GuitarTuner.online

6-String Guitar tuner – Nashville (High Strung)

E-A-D-G-B-E · Alternative

Also known as High Strung

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Microphone off
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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 Nashville (High Strung) tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E). 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 Nashville (High Strung) tuning

Compared with Standard E, Nashville (High Strung) moves 4 strings. Every change is upward, the largest by 12 semitones, so the strings pull tighter than in Standard E.2 strings stay exactly where they were.

How Nashville (High Strung) differs from Standard E, string by string.
StringStandard ENashville (High Strung)Change
1E2E3up 12 semitones
2A2A3up 12 semitones
3D3D4up 12 semitones
4G3G4up 12 semitones

Played open, the strings sound E-A-D-G-B-E – from E3 at the bottom to G4 at the top, a span of 1 octave and 3 semitones.

Nashville (High Strung) is re-entrant: the strings do not rise steadily in pitch, so the string nearest your thumb is not the lowest note available. That is deliberate, and it is a large part of why the instrument sounds the way it does.

Nashville tuning, also called high-strung, is not really a tuning so much as a restring: the four lower strings are replaced with the thin octave strings from a 12-string set and tuned an octave up, leaving the top two alone.

It exists to be doubled. On a record, a Nashville-tuned acoustic layered under a normally tuned one produces the shimmer of a 12-string with far more control – "Hey You" and "Wild Horses" are the classic examples. Played alone it sounds thin and slightly harpsichord-like, which is occasionally exactly what a track needs.

Some strings jump a full octave. That is a re-string rather than a retune – those courses need the thin octave strings from a 12-string set.

History

Where the Nashville (High Strung) tuning comes from

Nashville tuning (high strung) uses the thin octave strings of a twelve-string set on the four lowest courses, so the guitar sounds like the high half of a twelve-string. Nashville session players used it in the 1960s to add sparkle to recordings. The Rolling Stones used it on “Wild Horses” (1971), and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on “Hey You” (1979).

History of the instrument: 6-String Guitar →

Other 6-String Guitar tunings

Standard

Standard E E-A-D-G-B-EHalf Step Down (Eb) D#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#Whole Step Down (D) D-G-C-F-A-DB Standard B-E-A-D-F#-BPlus 1 (F) F-A#-D#-G#-C-FPlus 2 (F#) F#-B-E-A-C#-F#

Drop

Drop D D-A-D-G-B-EDouble Drop D D-A-D-G-B-DDrop C# C#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#Drop C C-G-C-F-A-DDrop B B-F#-B-E-G#-C#Drop A A-E-A-D-F#-BDrop G# G#-D#-G#-C#-F-A#Drop G G-D-G-C-E-ADrop F# F#-C#-F#-B-D#-G#Drop E E-B-E-A-C#-F#

Open

Open C C-G-C-G-C-EOpen D D-A-D-F#-A-DOpen Dm D-A-D-F-A-DOpen E E-B-E-G#-B-EOpen Em E-B-E-G-B-EOpen F C-F-C-F-A-FOpen G D-G-D-G-B-DOpen Gm D-G-D-G-A#-DOpen A E-A-C#-E-A-EOpen A 2 E-A-E-A-C#-EOpen Am E-A-E-A-C-EOpen B B-F#-B-F#-B-D#CGDGBD (Open G Low C) C-G-D-G-B-DFACGCE (Fmaj7) F-A-C-G-C-EWahine (G) D-G-D-F#-B-D

Modal

DADGAD (D Modal) D-A-D-G-A-DG Modal D-G-D-G-C-DOrkney C-G-D-G-C-D

Alternative

Double Daddy D-A-D-D-A-DAll Fourths E-A-D-G-C-FNew Standard (NST) C-G-D-A-E-GNashville (High Strung) E-A-D-G-B-EEADF#BE E-A-D-F#-B-EOstrich D-D-D-D-D-D

Chords for this tuning

CGDAEFAll 6-String Guitar chords →
How do I tune my 6-String Guitar to Nashville (High Strung)?

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 (E-A-D-G-B-E).

Which notes are used in Nashville (High Strung) tuning?

Nashville (High Strung) tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes E-A-D-G-B-E, 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.