Open G tuning

D2 · G2 · D3 · G3 · B3 · D4

Open G tunes the strings to a G major chord and is the other great open tuning alongside Open D. It runs deep through country blues and slide playing, and a good deal of rock rhythm guitar is played in it — often on a five-string guitar with the low D removed entirely, which leaves the chord with its root at the bottom instead of a fifth.

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Strings

3 strings move from standard

  • 6D2▼2
  • 5G2▼2
  • 4D3
  • 3G3
  • 2B3
  • 1D4▼2

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

3 of 6 strings move.

  • String 6 E2 → D2 a whole tone down
  • String 5 A2 → G2 a whole tone down
  • String 1 E4 → D4 a whole tone down

Songs in Open G tuning

  • Start Me Up The Rolling Stones
  • Brown Sugar The Rolling Stones
  • Honky Tonk Women The Rolling Stones

What it does to your playing

Like Open D, a barre anywhere gives you a major chord, so slide work becomes a matter of position rather than fingering. What makes Open G distinct is how well it suits a percussive, partial-chord rhythm style: the middle four strings alone carry the whole chord, so you can play driving rhythm on them and leave the outer strings to ring or stay muted. Only three strings move from standard — the sixth, fifth and first, all down a tone — which makes it a much cheaper switch than Open D.

Strings and setup

Three strings down a tone, three unchanged. Tension drops less than in Open D, so a standard set copes fine. If you are dropping the sixth string entirely for the five-string setup, do not leave the string in place unplayed and detuned — it will rattle sympathetically against everything else.

Other tunings

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