There may have come a time in your guitar career that you've encountered someone who used a drop guitar tuning. You may have thought to yourself, "I thought that retuning your guitar from anything but standard was just not worth it." Actually, the reason for most alternate guitar tunings is the ability to perform specific genres of music easier. There are new possibilities to play a piece with an alternate guitar tuning.

So what is drop guitar tuning?

The two most common forms of drop tunings are 'D' and 'C'. The 'D' version occurs when the low 'E' string is loosened to the point where it becomes a 'D'. Your new tuning would read 'D','A','D','g','b', and 'e' from the lowest to highest string. Drop 'C' tuning occurs by dropping the low 'E' down two steps to a 'C' and then every other string by one step so the strings would read 'C','G','C','f','a', and 'd' from the lowest to highest string.

Where do guitarists use this tuning?

Since the early 90s, this drop guitar tuning has been a popular pick for metal and hardcore bands alike. Faster and heavier bands that jam on low, brutal notes are usually in one of the drop tunings.

What are the pros of this tuning?

Positively, a new set of chord structures are created with the implementation of this new tuning. Using a standard tuning for an F5 chord, your index finger would be on the first fret of the first string, your ring finger on the third fret of the second string, and your pinky finger on the third fret of the third string. With this chord formation, your fingers are doing a little more work and it takes more practice to execute faster chord progressions.

Now, by using the drop guitar tuning, you can lay your index finger across the first three strings of the third fret and play that exact same F5 chord. By adjusting your tuning, you've eliminated the use of two fingers.

What are the cons of this tuning?

With the choice of using a new tuning style, there are always the consequences of losing other easily created chords from standard tuning. If you are more of an acoustic guitar player that enjoys playing chords that revolve around the first and second frets, drop guitar tuning might not be for you. Since you're changing the 'E' string to another pitch, many of the common acoustic chords become unusable.

If you're itching to learn some metal and hardcore riffs, then drop tunings on the guitar is what you're looking for. For those of you that enjoy your jazz, rock, or country, standard tuning should suit you just fine. Whatever your decision is, make sure that your guitar tuning suits the genre in which you enjoy playing.