6-String Guitar tuner – Drop C
C-G-C-F-A-D · Drop
Press “Start tuner” – the browser will ask for microphone access. Sound is analysed on this device and never uploaded.
This free online tuner listens through your microphone and shows how close each string of your 6-String Guitar is to Drop C tuning (C-G-C-F-A-D). Play a string, watch the needle, and turn the peg until the meter glows green. If you prefer tuning by ear, tap any string card to hear its reference tone.
About Drop C tuning
Compared with Standard E, Drop C moves 6 strings. Every change is downward, the largest by 4 semitones, so the instrument sits at lower tension than in Standard E.
| String | Standard E | Drop C | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E2 | C2 | down 4 semitones |
| 2 | A2 | G2 | down 2 semitones |
| 3 | D3 | C3 | down 2 semitones |
| 4 | G3 | F3 | down 2 semitones |
| 5 | B3 | A3 | down 2 semitones |
| 6 | E4 | D4 | down 2 semitones |
Played open, the strings sound C-G-C-F-A-D – from C2 at the bottom to D4 at the top, a span of 2 octaves and 2 semitones. Step by step across the neck the intervals are a fifth, a fourth, a fourth, a major third, a fourth, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
Drop C is Drop D moved a whole step lower: the whole guitar goes down one tone and then the low string drops another, so one-finger power chords survive intact but everything sits much heavier. It is the default of 2000s metalcore and alternative metal – System of a Down and Deftones made it ordinary.
It asks something back. Standard-gauge strings go slack at this pitch and start to buzz and drift out of intonation, so a heavier set is not a refinement here, it is what makes the tuning usable.
Dropping 4 semitones takes the tension down noticeably. A heavier set – or at least a heavier bottom string – keeps the intonation honest and stops the low string buzzing.
History
Where the Drop C tuning comes from
Drop C grew out of the downtuning trend of 1990s heavy music: it keeps the one-finger power chords of Drop D but a whole step lower. System of a Down, Deftones and much of the metalcore of the 2000s made it a standard tuning of the genre. The idea of heavy downtuning goes back to Black Sabbath: in 1971 Tony Iommi tuned down for Master of Reality partly to make the strings easier on fingertips he had injured in a factory accident.
Other 6-String Guitar tunings
Standard
Drop
Open
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my 6-String Guitar to Drop C?
Allow microphone access, pluck a string, and the tuner will detect it automatically. The needle shows whether the string is flat or sharp – adjust until the reading is within ±5 cents (C-G-C-F-A-D).
Which notes are used in Drop C tuning?
Drop C tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes C-G-C-F-A-D, listed from the lowest string to the highest.
Can I tune without a microphone?
Yes. Every string card plays a reference tone – tap it and match your string to the sound by ear.