Drop D tuning

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Dropped D tuning: DADGBE, also known as simply as drop D, is a guitar tuning style in which the lowest (sixth) string is tuned down a whole tone ("dropped") to D rather than E as in standard tuning (EADGBE).

[edit] Uses of dropped D tuning

The difference of drop D from standard tuning allows for the top three strings form a D5 power chord, which can be shifted up or down the fretboard with a single finger (usually the index) to produce any power chord quickly and easily. Drop-D also enables the guitarist to play a whole tone lower than in standard tuning, and many artists value this deeper, fuller sound.

Dropped D tuning is perhaps most widely used in heavy metal or rock music as they take full advantage of the easier power chord transitions needed for extremely fast playing. However, the tuning has also been used in many other types of music, including blues, country, and folk.

This tuning may be the most prominent tuning in modern rock and metal, but it is not uncommon for these guitarists to play in E-flat tuning/down tuning or dropped C tuning.

Drop D also allows fingerpickers to play chord shapes higher up the neck while maintaining an alternating bass.

The drop D tuning was also used in the Led Zeppelin song Kashmir, This song is centered around a signature chord progression guitar riff, which originally began as a tuning cycle which Jimmy Page had been using for a number of years. It is played in an alternative guitar tuning where the strings are tuned to 'D modal' or DADGAD. The body of the song also has a different beat between the guitars and the drums. The drums play the standard 4/4 time signature with a double stroke on the bass drum, while the guitars create tension by playing against it in [implied] 3/4 time.

[edit] Examples of chords in dropped D tuning

Chords in dropped D tuning are formed as they are in standard tuning, with the exception of the sixth string, which is either omitted or fretted one whole step higher:

Chord   Tab
A       x02220
Am      x02210
B       x24442
Bm      x24432
C       x32010
D       000232
Dm      000231
E       x22100
Em      222000
F       x03211
F#      xx4322
F#m     xx4222
G       5x0003

Note that these chords are not the power chords commonly played in drop D tuning. Power chords generally mute the higher notes rather than the lower notes:

Chord   Tab
A5      777xxx or x022xx
B5      999xxx or x244xx
C5      x355xx or 101010xxx
D5      000xxx or x577xx
E5      222xxx or x799xx
F5      333xxx or x81010xx
F#5     444xxx
G5      555xxx