Open C tuning

C2 · G2 · C3 · G3 · C4 · E4

Open C spreads a C major chord across the whole range of the guitar, with the root appearing three times in three different octaves. It is a favourite of solo acoustic players for exactly that reason: one guitar in this tuning covers more harmonic ground than one guitar normally does, and the low C gives it a bottom end closer to a piano's than a guitar's.

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Strings

4 strings move from standard

  • 6C2▼4
  • 5G2▼2
  • 4C3▼2
  • 3G3
  • 2C4▲1
  • 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.

Getting there from standard

4 of 6 strings move.

  • String 6 E2 → C2 4 semitones down
  • String 5 A2 → G2 a whole tone down
  • String 4 D3 → C3 a whole tone down
  • String 2 B3 → C4 a semitone up

What it does to your playing

The octave-doubled root is what makes it sound so large — struck together, three Cs an octave apart read as one very full note rather than three. That also makes it a somewhat inflexible tuning: it is emphatically in C, and modulating far away from it means giving up the open strings that made it worth using. Most players treat it as a tuning to write a particular piece in rather than a general-purpose setup.

Strings and setup

The sixth string drops two whole tones to C, which is a long way, and a standard .046 will be noticeably floppy there. A heavier sixth (.054 or so) makes the difference between a defined low C and a dull thud. The rest of the set copes without change.

Other tunings

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