Seven-string standard tuning (B standard)

B1 · E2 · A2 · D3 · G3 · B3 · E4

A seven-string in standard tuning is an ordinary six-string with a low B added below it — the six familiar strings do not move at all. That is what makes the instrument approachable: everything you already play still works, and the seventh string is a new resource rather than a relearning exercise. It is the default across progressive metal and djent, and it turns up increasingly in jazz, where the extra range covers bass lines.

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Strings

  • 7B1
  • 6E2
  • 5A2
  • 4D3
  • 3G3
  • 2B3
  • 1E4

Last few seconds

Harmonics

How far each overtone sits above its ideal position. A stiff, wound string rises to the right.

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What to aim at

Matches what it hears to the nearest string of the tuning.

What it does to your playing

The seventh string extends the range downward by a fourth without displacing anything. Standard shapes are unchanged, and the extra string simply becomes available: as a low pedal note under a riff, as a way to reach bass notes that previously required a capo or an octave jump, or as five more frets of low-register melody. The main adjustment is physical rather than musical — the neck is wider, and muting the string you are not playing becomes a skill in itself.

Strings and setup

Seven-string sets are made for this and are the sensible choice; the seventh is usually .056 to .068 depending on scale length. Many seven-strings are built with a longer scale, or a multi-scale fanned-fret neck, precisely so the low B can hold tension without needing an unreasonably thick string. At 61.7 Hz that string is also where cheap tuners fail, reporting the octave above — this one sizes its analysis window from the lowest note the selected instrument can reach, so the B is measured rather than guessed at.

Other tunings

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