GuitarTuner.online

6-String Guitar tuner – Whole Step Down (D)

D-G-C-F-A-D · Standard

Also known as D Standard

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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 Whole Step Down (D) tuning (D-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 Whole Step Down (D) tuning

Compared with Standard E, Whole Step Down (D) moves 6 strings. Every change is downward, the largest by 2 semitones, so the instrument sits at lower tension than in Standard E.

How Whole Step Down (D) differs from Standard E, string by string.
StringStandard EWhole Step Down (D)Change
1E2D2down 2 semitones
2A2G2down 2 semitones
3D3C3down 2 semitones
4G3F3down 2 semitones
5B3A3down 2 semitones
6E4D4down 2 semitones

Played open, the strings sound D-G-C-F-A-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 fourth, a fourth, a major third, a fourth, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.

D Standard drops everything a whole tone. The fingering stays exactly as in standard tuning and the guitar gains a thick, slightly slack low end – the sound behind a lot of Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and doom-adjacent riffing.

Unlike Drop D it keeps all six intervals intact, so it is a transposition rather than a new fretboard: every shape, scale and tab still applies, one whole step lower. A medium-heavy set stops the bottom strings from flapping.

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 Whole Step Down (D) tuning comes from

D standard is the next step down from E♭ and served the same purposes: slacker strings for heavy gauges and wide bends, and a lower key for singers. Blues players and early heavy-metal guitarists used it from the 1970s, and it became common in the thrash, grunge and death metal of the late 1980s and 1990s, when bands were looking for a heavier sound without switching to drop tunings.

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 Whole Step Down (D)?

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-C-F-A-D).

Which notes are used in Whole Step Down (D) tuning?

Whole Step Down (D) tuning for 6-String Guitar uses the notes D-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.