How to Use Alternate Tunings on Acoustic Guitar

Why Players Bother With Alternate Tunings

Alternate tunings exist because standard EADGBE is a compromise designed for chord fingerability, not for resonance or open-string drones. About 40% of modern fingerstyle recordings, including work by Tommy Emmanuel, Andy McKee, Pierre Bensusan, and the late Michael Hedges, use some form of alternate tuning. The tuning changes the available open strings, which changes which notes ring sympathetically when you pick, which in turn changes the entire character of the instrument. A song in DADGAD sounds fundamentally different from the same song in standard, even with the same chord shapes.

This guide covers the seven most useful alternate tunings for acoustic players, ordered from least to most disruptive to your standard-tuning reflexes. Each section includes the tuning itself, a note on string tension changes, famous songs in that tuning, and practical advice on how to retune without breaking strings or damaging your neck.

Drop D (DADGBE), The Gateway Tuning

Drop D tuning lowers only the sixth string (low E) to D. It takes 10 seconds to set and 10 seconds to reverse. Drop D gives you a low D drone, a one-finger D power chord on strings 6-4-3, and keeps every other chord shape intact. It is used on Neil Young's "Harvest Moon," Pearl Jam's "Alive," and countless folk and rock songs. This is the first alternate tuning every player should try.

String tension drops by about 15% on the low E when you tune down a whole step, which slightly loosens the neck's overall pull. Your truss rod does not need adjustment for a temporary drop, only if you leave the guitar in Drop D for weeks at a time. Retune using a clip-on tuner or match the low string to the pitch of the open D string (one octave apart).

DADGAD, The Celtic and Modern Fingerstyle Standard

DADGAD (D-A-D-G-A-D, low to high) is the most popular modern fingerstyle tuning. It was popularized by Davy Graham in the 1960s for Celtic and Middle Eastern-inflected music and has since become the default for players like Pierre Bensusan, Laurence Juber, and Andy McKee. Open strings in DADGAD spell a D suspended 4 chord, which is neither major nor minor, this ambiguity gives the tuning its distinctive modal character.

To tune from standard: drop low E to D, leave A, drop D down, no wait, leave the D string alone, drop the G down, leave G alone too, drop the B to A, drop the high E to D. So the change is: low E to D, B to A, high E to D. Two strings go down a whole step, one goes down a half step. Songs in DADGAD include "Black Mountain Side" by Jimmy Page, "Kashmir" (partial use), and most of Pierre Bensusan's catalog.

Open D (DADF#AD), The Slide Standard

Open D turns the open strings into a D major chord. It is the primary tuning for acoustic slide players and for some fingerstyle blues work. The slide can barre any fret to play that fret's major chord, which is why bottleneck players overwhelmingly use open tunings rather than standard. Joni Mitchell wrote "Big Yellow Taxi" in Open D, and much of Leo Kottke's bottleneck work lives here.

Tension changes: low E drops to D, G drops to F#, B drops to A, high E drops to D. Four strings go down, total tension drops noticeably, the guitar will feel looser and slightly less responsive until you adjust your pick attack. Do not leave a guitar in Open D for more than a few days without checking the truss rod, the reduced tension can produce a slight back-bow in sensitive necks.

Open G (DGDGBD), Rolling Stones Territory

Open G is Keith Richards' primary tuning on electric and acoustic alike, "Start Me Up," "Brown Sugar," and "Honky Tonk Women" are all in Open G. Richards also removes the low E string entirely for his preferred 5-string Open G setup. For acoustic players, Open G (DGDGBD) provides a bright open-string G major chord and a major pentatonic that falls under the fingers naturally on the middle four strings.

Change from standard: drop low E to D, drop A to G, leave D, leave G, leave B, drop high E to D. Open G is also the standard tuning for much Delta blues slide work, Son House's "Death Letter Blues" and Robert Johnson's "Come On in My Kitchen" both benefit from Open G.

Double Drop D (DADGBD)

Double Drop D lowers both E strings to D while leaving the middle four strings in standard tuning. It combines the low D drone of Drop D with a high D drone, producing a pair of octave D notes on the outer strings. Neil Young has used Double Drop D for decades, "Cinnamon Girl," "Ohio," and "The Loner" all live here. It is far easier to adapt to than DADGAD because every chord shape from standard still works on the middle four strings.

If you already know standard tuning and want to try alternate tunings, start with Drop D, then Double Drop D, then DADGAD. This progression keeps you within a zone where your existing chord knowledge still applies until you are ready for the bigger shift of fully open tunings.

How to Retune Without Breaking Strings

Always tune down to reach an alternate tuning, never up. Going from standard E to F# on the low string (a half step up) puts 20+ extra pounds of tension on the string and neck and can snap a string or damage the soundboard. Going down is safe, tension decreases. If you need a higher pitch, tune down to a lower pitch and then capo up to the desired key.

Budget 60-90 seconds for a careful retune. Check each string twice with a chromatic tuner. After retuning, strum each open chord lightly and listen for wolf tones or buzzes that suggest the neck needs to settle. A guitar that has been retuned from standard to Open D often needs 2-3 minutes to stabilize before it holds pitch reliably.