Drop D Tuning

Drop D tuning is a guitar tuning in which only the lowest string is lowered by one whole step (two semitones), from E to D. The strings then read, from low to high, D–A–D–G–B–E instead of E–A–D–G–B–E. On a four-string bass the same idea gives D–A–D–G.

It is the most widely used non-standard tuning in rock and metal and one of the most common in acoustic fingerstyle playing. It adds two semitones of low range, turns the three lowest strings into a one-finger power chord, and leaves the other five strings, and every chord shape played on them, exactly as they are in standard tuning.

What is Drop D tuning?

In standard tuning the sixth string is E2 (about 82.41 Hz at A = 440 Hz). In Drop D it is lowered to D2, about 73.42 Hz, exactly one octave below the open fourth string (D3). Nothing else changes: the fifth string is still A2, the fourth still D3, and so on up to the high E.

In plain language: you loosen the thickest string until it sounds like a deeper version of the fourth string. When you strum the three lowest strings open, you hear D, A and D, a root, fifth and octave that sound full and heavy without any fretting at all.

Why only one string?

Changing a single string is the smallest possible departure from standard tuning. Everything a guitarist already knows on strings five to one still works; only chords and riffs that use the sixth string need rethinking. That makes Drop D the usual first step into alternate tuning and the reason it is often switched to mid-set without a second guitar.

Drop D and the wider family

Drop D is the best-known member of a family of dropped tunings in which the lowest string sits a perfect fifth below the next string instead of a perfect fourth. The general concept, and its lower relatives such as Drop C and Drop B, are covered on the dropped tuning page; this entry focuses on the D–A–D–G–B–E tuning itself. For the difference between drop, open and modal tunings, see alternate tuning.

Where the name comes from

“Drop” simply describes the action: you drop the pitch of one string. The classical term for any deliberate retuning of a string instrument is scordatura (Italian for “mistuning”), and Drop D is one of the oldest and most common scordature for guitar-family instruments.

History of Drop D

Lute, classical guitar and folk

Lowering the bottom string to reach a deeper bass note is much older than the electric guitar. Wikipedia’s Drop D article notes that the tuning was used by lutenists and classical guitarists, citing the English Renaissance composer John Dowland as an early example. Classical guitarists have long used a low D for pieces in D major and D minor, where the open sixth string can ring as a bass note under the melody.

In folk, blues and country fingerpicking, the low D makes an alternating bass in D easy: the thumb moves between the open sixth and fourth strings, both D, while the fingers play the melody and chords higher up.

Late-1960s rock

Two of the best-documented early rock uses come from 1968 and 1969. On the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” (recorded August 1968), John Lennon’s fingerpicked arpeggio pattern relies on the sixth string detuned to a low D (Wikipedia). Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick” (1969) is built on a Drop D riff. For players of that era, the attraction was a heavier, darker low end without having to relearn the fretboard.

Alternative rock, grunge and alternative metal

Drop D became a defining sound in the 1980s and 1990s through bands such as King’s X, Soundgarden and the Melvins. Soundgarden’s “Outshined” (1991) is in Drop D, and “Black Hole Sun” (1994) was, according to its Wikipedia entry, performed in a slightly sharp Drop D. Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” (1992) is built on heavy Drop D riffs; Tom Morello has said he came up with the main riff while teaching a student Drop D tuning.

The one-finger power chord was central to this sound: a player could slide a single barred finger up and down the three lowest strings and play fast, heavy riffs that would be awkward in standard tuning. Later nu-metal and metal bands took the same idea further down, to Drop C, Drop B and below (see dropped tuning).

Hardware for switching

• Hipshot Xtender (1980s): according to Hipshot, the company was founded by Dave Borisoff in 1982, and its second invention was a D-tuning mechanism for his band’s bass player, the Xtender. It replaces a tuning machine with a lever that drops the string to a preset lower pitch and returns it to E.
• EVH D-Tuna: a small device fitted to the low E saddle of a Floyd Rose-style locking tremolo. Pull it out for D, push it in for E. The manufacturer says it has been standard equipment on Eddie Van Halen’s guitars since the early 1990s.
• DigiTech Drop (2014): a polyphonic pitch-shifting pedal that lowers the whole signal “from one semitone all the way down to a full octave” (Guitar World). It simulates Drop-style tunings of the entire guitar rather than retuning one string.

