Open Tuning

An open tuning is a guitar tuning in which the unfretted strings sound a chord, almost always a major or minor triad, when you strum them without touching the fretboard. Open G (D–G–D–G–B–D), Open D (D–A–D–F♯–A–D) and Open E (E–B–E–G♯–B–E) are the best known.

Because every string belongs to one chord, a single finger or a slide laid across all strings at any fret plays a complete major or minor chord. That is why open tunings are the foundation of slide guitar and of much blues, folk, Hawaiian slack-key and rock rhythm playing, and why they are a distinct branch of alternate tuning.

What is open tuning?

In standard tuning (E–A–D–G–B–E), the open strings do not form a simple chord: strummed open they give an Em11-type sound that is not used as a chord by itself. In an open tuning, several strings are retuned so that the open strings contain only the root, third and fifth of one chord, repeated across octaves. Open G contains only G, B and D; Open D only D, F♯ and A.

In plain language: you tune the guitar so it plays a chord by itself. Strum the open strings and you hear G major (in Open G). Lay one finger across all strings at the 5th fret and you hear C major; at the 7th fret, D major. Those three positions give the I, IV and V chords of a blues or folk song in G.

The two main families

• Major open tunings: Open G, Open D, Open E, Open A, Open C and others. The open strings form a major triad.
• Minor open tunings, sometimes called cross-note tunings: the third of the chord is lowered by a semitone, so the open strings form a minor triad, for example Open D minor (D–A–D–F–A–D).

What an open tuning is not

The term is sometimes used loosely for any tuning with ringing open strings. Strictly, DADGAD (D–A–D–G–A–D) is not an open tuning: its open strings form a Dsus4 chord with no third, so it is neither major nor minor. It is usually classed as a modal tuning. Drop D (D–A–D–G–B–E) is not an open tuning either; it changes only the lowest string. Both are covered under alternate tuning.

“Spanish” and “Vestapol”

Older blues and folk sources name open tunings after two 19th-century parlor guitar pieces by Henry Worrall. “Spanish” tuning means Open G (or the same shape a step higher, Open A), after “Spanish Fandango”. “Vestapol” tuning means Open D (or Open E), after “Sebastopol”, a piece named for the Crimean War siege. The names stuck because these pieces were printed in guitar self-instruction books for decades.

History of open tuning

Parlor guitar in the 19th century

Henry Worrall (1825–1902) was a guitarist and composer in Cincinnati before becoming known as an illustrator of the American West. According to the Kansas Historical Society, “Sebastopol” was published in Ohio as early as 1856, and it and “Spanish Fandango” became standard pieces in guitar self-instruction manuals into the early 20th century. Music historians have suggested that Worrall’s open-tuned, fingerpicked style fed into early country and blues guitar.

Hawaiian slack key

In Hawaii, guitars arrived with Mexican cowboys in the early 19th century, and Hawaiian players developed their own fingerstyle tradition, kī hōʻalu or slack key, meaning “loosen the key”: strings are slackened from standard into open chords. One of the most common slack-key tunings, Taro Patch, is the same as Open G (D–G–D–G–B–D). The style was rarely recorded until Gabby Pahinui’s records of 1946–47 (Wikipedia). The Hawaiian steel guitar, played flat on the lap with a steel bar, also depends on open tunings.

Blues and gospel

In the pre-war recordings of the American South, open tunings and slide went together. Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”, recorded on December 3, 1927, is played in Open D with a slide; by most accounts he used a knife or penknife instead of a bottleneck (Wikipedia). The recording was later chosen for the Voyager Golden Record launched in 1977. Later electric slide players such as Elmore James made Open D central to Chicago blues. Minor open tunings belong to the same world: Skip James is associated with Open D minor (D–A–D–F–A–D), which he reportedly learned from his mentor Henry Stuckey.

Rock and singer-songwriters

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones turned Open G into a rock rhythm style. He removed the sixth string and used a five-string G–D–G–B–D tuning, so the root G is always the lowest note. Richards has said he met Ry Cooder in 1968 and has connected his deep dive into open G with that period (Guitar.com). The tuning drives “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”; his five-string Telecaster “Micawber” is the best-known guitar set up this way.

Joni Mitchell wrote songs in some 50 tunings, many of them open or open-derived. She has said that polio had weakened her left hand, so she devised tunings that let her play rich chords with simpler fingerings; they became central to her harmonic language. Her website documents a notation she used: a letter for the lowest string, then the fret at which each string is stopped to tune the next one, so standard tuning becomes E 55545 (jonimitchell.com).

