GuitarTuner.online

6-String Guitar tuner – Ostrich

D-D-D-D-D-D · Alternative

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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 Ostrich tuning (D-D-D-D-D-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 Ostrich tuning

Compared with Standard E, Ostrich moves 5 strings. Some strings go up and others go down, so the total tension stays close to Standard E while the shape of the fretboard changes completely.1 string stays exactly where it was.

How Ostrich differs from Standard E, string by string.
StringStandard EOstrichChange
1E2D2down 2 semitones
2A2D3up 5 semitones
4G3D3down 5 semitones
5B3D4up 3 semitones
6E4D4down 2 semitones

Played open, the strings sound D-D-D-D-D-D – from D2 at the bottom to D4 at the top, a span of 2 octaves.

Every string is tuned to a D. The instrument becomes one note in several octaves: a drone rather than a chord.

Ostrich tuning puts every string on the same note. Lou Reed invented it for a 1964 single called "The Ostrich" and carried the idea into the Velvet Underground, where an ostrich-tuned guitar gives "Venus in Furs" its flat, droning insistence.

There is no harmony to play – strumming produces one note in several octaves, and the music happens in rhythm, timbre and whatever a second instrument does on top. As a tuning it is a single idea, but it is a genuinely distinctive one.

This is a long drop: 5 semitones below Standard E. Standard gauges will flap at this pitch. A heavy set, and often a longer scale, is what makes the tuning playable rather than merely possible.

History

Where the Ostrich tuning comes from

Tuning every string to the same note is the idea of Lou Reed. In 1964, as a staff songwriter at Pickwick Records, he wrote the novelty dance song “The Ostrich” and tuned all the strings to D for it. Reed and John Cale later used this drone tuning in the Velvet Underground, on songs such as “All Tomorrow's Parties” and “Venus in Furs”.

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 Ostrich?

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-D-D-D-D-D).

Which notes are used in Ostrich tuning?

Ostrich tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes D-D-D-D-D-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.