6-String Guitar tuner – Open G
D-G-D-G-B-D · Open
Also known as Spanish, Taro Patch, Slack Key G
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 Open G tuning (D-G-D-G-B-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 Open G tuning
Compared with Standard E, Open G moves 3 strings. Every change is downward, the largest by 2 semitones, so the instrument sits at lower tension than in Standard E.3 strings stay exactly where they were.
| String | Standard E | Open G | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E2 | D2 | down 2 semitones |
| 2 | A2 | G2 | down 2 semitones |
| 6 | E4 | D4 | down 2 semitones |
Played open, the strings sound D-G-D-G-B-D – from D2 at the bottom to D4 at the top, a span of 2 octaves. Step by step across the neck the intervals are a fourth, a fifth, a fourth, a major third, a minor third, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
Strummed open, with nothing fretted, the strings spell G. That is what makes a tuning like this useful for slide playing and drones – a full chord is one straight barre away at any fret. See G shapes in this tuning →
Open G is the Delta blues tuning and, through Keith Richards, half the Rolling Stones catalogue. Richards famously removed the low string entirely and played the remaining five – "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up" all come out of that setup.
Strum the open strings and a G major chord rings out, so any chord in the key is one finger laid flat across a fret. That is what makes it the natural home for bottleneck slide: the slide is simply a movable barre, and the tuning does the harmony for you.
The drop is small enough that a standard set handles it. If the lowest string starts to rattle against the frets, one step up in gauge fixes it.
History
Where the Open G tuning comes from
Open G was called “Spanish tuning” in 19th-century America after “Spanish Fandango”, a popular parlour guitar piece published by Henry Worrall around 1860 that was played in it. In Hawaii the same tuning is “taro patch”, one of the basic slack-key tunings developed after Mexican and Spanish cowboys (vaqueros), invited by King Kamehameha III in the 1830s, brought guitars to the islands.
It was one of the essential tunings of the Delta blues – Robert Johnson used it – and in 1968–69 Keith Richards, after picking it up from Ry Cooder and others, removed his sixth string and built “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up” on five-string open G.
Other 6-String Guitar tunings
Standard
Drop
Open
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my 6-String Guitar to Open G?
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 (D-G-D-G-B-D).
Which notes are used in Open G tuning?
Open G tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes D-G-D-G-B-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.