Digital retuning

From the 1990s, electronics made it possible to change tunings without touching the pegs. Roland’s VG-8 V-Guitar System (1995) processed each string separately through a divided pickup and offered customizable tunings; Joni Mitchell adopted it for live shows, paired with a custom guitar by Ken Parker, so one instrument could play songs in many tunings (BOSS). Later examples include modeling guitars such as Line 6’s Variax, which offer alternate tunings digitally while the strings stay in standard; Peavey’s AT-200 guitar with Antares Auto-Tune, announced in 2012; and motorized self-tuning machine heads from Tronical, fitted by Gibson to some models in the 2010s under the Min-ETune and G Force names.

How open tunings work

The common open tunings

Tuning	Notes (low to high)	Chord	Strings changed from standard
Open G	D–G–D–G–B–D	G major	6, 5 and 1 down a whole step
Open A	E–A–E–A–C♯–E	A major	4, 3 and 2 up a whole step
Open D	D–A–D–F♯–A–D	D major	6, 2 and 1 down a whole step; 3 down a semitone
Open E	E–B–E–G♯–B–E	E major	5 and 4 up a whole step; 3 up a semitone
Open C	C–G–C–G–C–E	C major	6 down two whole steps; 5 and 4 down a whole step; 2 up a semitone
Open D minor	D–A–D–F–A–D	D minor	6, 2 and 1 down a whole step; 3 down a whole step
Open G minor	D–G–D–G–B♭–D	G minor	As Open G, with 2 down a semitone
Five-string Open G	(none)–G–D–G–B–D	G major	Sixth string removed; the rest as Open G

Open A is Open G raised a whole step, and Open E is Open D raised a whole step. The shapes are identical; only the pitch changes. Many players therefore use Open G or Open D with a capo at the 2nd fret instead of tuning up to Open A or Open E.

Frequencies

Tuning	String 6	String 5	String 4	String 3	String 2	String 1
Standard	E2 82.41	A2 110.00	D3 146.83	G3 196.00	B3 246.94	E4 329.63
Open G	D2 73.42	G2 98.00	D3 146.83	G3 196.00	B3 246.94	D4 293.66
Open D	D2 73.42	A2 110.00	D3 146.83	F♯3 185.00	A3 220.00	D4 293.66
Open E	E2 82.41	B2 123.47	E3 164.81	G♯3 207.65	B3 246.94	E4 329.63
Open C	C2 65.41	G2 98.00	C3 130.81	G3 196.00	C4 261.63	E4 329.63

Frequencies in Hz, equal temperament, referenced to A = 440 Hz. See frequencies of musical notes for the full chart.

String tension: tuning down vs tuning up

String tension rises with the square of the frequency. A string tuned down a semitone loses about 10.9% of its tension, and down a whole step about 20.6%. Tuned up a semitone it gains about 12.2%, and up a whole step about 26%.

Applied to D’Addario’s EXL110 electric set (10–46, per-string values totaling about 102.5 lb in standard, D’Addario), the totals work out approximately as follows:

Tuning	Approx. total tension (10–46 set)	Change vs standard
Standard	102.5 lb	(reference)
Open G	about 92 lb	about −10.5%
Open D	about 91 lb	about −11.5%
Open C	about 90 lb	about −12% (low C string about −37%)
Open E	about 114 lb	about +11.5%
Open A	about 116 lb	about +13%

These are calculated from the published per-string values; other sets and scale lengths give different absolute numbers, but the percentages stay similar. The practical rule follows: down-tunings (G, D, C) loosen the guitar, up-tunings (E, A) tighten it. On a light electric set, Open E is well within what the neck handles. On an acoustic with medium strings, whose total tension is already higher, the extra pull of Open E or Open A is a real concern for the bridge and top, which is why Open D or Open G with a capo is the usual alternative.

Why open strings sound different

In an open tuning, every open string is a chord tone, so unplayed strings vibrate in sympathy with notes played elsewhere. That extra ringing is a big part of the sound: a slide note in Open G makes the other strings resonate, and a drone is always available on the open strings.

There is also a tuning subtlety. In equal temperament, a major third is 400 cents wide; a pure, beatless major third (ratio 5:4) is about 386 cents, roughly 14 cents narrower. If you tune the third of the chord (the B string in Open G, the F♯ string in Open D) exactly to a tuner, the open chord can sound slightly bright or rough. Tuning that string a few cents flat by ear makes the open chord sweeter, at the cost of fretted notes on that string being slightly flat. Players choose between the two depending on how much they use the open chord; slide players often tune by ear because the slide is not bound by the frets.

