Drop C♯ tuning

Drop C♯: the strings and their notes

Drop C♯ from standard

What drop C♯ is

Drop C♯ is drop D a semitone lower, or half step down tuning with the low string dropped a whole step more. Every string sits a semitone below standard, and the 6th a step and a half below, at C♯2 (69.3 Hz). Low to high: C♯ G♯ C♯ F♯ A♯ D♯. The same notes are written drop D♭ (D♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭) by players who come from half step down; a tuner shows them either way.

It sits between drop D and drop C and is a common tuning in 2000s metalcore and post-hardcore, where a band wants drop D's riffs a little darker without the floppiness of drop C on standard strings. It is also the natural drop tuning for anyone who already plays in half step down: only the 6th string has to move.

How to tune to Drop C♯ from standard

With the tuner above: tap Start, play each string the table changes and turn until the needle sits in the middle. By ear, without the tuner:

1. Tune the 6th string to C♯2 first, from the tone of the string chip above (tap it with the tuner stopped) or a piano.
2. 5th string: A2 to G♯2. The 6th string at its 7th fret (G♯2) should sound like this string open.
3. 4th string: D3 to C♯3. The 5th string at its 5th fret (C♯3) should sound like this string open.
4. 3rd string: G3 to F♯3. The 4th string at its 5th fret (F♯3) should sound like this string open.
5. 2nd string: B3 to A♯3. The 3rd string at its 4th fret (A♯3) should sound like this string open.
6. 1st string: E4 to D♯4. The 2nd string at its 5th fret (D♯4) should sound like this string open.

Then check the whole tuning once more with the tuner: retuning one string moves the neck, and the others drift a few cents.

On the same strings, tension follows the square of the pitch: the 6th string keeps 71 % of its pull; the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th strings keep 89 % of their pull. Slacker strings buzz and read flat at the attack; for more than a whole step down, a heavier set (or at least a heavier low string) keeps the feel.

What one finger plays

The three low strings, C♯2 G♯2 C♯3, are a root, a fifth and an octave: one finger flat across them is a power chord. At the open strings it is C♯5, at the 2nd fret D♯5, 3rd E5, 5th F♯5, 7th G♯5.

Drop C♯ next to its neighbours

• From half step down: if your guitar is in half step down (E♭ standard), drop the 6th string a whole step, E♭ to D♭, and you are there.
• From drop D: lower all six strings a semitone.
• Strings: a semitone and a half on the low string is still fine on a 10 to 46 set; the higher strings lose only a semitone each.
• A semitone lower: drop C; a semitone higher: drop D.

All six strings in standard and the other tunings: the guitar tuner. Any note at all: the chromatic tuner.

Then play something

The notes you tuned can go into Brumm as a short melody over a beat. Hum a line on top and it becomes an instrument.

The microphone is read in the browser and nothing is kept. How the site counts visits.