Online half step down guitar tuner

Guitar string notes, half step down

Frequencies are calculated with the reference A at 440 Hz. If your group tunes to a different reference, such as 442 Hz, adjust it with the − and + buttons next to “A = 440 Hz” and the tuner shifts every note.

How to go from standard tuning to half step down

All six strings change. All the strings that change go down, so the guitar ends up with less tension than in standard tuning. If you overshoot, drop below the note and tune back up to it: that way the string stays firmly set at the tuning peg. To go back to normal tuning, use the standard guitar tuner.

When and why it's used

• Easier bends: with a little less tension, the strings bend with less effort, something blues and rock players really appreciate.
• For the voice: dropping a half step fits a song to the singer's range without changing what your hands do.
• Playing with horns: flat keys, common in horn sections, can be played with the comfortable E and A fingerings.
• Tone: the sound is just slightly lower and darker, without losing the definition of standard tuning.

A “half step” is a semitone: the distance between two neighboring notes of the chromatic scale, the same as between two adjacent frets on the guitar.

Guitarists and songs that use it

Jimi Hendrix used it on songs like “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “Little Wing”, and Stevie Ray Vaughan tuned a half step down, a habit usually credited to Hendrix's influence. Slash recorded “Sweet Child o' Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle” with Guns N' Roses in this tuning, and Eddie Van Halen's guitar on “Eruption” was also a half step down.

If you want to play along with the recording of any of them, tune this way and use your usual shapes: the chords line up without transposing anything.

How to tune your guitar half a step down with this tuner

1. Tap Enable microphone and accept the browser's permission request. The sound is analyzed on your device: it isn't recorded or sent anywhere.
2. Leave the tuner on Auto so it recognizes which string you're playing, or tap a note to lock it (tap it again to go back to Auto).
3. Play a single open string with medium force and let it ring.
4. If the needle is to the left, the note is flat: tune up. If it's to the right, tune down. Anywhere between −5 and +5 cents counts as in tune.
5. Once a string stays in tune for a moment, its button gets a green check mark. Keep going until every string has one.
6. Use the speaker icon under each note to hear the reference and train your ear.
7. Go over every string again at the end: the tension of some strings shifts the others slightly.

Tips for tuning your guitar half a step down

• Lower each string slightly below the note and bring it back up to the center: that way the tuning peg holds firm.
• With less tension, the neck may relax a little: recheck your tuning after a few minutes of playing.
• If you play with someone in standard tuning, remember that your E sounds like their E♭: transpose, or tune the same way.
• To go back to standard tuning, use the guitar tuner.

Common tuning problems

• The needle jumps between notes: play a single string, a little more softly, and wait for the sound to settle. The first instant of every note always sounds slightly sharp.
• It doesn't pick up the low strings: phone microphones struggle with low frequencies. Hold your phone closer to the instrument or play the harmonic at the middle of the string (12th fret): the tuner recognizes it as the same string and tells you it sounds an octave higher.
• The open strings are in tune, but what you play sounds off: check that no string is in the wrong octave and that your strings aren't old. If it still sounds wrong, ask your teacher or a luthier to check the instrument's intonation.
• It goes out of tune right away: new strings keep stretching for several days, and changes in temperature and humidity shift the tuning. Tune in the same place where you're going to play.
• The browser doesn't ask for the microphone: check the site permissions in your browser settings and make sure no other app is using the microphone.

Frequently asked questions