Slack strings and pickups

In down-tunings such as Open C, the lowest strings are much looser. They move further when played, can buzz against the frets, and are more easily pulled by a pickup’s magnets, which can produce warbling, out-of-tune overtones. Lowering the pickups (especially on the bass side) or using heavier strings usually cures it.

Open tuning in practice

How to retune to Open G, step by step

1. Start from standard tuning, checked with a chromatic tuner.
2. Lower string 1 (high E) a whole step to D. It should match the 3rd fret of the B string and sound one octave above the open fourth string.
3. Lower string 6 (low E) a whole step to D, one octave below the open fourth string.
4. Lower string 5 (A) a whole step to G. It should match the 5th fret of the new low D string, and sound one octave below the open third string.
5. Leave strings 4, 3 and 2 (D, G, B) as they are.
6. Check the chord: strum all six open strings; you should hear a G major chord. Retouch each string, because changing tension on several strings slightly moves the others.

How to retune to Open D, step by step

1. Lower string 6 a whole step to D (an octave below the open fourth string).
2. Lower string 1 a whole step to D (one octave above the open fourth string).
3. Lower string 2 (B) a whole step to A: it should match the 7th fret of the open D string.
4. Lower string 3 (G) a semitone to F♯: it should match the 4th fret of the D string.
5. Check: the open strings now form D major. Fine-tune, then check again.

The same method works for every open tuning: change one string at a time, compare it with a string that is already correct, and always approach the target pitch from below so the string settles without slack. When tuning up (Open E, Open A), go slowly and check that the strings you are raising are not old or already near breaking point.

Playing in open tunings

• One-finger major chords: a straight barre across all strings plays the tuning’s chord at any fret. In Open G: open = G, 5th fret = C, 7th fret = D, 12th fret = G an octave up.
• Minor and seventh chords need new shapes, because the standard-tuning shapes no longer apply. Most players learn a few new shapes per tuning instead of translating everything.
• Riffs over a drone: hammer-ons and pull-offs against open strings, as in Keith Richards’ five-string rhythm parts, give movement while the open strings ring.
• Fingerstyle: the open root and fifth in the bass make alternating-bass patterns easy, as in Travis-style picking.

Slide guitar

Slide is the classic reason to use an open tuning. A slide laid straight across the strings produces whatever chord the tuning contains, moved up the neck, and single-string lines can slide freely between chord tones. Setup notes:

• Action: a slide rests on the strings instead of pressing them to the frets, so a slightly higher action keeps it from clattering against the frets. Dedicated slide guitars and lap steels often use much higher action or a raised nut; players who mix slide and fretted playing on one guitar usually raise it only a little.
• String gauge: heavier strings resist the slide and sustain better, which is why many slide players use heavier sets than they would for bending.
• Muting: the fretting hand behind the slide and the picking hand damp unwanted strings and the noise of the slide on the wound strings.

Among modern slide players, Derek Trucks is known for playing almost everything in Open E; in a Guitar Player interview he explains how the tuning shaped the way he sees the fretboard. Duane Allman is also closely associated with Open E for slide.

Recording open-tuned guitars

• Double with standard tuning: recording a part once in standard and once in an open tuning, then panning the two apart, gives two different voicings of the same chords and a wider, richer image than two identical takes.
• Let the sympathetic ringing through: the open strings ring after the chord changes. That can be beautiful on sparse arrangements and messy in dense ones; decide whether to mute strings in performance rather than trying to fix it in the mix.
• Tune between takes: slack strings drift more, and open tunings expose any tuning error because the open chord is heard constantly.
• Watch the low end in Open C: the low C string sits at about 65 Hz, below the lowest note of standard tuning, so treat it like a bass instrument when balancing it against kick and bass (see high-pass filter).

By genre

• Delta and Chicago blues: Open G and Open D for slide; minor open tunings for darker songs.
• Hawaiian slack key and steel guitar: a whole family of open tunings, many of them variants of Open G and Open C.
• Rock: five-string Open G for rhythm riffs, Open E and Open D for slide.
• Folk and singer-songwriter: Open D and Open G for ringing accompaniment; highly personal tunings in the Joni Mitchell tradition.
• Ambient and textural music: open strings as drones under shifting chord shapes.

