Drop D Guitar
Lowest string dropped to D. Allows one-finger power chords on the bottom three strings.
Drop D is the most popular alternate tuning in rock and metal. Only the lowest string changes, going from E down to D. That one change opens up one-finger power chords on the bottom three strings and gives you a deeper low end for heavy riffs while keeping the top four strings in standard position.
Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, Tool and dozens of metal bands rely on Drop D. It is the easiest alternate tuning to switch to and from during a set.
Attack on Titan 1
Audioslave 3
Avenged Sevenfold 1
Bullet For My Valentine 1
Darkenhöld 6
Deftones 4
Dimmu Borgir 2
Disturbed 2
Drowning Pool 1
Evanescence 1
Five Finger Death Punch 1
Game of Thrones 1
Gojira 3
Imagine Dragons 1
John Petrucci 5
Led Zeppelin 3
Linkin Park 5
Machine Head 1
Marilyn Manson 1
Metallica 12
- 1 Devil's Dance TAB 1997
- 2 Don't Tread On Me TAB 1991
- 3 FIXXXER TAB 1997
- 4 Frantic TAB 2003
- 5 Lux Æterna TAB 2023
- 6 Spit Out The Bone Guitar Solo LESSON 2016
- 7 The Thing That Should Not Be TAB 1986
- 8 The Unforgiven III TAB 2011
- 9 Through The Never LESSON 2013
- 10 Welcome Home TAB 2008
- 11 Welcome Home - Outro w/Solo LESSON 1991
- 12 Welcome Home (First Solo) LESSON 1991
Morbid Angel 1
Muse 17
- 1 Blackout LESSON 2006
- 2 Dead Inside COVER 2015
- 3 Hysteria LESSON 2003
- 4 Plug in Babe TAB 2006
- 5 Plug In Baby LESSON 2001
- 6 Pressure LESSON 2006
- 7 Psycho LESSON 2015
- 8 Reapers LESSON 2015
- 9 Stockholm Syndrome - Intro LESSON 2006
- 10 Stockholm Syndrome - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround LESSON 2006
- 11 Stockholm Syndrome - Solo & Ending LESSON 2006
- 12 Stockholm Syndrome - Verse LESSON 2006
- 13 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.1 - Intro LESSON 2006
- 14 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.2 - Verse LESSON 2006
- 15 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.3 - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround LESSON 2006
- 16 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.4 - Solo & Ending LESSON 2006
- 17 Supermassive Black Hole LESSON 2006
Papa Roach 1
Pearl Jam 1
Rage Against The Machine 1
Satyricon 1
Sepultura 1
Sheet Music Boss 1
Soundgarden 4
Stone Temple Pilots 3
System Of A Down 1
The Smashing Pumpkins 1
The White Stripes 1
Tool 4
Type O Negative 1
Van Halen 1
Volbeat 2
Drop D Technique
The main advantage is the one-finger power chord: lay your index finger flat across the bottom three strings at any fret and you have a root-fifth-octave chord. This frees up your other fingers for hammer-ons, pull-offs and embellishments while the power chord rings out.
The top four strings (A D G B E) are unchanged, so all your regular chord shapes, scales and licks on those strings still work. The only adjustment is on the 6th string, where every note is now two frets higher than you expect.
See also Drop C for an even heavier version of this concept.