Drop C tuning

Drop C: the strings and their notes

Drop C from standard

What drop C is

Drop C is drop D moved down a whole step: every string a whole step lower than standard, and the 6th string two whole steps lower, from E2 to C2. Low to high it reads C G C F A D. The low three strings, C G C, are a root, a fifth and an octave, so one finger across them plays a power chord, the same trick as drop D, a whole step heavier.

It is the tuning of a lot of 2000s heavy music: System of a Down play “Chop Suey!” in drop C, and Nirvana's “Blew” landed in it by accident, when the band, already in D standard, tuned down again in the studio. On a six-string with a normal 10 or 9 set, the low C at 65.4 Hz is floppy; most players who live in drop C use a heavier set or at least a heavier 6th string.

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 C2 first, from the tone of the string chip above (tap it with the tuner stopped) or a piano.
2. 5th string: A2 to G2. The 6th string at its 7th fret (G2) should sound like this string open.
3. 4th string: D3 to C3. The 5th string at its 5th fret (C3) should sound like this string open.
4. 3rd string: G3 to F3. The 4th string at its 5th fret (F3) should sound like this string open.
5. 2nd string: B3 to A3. The 3rd string at its 4th fret (A3) should sound like this string open.
6. 1st string: E4 to D4. The 2nd string at its 5th fret (D4) 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 63 % of its pull; the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th strings keep 79 % 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, C2 G2 C3, are a root, a fifth and an octave: one finger flat across them is a power chord. At the open strings it is C5, at the 2nd fret D5, 3rd D♯5, 5th F5, 7th G5.

Drop C, D standard and drop D

Drop C shares its five top strings with D standard (D G C F A D, everything a whole step down): drop the 6th string of D standard another whole step and you are in drop C. And it shares its shape with drop D: every riff from drop D works here, a whole step lower.

• The low string reads flat at first: a slack string goes sharp for an instant when plucked hard and then settles; let it ring before you trust the needle.
• Intonation: after a big drop the neck relief changes; if chords in the middle of the neck sound off although the open strings are right, the guitar needs a setup for the heavier strings.
• Lower still: drop B and drop A.

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.

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