How Drop D works

The notes and frequencies

String	Standard tuning	Drop D	Change
6 (lowest)	E2 = 82.41 Hz	D2 = 73.42 Hz	−2 semitones
5	A2 = 110.00 Hz	A2 = 110.00 Hz	none
4	D3 = 146.83 Hz	D3 = 146.83 Hz	none
3	G3 = 196.00 Hz	G3 = 196.00 Hz	none
2	B3 = 246.94 Hz	B3 = 246.94 Hz	none
1 (highest)	E4 = 329.63 Hz	E4 = 329.63 Hz	none

All values are equal-tempered pitches referenced to A = 440 Hz; see frequencies of musical notes for the full chart. The interval between strings six and five becomes a perfect fifth (D to A) instead of a perfect fourth (E to A). All other intervals are unchanged.

What happens to string tension

The frequency of a string is proportional to the square root of its tension (for a fixed length and mass). Turning that around, tension is proportional to frequency squared. Lowering a string by a whole step multiplies its frequency by about 0.891, so its tension falls to about 0.794 of what it was: a drop of roughly 20.6%.

With D’Addario’s EXL110 set (10–46), D’Addario lists the .046 low E at 16.9 lb, and its six published per-string values add up to about 102.5 lb (D’Addario). Dropped to D, that string falls to about 13.4 lb, and the total to about 99 lb: only around 3.4% less for the whole neck. That is why a single Drop D string rarely needs a setup change, while tuning every string down (D standard) is a different matter.

Why the low string feels and sounds different

A looser string moves further when it is picked hard. That larger movement briefly stretches the string and raises its tension, so the note starts slightly sharp and settles as it decays. Acousticians call this tension modulation and describe the audible result as a pitch glide; it is well documented in research on plucked-string physics and synthesis. On a slack low string played with a heavy pick attack, it is part of the “growl” players associate with dropped tunings, and part of why low notes can read slightly sharp on a tuner right after the attack.

A looser string also has a slightly different balance of overtones. Real strings are stiff as well as tense, which pushes higher partials a little sharp of perfect multiples of the fundamental. The lower the tension, the larger the role stiffness plays. For a single string one step down, the effect is small; it becomes important in much lower tunings on standard strings.

The one-finger power chord

Because the three lowest strings are now D–A–D, fretting all three at the same fret with one finger produces a root–fifth–octave power chord. Open, that is D5; at the 2nd fret, E5; at the 5th fret, G5; at the 7th fret, A5. In standard tuning the same chord needs two or three fingers in a slanted shape.

Chord	Standard tuning (strings 6–5–4)	Drop D (strings 6–5–4)
D5	not available on string 6 (lowest E)	0–0–0
E5	0–2–2	2–2–2
F5	1–3–3	3–3–3
G5	3–5–5	5–5–5
A5	5–7–7	7–7–7

Drop D in practice

How to tune to Drop D

1. Tune the guitar to standard first, using a chromatic tuner or a reference.
2. Lower the sixth string until it is a little below D2.
3. Stretch it gently by pulling the string away from the fretboard a few times along its length.
4. Tune up to D. Approaching the note from below lets the string settle against the nut and saddle without hidden slack that would make it drift flat.
5. Check by ear: the open sixth string should sound exactly one octave below the open fourth string; the 12th-fret harmonic on the sixth string should match the open fourth string; and the 7th fret of the sixth string should match the open fifth string (A).

Fender’s Drop D guide gives the same by-ear method: match the lowered sixth string to the fourth string, one octave apart. A chromatic tuner is safer than a guitar-only mode that expects standard notes; a D on the sixth string will confuse some auto-detecting tuners. Always tune down from E: tuning up to the next D above would mean a minor seventh higher and far more tension than the string is designed for.

Chords and shapes

• Chords on the top five strings (A, C, D, Am, Dm and every shape that avoids the sixth string) are unchanged.
• Full D major and D minor become six-string chords: the open low D adds a deep root under the normal open D or Dm shape.
• E-shape barre chords rooted on the sixth string need the sixth-string note moved two frets higher than in standard, or the sixth string can simply be left out.
• Riffs in D gain an open low D to return to, which is why so many Drop D riffs sit in D or D minor.

String gauge and setup

For Drop D alone, most players keep their usual strings. A thicker low string helps if the D feels loose or buzzes: 10–52 “heavy bottom” sets are a common choice for players who use Drop D all the time, keeping the familiar top strings with a firmer low D. Lower drop tunings are where heavier sets become necessary; see dropped tuning.

