Top 3 Takeaways
1) Alternate tunings are approachable — You don't need to know music theory. Some alternate tunings are achieved as easily as changing one string.
2) Unlock your creativity — Changing your tuning throws familiar chord shapes out the window and often makes new, unique ideas easier to find.
3) The versatility is endless — Alternate tunings, especially open tunings, are useful for a wide variety of genres and techniques.
Don't Be Afraid. Alternate Tunings are Very Approachable
At some point in your guitar journey, it’s easy to feel like you’re playing the same shapes over and over again. That’s exactly where alternate tunings come in.
In this lesson, Guitar Tricks instructors Anders Mouridsen and Barrett Wilson explore how changing your tuning can completely reshape the way you hear and play the guitar. The best part? You don’t need advanced theory or years of experience to start using alternate tunings creatively right away. There's nothing to be afraid of. They can be a simple way of expanding your creativity. Sometimes all it takes is turning one tuning peg.
Why Alternate Tunings Matter
Standard tuning (E–A–D–G–B–E) is already extremely versatile. That's why it's called "standard" and we pretty much use it across the board. It’s designed so you can play scales, chords, and patterns in every key using familiar shapes.
But it’s obviously not the only way to tune a guitar. Alternate tunings change the relationships between the strings, which can instantly create new chord voicings, paths to new melodies, drone strings, unexpected harmonies and even easier fingerings for certain chords.
An alternate tuning is the quickest way to make your guitar feel like a completely different instrument. It can be a shortcut to feeling inspired because it's a true habit-breaker, enabling you to think about chord shapes and scales in a way beyond what you may have learned in standard tuning.
The Fastest Way to Hear the Difference
Alternate tunings don’t need to be complicated to be useful. Sometimes a single-string adjustment can open up a whole new world of sound.
Take Drop D tuning, for example: D–A–D–G–B–E
Just lowering your low E string to D gives you a deeper low end, makes power chords possible with just one finger and opens-up heavier tonal options.
It’s one of the simplest alternate tunings to try, and it immediately makes your guitar feel bigger and more accessible. It's the perfect excample of a small change that produces a big result.
Open Tunings: Instant Chords, Big Sound
Another major category Anders and Barrett cover in this episode is open tunings.
An open tuning means the guitar already forms a chord when you strum all six strings without fretting anything. For example:
Open G: D–G–D–G–B–D
Strum the strings open and you’re already playing a full G chord.
This is going to create a lot more resonance from open strings, much more accessible slide playing, and the ability to move barre chords with just one finger.
Open tunings are especially popular in blues, folk, and roots music because they naturally create ringing, spacious harmonies. They also make songwriting quite a bit easier because each fret becomes a different chord. You can build a progression without necessarily knowing multiple chord shapes.
DADGAD: Perfect for Atmosphere
One tuning that often surprises players the first time they try it is DADGAD.
It has a suspended, unresolved quality that feels cinematic and emotional right away. Players use it across styles ranging from Celtic fingerstyle to modern acoustic arrangements because it supports both major and minor moods depending on how you voice your notes.
That flexibility makes it perfect for experimentation. Much like the open tunings referenced above, you don’t necessarily have to “know what you’re doing” to make something musical happen because of the natural sound of the tuning and the possibilities it creates.
Alternate Tunings Change How You Think
One of the most important takeaways from this lesson is that alternate tunings aren’t meant to be a replacement for standard tuning, they're simply a great tool for changing your perspective.
When you approach an alternate tuning, the familiar shapes you've learned in standard tuning aren't going to work the same way. Your ears will become more active because you'll start listening to how things sound when you place your fingers on different frets. It can be freeing because you'll immediately stop repeating patterns that you already know and instead, you'll actively make decisions on where to go based on what the tuning sounds like.
Many guitarists discover their most original ideas while working in a new tuning simply because they’re forced to approach the instrument differently.
You Don’t Need Music Theory to Start
A common hesitation players have is thinking that they don't know enough about music theory to move on from standard to alternate tunings.
The truth is, you really don’t need theory at all to start experimenting. You could start by simply changing one string (like with Drop D tuning). From there, play some familiar chord shapes, listen for any differences and follow anything that sounds interesting to your ear. You could also learn how to adapt the shapes to work in the new tuning.
Alternate tunings reward curiosity more than correctness. It's best to throw theory out the window when we're experimenting and instead practice with the thought: "If it sounds good, it is good."
A Practical Way to Get Started Today
If you’ve never experimented with alternate tunings before, try this simple approach:
Step 1: Tune to Drop D
Play your usual chords and riffs.
Step 2: Try Open G
Strum open strings and move one-finger barres up the neck.
Step 3: Explore DADGAD
Play slowly and listen for drone notes.
Spend 5-10 minutes with each tuning and listen to how the tone of your guitar changes and how your chord shapes change. See if any of them affect the way you play or think about melodies and chord progressions.
Alternate Tunings Are an Easily-Accessible Creativity Shortcut
Many players assume alternate tunings are advanced techniques, but the truth is, they really aren't. They're a simple way to kickstart your creativity.
Whether you’re writing songs, building fingerstyle arrangements, exploring slide guitar, or just trying to break out of a practice rut, alternate tunings give you instant access to sounds that standard tuning doesn’t naturally provide.
Sometimes the fastest way to grow as a guitarist is to shake things up a bit. Rather than drilling new techniques in standard tuning, try an alternate tuning and let the guitar itself show you something new.
