativity and see how far you can go when experimenting with alternate tunings, EEEEBE is a great example. It was created by bassist Bruce Palmer.

It might seem a strange idea to tune 5 out of 6 strings to the same note. Obviously, it has its limits but the “Palmer tuning” is quite good for acoustic strumming and it’s great fun to use it! CSN band members created a couple of songs using this tuning.

Advantages of EEEEBE tuning:

  • It’s great for rhythmic acoustic strumming
  • Sitar-like sound

#21 – Open FMAJ9 alternate guitar tuning (F-A-C-G-A-E)

Open Fmaj9 alternate guitar tuning

In most of the popular alternate tunings, you need to tune down the low E string to extend the range of the guitar sound. Instead, you tune up the low E to F in Open Maj9 or FACGAE tuning. Additionally, it’s not a major or minor open tuning but a maj9. It doesn’t have many famous users.

So why is it on our list? Because it is so easy to find beautiful chords and progressions in this tuning that sound modern, new, and fresh. Yvette Young, a growing artist these days, is a great example of how she used FACGAE tuning in some songs to create her unique sound.

Advantages of FACGAE tuning:

  • Great for acoustic strumming and fingerpicking
  • Different character than traditional open tunings
  • Good for singer-songwriters to create new ideas

What to do next?

Make sure to give yourself enough time to explore alternate tunings and dig into the ones that you like.

Let’s check out our article about guitar chord progressions if you want to find more ways to develop your sound as a guitarist. For inspiration check out the best female guitarists or the most influential rock albums.

Photo of author

AUTHOR

Szilard Schuszbauer
Szilard has been making music by experimenting with guitars, effects or alternative chords for more than 20 years. He started GuitarSoundFanatic to share ideas, views, tips and tricks to inspire and help musicians on their guitar sound journey.

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