Standard guitar tuning is EADGBE: the six open strings sound, from lowest to highest, E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4. It's the starting point for almost everything you play and the baseline that every alternate tuning is built from.
In short: in standard tuning the guitar sounds EADGBE, from the 6th string (E, the lowest) to the 1st (E, the highest), passing through A, D, G, and B.
The six notes of standard tuning
Every open string has a specific note and pitch. Strings are numbered from the 6th (the thickest and lowest) to the 1st (the thinnest and highest):
- 6th string — E2 (82.4 Hz): the lowest string, the low E that anchors your chords.
- 5th string — A2 (110 Hz): the A, the root of a huge number of open-position chords.
- 4th string — D3 (146.8 Hz): the D, the heart of the middle of the neck.
- 3rd string — G3 (196 Hz): the G, the last of the strings that are usually wound.
- 2nd string — B3 (246.9 Hz): the B, the first of the plain treble strings.
- 1st string — E4 (329.6 Hz): the high E, two octaves above the 6th string.
Notice that the 6th and 1st strings both carry the note E: they sound the same note name two octaves apart. That's why the tuning "opens" and "closes" with the same letter.
Why EADGBE: the intervals
The guitar is tuned mostly in perfect fourths, with a single exception. Going up from the 6th string, the interval between each string and the next is:
- from E (6th) to A (5th): perfect fourth
- from A (5th) to D (4th): perfect fourth
- from D (4th) to G (3rd): perfect fourth
- from G (3rd) to B (2nd): major third — the one exception
- from B (2nd) to E (1st): perfect fourth
The major-third exception between the 3rd and 2nd strings is a historical compromise: tuning that pair in fourths too would make some chords more regular, but plenty of open chord shapes and scale patterns would become awkward to finger. The EADGBE layout balances left-hand comfort with the playability of the most-used chords. It's also why chord shapes move up the neck predictably across five strings and then need a small adjustment on the 2nd.
Letter names and solfège names
The letters E, A, D, G, B are letter notation, the international standard for talking about tunings. In Italy and much of Europe, solfège names are used instead. Here's the full correspondence:
| Letter name | Solfège |
|---|---|
| C | Do |
| D | Re |
| E | Mi |
| F | Fa |
| G | Sol |
| A | La |
| B | Si |
So EADGBE corresponds to Mi La Re Sol Si Mi: two ways of writing exactly the same tuning. One heads-up: the letter B is Si, not Do. From here on we'll stick with letter notation — it's more compact and it's what tuners and sheet music use.
Frequency chart
Every note corresponds to a frequency in hertz (Hz), the value a tuner compares against the string you're playing:
| String | Note | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 6th (lowest) | E2 | 82.4 Hz |
| 5th | A2 | 110 Hz |
| 4th | D3 | 146.8 Hz |
| 3rd | G3 | 196 Hz |
| 2nd | B3 | 246.9 Hz |
| 1st (highest) | E4 | 329.6 Hz |
These values assume standard concert pitch with A at 440 Hz. If your tuner is set to a different reference pitch, the frequencies shift accordingly, but the note names stay the same.
How to tune to standard
Tuning to standard means bringing each open string to the note in the chart, usually starting from the 6th string and working up to the 1st. You don't need a complicated method: the most reliable way is to use a tuner, and with a bit of practice you can also check your tuning by ear.
For the step-by-step process, everything is in how to tune a guitar with a tuner; if you'd rather train your ear, start with how to tune by ear.
For a quick check you can also tune online with EasyGuitarTuner: it's free, runs in your browser with nothing to install, and works on any computer, smartphone, or tablet with a microphone. The only limitation is that, since it relies on the mic, it works best in a quiet room where background noise doesn't interfere with the reading.
From standard to alternate tunings
Almost every alternate tuning is made by changing one or more strings of standard EADGBE. The simplest and most common example is Drop D, which lowers just the 6th string by a whole step, from E2 to D2, leaving the other five untouched: the result is DADGBE.
Knowing standard tuning inside out is the prerequisite for exploring the variants: once you know which note each string carries and which interval separates them, reading a new tuning is just a matter of spotting what changes compared to EADGBE. It's the reference map everything else starts from.