Gear and tools

Tool	What it helps with
Chromatic tuner	Reads any note, so strings tuned to D, F♯ or G♯ are shown correctly. Many tuners include open-tuning presets. See chromatic tuner.
Capo	Moves an open tuning up without retuning, for example Open D with a capo at the 2nd fret sounds as Open E.
Slide (glass, brass, steel, ceramic)	The classic partner of open tunings; heavier slides sustain more.
Heavier or specific string sets	Firmer low strings for down-tunings such as Open C; some makers sell sets for slide or open tunings.
Modeling guitars and pitch processors	Change tuning electronically while the strings stay in standard.
Robot tuners	Motorized machine heads that retune to presets.

In a DAW, polyphonic pitch shifting (for example Logic Pro’s Pitch Shifter, Ableton Live’s Complex Pro warp mode or Melodyne’s polyphonic mode) can transpose a recorded open-tuned part, but it cannot turn a standard-tuned performance into an open-tuned one: the voicings and ringing strings are the result of the physical tuning.

Famous and documented examples

Artist	Tuning	Documented examples
Blind Willie Johnson	Open D, with slide	“Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” (1927)
Skip James	Open D minor	Many of his 1931 guitar recordings, which get their deep sound from the tuning
Gabby Pahinui	Slack-key tunings	Recordings from 1946–47 onward that brought slack key to a wider public
Keith Richards	Five-string Open G	“Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar”, “Start Me Up”
Joni Mitchell	Around 50 tunings, many open	“Electricity”, “For the Roses” and “Hunter (The Good Samaritan)” use G–G–D–G–B–D
Duane Allman	Open E, with slide	Most of his slide work, including “Statesboro Blues”
Derek Trucks	Open E, with slide	Nearly all of his playing

Joni Mitchell’s G–G–D–G–B–D, with the sixth string dropped all the way to G, shows how far open tunings can move from the textbook shapes. Jimmy Page’s “Kashmir” and “Black Mountain Side” are often mentioned alongside open tunings but use DADGAD, a modal tuning (see alternate tuning).

Common mistakes and myths

Myth: “Open tunings are only for slide”

Slide is the most famous use, but fingerstyle players, singer-songwriters and rock rhythm players use open tunings without a slide, for the ringing open strings, the drones and the one-finger chords.

Myth: “DADGAD is an open tuning”

Its open strings form Dsus4, with no third, so it is neither major nor minor. It is a modal tuning. Open D (D–A–D–F♯–A–D) differs from DADGAD only on the third string: F♯ gives the major third, G gives the suspended fourth.

Mistake: tuning an acoustic up to Open E with heavy strings

Open E and Open A raise tension by roughly 11–13% compared with standard. On an acoustic with medium-gauge strings this adds significant pull on the bridge and top. Use Open D or Open G with a capo at the 2nd fret, or lighter strings, instead.

Mistake: expecting standard chord shapes to work

Only shapes on unchanged strings survive. In Open G, the D, G and B strings are unchanged, so small shapes on those three strings still work; everything else needs new fingerings.

Mistake: trusting the tuner blindly

An open chord tuned perfectly to equal temperament can sound slightly off because of the wide equal-tempered major third. Check the open chord by ear, and decide whether to favor the open chord or the fretted notes.

Myth: “Open tunings damage the neck”

Down-tunings such as Open G, D and C reduce tension. Up-tunings add some tension, which a healthy electric guitar with light strings handles easily; the real risk is heavy strings tuned up on an acoustic. Moving between very different tunings can change neck relief, which a truss-rod adjustment corrects.

Open tuning vs related terms

Term	What it means	Relationship to open tuning
Alternate tuning	Any tuning other than standard	The umbrella category; every open tuning is an alternate tuning. See alternate tuning.
Drop tuning	Lowest string lowered, usually a whole step	Changes one string; open strings do not form a triad. See Drop D and dropped tuning.
Modal tuning (DADGAD)	Open strings form a suspended chord	No third, so neither major nor minor.
Standard tuning	E–A–D–G–B–E	The reference open tunings are measured against. See standard tuning.
Slack key	Hawaiian fingerstyle tradition	Uses many open tunings; “slack” refers to loosening the strings.
Vestapol / Spanish	Old names from parlor and blues guitar	Vestapol = Open D (or E); Spanish = Open G (or A).

Related terms

• Alternate tuning: the map of all tuning families.
• Drop D tuning: the most common non-open alternate tuning.
• Dropped tuning: the drop family in general.
• Standard tuning: the starting point for every retuning.
• Tuning: the general concept.
• Chromatic tuner: needed for any note outside standard tuning.
• Chord: the major and minor triads open tunings are built on.
• Drone: the sustained open-string sound open tunings make easy.
• 12-bar blues: the form most slide playing in Open G and D is built on.

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