• Neck relief: the total pull on the neck drops only slightly, so the truss rod rarely needs adjusting for Drop D. If a guitar is kept permanently in a much lower tuning, a technician may slightly relax the truss rod.
• Intonation: a whole step down on one string can shift its intonation a little. If the sixth string plays sharp or flat at the 12th fret compared with its harmonic in Drop D, move the sixth-string saddle to compensate.
• Nut slot: a much thicker sixth string may bind in a narrow slot and cause pinging or tuning jumps; a technician can widen the slot.
• Pickup height: a slack string vibrates more widely; if it slaps the frets or the pickup, raise the action a little or lower the bass side of the pickup.

On bass guitar

On a four-string bass, Drop D lowers the E1 string to D1, about 36.71 Hz. It is common in rock and metal to follow the guitars, and bassists who switch within a song often use a detuner lever such as the Hipshot Xtender. A five-string bass already has a low B below D, so it can play the same notes without retuning. For recording, see bass tracking tips.

Recording and mixing Drop D guitars

Drop D moves the guitar’s lowest fundamental from about 82 Hz to about 73 Hz, closer to the area where the kick drum and bass guitar live. In a dense rock mix, that low D can crowd the low end. Common approaches:

• High-pass the guitars. A high-pass filter on distorted rhythm guitars, often somewhere around 70–100 Hz and set by ear, keeps the guitars from blurring into the bass. Whether to keep the 73 Hz fundamental depends on the arrangement: in a sparse mix, or when the bass is not playing, it may be exactly what makes the riff heavy.
• Match the bass. When the bass is in Drop D too, it can double riffs one octave down (D1 against the guitar’s D2), which makes the low end sound unified. Decide which instrument owns which range rather than letting both fight for the same frequencies.
• Choose power chords under high gain. Root–fifth–octave shapes stay clearer through heavy distortion than full triads, because distortion adds intermodulation products that land on dissonant frequencies more readily with thirds than with fifths and octaves. That is one reason Drop D power chords work so well with high-gain amps.
• Watch the tuning. Because a loose string pitch-glides after the attack, heavily picked low notes can sound sharp against a bass or a sample-based part. Tune carefully, consider a slightly lighter attack, and check double-tracked parts against each other.
• Double-track. Rhythm guitars are often doubled and panned; small tuning differences between takes on the low string are more audible than on higher strings, so retune between takes.

Getting Drop D digitally

A standard-tuned part can be lowered by two semitones with pitch-shifting, although this lowers every string, not only the sixth, so it produces D standard rather than true Drop D. Common tools include Logic Pro’s Pitch Shifter plugin and its region transpose options, Avid’s Pitch II in Pro Tools (Production Expert), Ableton Live’s Complex and Complex Pro warp modes, and polyphonic editors such as Melodyne with DNA. Cubase’s VariAudio is designed for monophonic material, so it suits single-note lines rather than chords. For distorted guitars, shift the clean DI signal before the amp or amp simulator; shifting an already distorted sound tends to add more artifacts. See DI box.

A pitch-shifting pedal such as the DigiTech Drop works the same way live. The tone and feel differ from a physically retuned string: the string tension stays as in standard, so there is no looser feel and no pitch glide, and the processing adds a small delay.

By genre

• Rock, grunge and metal: fast one-finger power-chord riffs, palm muting, and an open low D to pedal on.
• Acoustic fingerstyle and folk: a ringing bass D under melodies in D, with the alternating-bass thumb pattern.
• Classical guitar: pieces in D major or minor that call for “6th string to D”, marked in the score.
• Pop and singer-songwriter: fuller open D chords and a deeper bass note for keys that suit the singer.

Gear for Drop D

Tool	Type	What it does
Chromatic tuner	Tuner (clip-on, pedal, app)	Shows any note, including D on the sixth string. See chromatic tuner.
Hipshot Xtender	Detuner machine head	A lever drops the string to a preset pitch (usually D) and returns it to E. Made for bass and guitar.
EVH D-Tuna	Bridge add-on	Switches the low E to D and back on Floyd Rose-style locking tremolos without unlocking the nut.
DigiTech Drop	Pitch-shift pedal	Lowers the whole signal by one semitone up to an octave.
Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork	Pitch-shift pedal	Polyphonic pitch shifting, including downward shifts for drop-tuned sounds.
Heavy-bottom string sets	Strings	Thicker low strings (for example 10–52) for a firmer low D.

On a floating locking tremolo, simply detuning one string upsets the balance of the bridge and pulls the other strings sharp; see locking tremolo for why, and why a D-Tuna or a blocked bridge is the usual answer.

