Introduction To Drop D Tuning – Alternate Guitar Tuning Lesson

In this free guitar lesson, we will be learning about an alternate form of guitar tuning called “Drop D Tuning” (Also Known As DADGBE).  There are a number of interesting alternate guitar tunings, but Drop D is one of the easiest to set up and one of the most popular.

Drop D Tuning is often used in Rock and Metal Music but it is also used in other genres of music like country and blues.

As I said in the beginning of this post, Drop D Tuning is one of the easiest alternate tuning methods to setup.  All that you need to do is tune down (Drop) your Low E string by one “Whole Step”  to a “D”, while the rest of the strings remain the same.

The easiest way to tune your Low E string to the required “D”is by using an electronic guitar tuner. If you don’t have a tuner, then you can use this online drop d guitar tuner. Another method for tuning to Drop D is by tuning your low E string to the 4th D String.  The video below demonstrates this.

One of the things that makes Drop D Tuning so attractive to musicians is the ease of playing and switching between power chords, which is the reason this tuning method is so popular with Rock and Metal Guitarists.

Below are two charts for the “G5”  Power Chord. The chart on the left is in Standard Tuning, while the chart on the right is in Drop D Tuning.  As you can tell , there is a difference.  The Drop D Power Chord is easier to finger as you only need to barre the three lowest strings on the fifth fret.  I am sure you can see how this would make it easier to switch between power chords.

Video Lessons on Drop D Tuning

Now that you have a brief introduction to Drop D Tuning , lets take a look at a couple of video lessons on the topic:

Drop D Tuning Video Guitar Lesson

The following video is by Marty Schwartz.  In this lesson Marty first demonstrates another great method for tuning your guitar to Drop D tuning by using the 4th or D string. He then teaches how you can write your very own riffs using a blues scale on the lowest string….

A big thanks to Marty Schwartz for sharing this awesome video lesson. Marty is an amazing guitar player and one of the best guitar instructors online. If you are serious about your guitar learning, you should definitely visit his Website here. I can’t recommend Marty’s Website enough.

Drop D Tuning Video Guitar Lesson 2

In this next video lesson on Drop D Tuning, Nate Savage shows us how to first get into tune and then talks about how to easily play power chords in this new tuning.  He then demonstrates how to play a cool riff from the song “Dogman” by King’s X.

A big thanks to Nate Savage for providing this cool video lesson on Drop D Tuning.  Nate is also one of my favorite guitar teachers online.   For a small investment you can get your hands on Nate’s Beginner Guitar System and his Blues Guitar Blueprint DVD Pack.  Two amazing home study courses that I absolutely love!