6-String Guitar tuner – Wahine (G)
D-G-D-F#-B-D · Open
Also known as Slack Key Wahine
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 Wahine (G) tuning (D-G-D-F#-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 Wahine (G) tuning
Compared with Standard E, Wahine (G) moves 4 strings. Every change is downward, the largest by 2 semitones, so the instrument sits at lower tension than in Standard E.2 strings stay exactly where they were.
| String | Standard E | Wahine (G) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E2 | D2 | down 2 semitones |
| 2 | A2 | G2 | down 2 semitones |
| 4 | G3 | F#3 | down 1 semitone |
| 6 | E4 | D4 | down 2 semitones |
Played open, the strings sound D-G-D-F#-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 major third, a fourth, a minor third, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
Strummed open, with nothing fretted, the strings spell Gmaj7. 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 Gmaj7 shapes in this tuning →
Wahine is a Hawaiian slack key tuning – "slack key" being the literal description of the method, slackening strings until the open guitar sounds a chord. What distinguishes the wahine tunings is the major seventh left ringing in the open chord.
That seventh is the point: it gives the sweet, unresolved shimmer that the style is known for, and it lets a player hammer onto the octave to resolve the chord as part of the melody. Slack key tunings were traditionally family property, taught rather than published.
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 Wahine (G) tuning comes from
“Wahine” is the Hawaiian word for woman, and in slack-key guitar (kī hōʻalu) it names a group of tunings that include the major seventh, giving a gentle, sweet sound. Slack key developed in Hawaii in the 19th century after the guitar reached the islands with Mexican and Spanish cowboys in the 1830s. Gabby Pahinui, who made the first slack-key recordings in the 1940s, and later Keola Beamer and Ledward Kaapana, used wahine tunings.
Other 6-String Guitar tunings
Standard
Drop
Open
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my 6-String Guitar to Wahine (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-F#-B-D).
Which notes are used in Wahine (G) tuning?
Wahine (G) tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes D-G-D-F#-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.