Songs in Drop D

The following examples are documented in sources such as Wikipedia’s song articles and Fender’s tuning guide. Tab sites often disagree, so only well-attested cases are listed.

Song	Artist	Year	Note
Dear Prudence	The Beatles	1968	Fingerpicked pattern with the sixth string lowered to D
Moby Dick	Led Zeppelin	1969	Instrumental built on a Drop D riff
Outshined	Soundgarden	1991	Drop D riffs from Badmotorfinger
Killing in the Name	Rage Against the Machine	1992	Heavy Drop D riffs; written while Morello taught Drop D
All Apologies	Nirvana	1993	Listed by Fender as a Drop D song
Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden	1994	A slightly sharp Drop D, according to Wikipedia
Everlong	Foo Fighters	1997	Listed by Fender as a Drop D song

Many other songs, particularly in grunge, alternative metal and acoustic folk, use Drop D. The existing dropped tuning page lists more examples across the whole drop family.

Common mistakes and myths

Mistake: tuning up instead of down

Drop D means the D a whole step below E. Tuning the sixth string up to the next D would add a large amount of tension and can break the string.

Mistake: tuning straight down and stopping

Friction at the nut and around the tuning post can hold a little slack. If you stop exactly on D while tuning down, that slack may release as you play and the string drifts flat. Go slightly below D, stretch, then tune up to pitch.

Mistake: pressing too hard

A looser string bends sharp more easily under heavy fretting pressure. If the low string sounds out of tune when fretted but fine open, the cause is often the fretting hand, not the guitar.

Myth: “Drop D damages the neck”

Drop D reduces tension, and only by about 3–4% for the whole set of strings. It does not warp a neck. Large changes in overall tension, such as moving between very different tunings or gauges, can change neck relief, which a truss-rod adjustment corrects.

Myth: “Tuning to A = 432 Hz gives a heavier low end than Drop D”

Changing the reference pitch to A = 432 Hz lowers every string by about 32 cents (a third of a semitone): the low E moves from 82.41 Hz to about 80.9 Hz. Drop D lowers the sixth string by 200 cents, to 73.42 Hz. The two are unrelated; if you want deeper bass, a 432 Hz reference is not a substitute for dropping the string.

Myth: “Drop D and D standard are the same”

They are not. Drop D changes one string; D standard lowers all six by a whole step (D–G–C–F–A–D). See the comparison below.

Drop D vs related tunings

Tuning	Notes (low to high)	What changes	Main difference from Drop D
Standard	E–A–D–G–B–E	Nothing	Sixth string is E; power chords need two or three fingers. See standard tuning.
Drop D	D–A–D–G–B–E	String 6 down a whole step	(reference)
D standard	D–G–C–F–A–D	All strings down a whole step	Same intervals as standard, so no one-finger power chord; every chord shape is the same, a whole step lower.
Drop C	C–G–C–F–A–D	D standard with string 6 dropped one more step	Same shapes as Drop D, a whole step lower. See dropped tuning.
Double Drop D	D–A–D–G–B–D	Strings 6 and 1 down a whole step	Both outer strings are D; used by Neil Young on “Cinnamon Girl”.
DADGAD	D–A–D–G–A–D	Strings 6, 2 and 1 lowered	A modal, suspended tuning. See alternate tuning.
Open D	D–A–D–F♯–A–D	Strings 6, 3, 2 and 1 lowered	Open strings form a D major chord. See open tuning.

Standards and references

• ISO 16 sets the reference pitch A4 = 440 Hz used to calculate all frequencies on this page (see A440).
• Manufacturer tension data, such as D’Addario’s published tension per string, is the practical reference for how much tension each string carries at a given pitch and scale length.
• Classical scores indicate Drop D with a marking such as “⑥ = D” at the start of the piece.

There is no standard body that defines Drop D beyond the notes themselves; the tuning is a convention among players.

Related terms

• Dropped tuning: the whole family of drop tunings, including Drop C, B and A.
• Alternate tuning: the map of all non-standard tunings.
• Open tuning: tunings whose open strings form a major or minor chord.
• Standard tuning: the E–A–D–G–B–E reference Drop D departs from.
• Tuning: the general concept.
• Chromatic tuner: the easiest way to find D2 accurately.
• Locking tremolo: why Drop D needs special care on floating bridges.
• Chord: how power chords and full chords differ.
• High-pass filter: the main mixing tool for managing low guitar notes.

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