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Half step down tuning (E♭ standard)
Half step down tuner online (E♭ standard): E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭. Tune every string a semitone down with your phone's mic, hear each one, and why it's used.
Six strings, one semitone each. Mika names them in flats, the way the players do.The microphone closes when you stop, when all is in tune, or after half a minute of quiet. Nothing is recorded.
E♭2✓
Tap start. Play any string and let it ring. Without the microphone, tap a note above to hear it.
Half step down: the strings and their notes
| String | Standard | Half step down | Change | Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st string | E4 | E♭4 | a semitone down | 311.1 |
| 2nd string | B3 | B♭3 | a semitone down | 233.1 |
| 3rd string | G3 | G♭3 | a semitone down | 185.0 |
| 4th string | D3 | D♭3 | a semitone down | 138.6 |
| 5th string | A2 | A♭2 | a semitone down | 103.8 |
| 6th string | E2 | E♭2 | a semitone down | 77.8 |
Tuning down a half step
What half step down is
Half step down, or E♭ standard, lowers every string by one semitone: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭ from the 6th to the 1st. The intervals stay those of standard tuning, so you play exactly as before and everything sounds a semitone deeper. The strings lose about 11 % of their tension, which makes bends easier and gives the guitar a slightly looser, darker sound.
Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan played tuned down a half step, Guns N' Roses recorded “Sweet Child o' Mine” in it, and many singers use it to take a song a semitone down without transposing the chords. In flats or in sharps (D♯ G♯ C♯ F♯ A♯ D♯) it is the same tuning; players write flats.
How to tune to half step down 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:
- Tune the 6th string to E♭2 first, from the tone of the string chip above (tap it with the tuner stopped) or a piano.
- 5th string: A2 to A♭2. The 6th string at its 5th fret (A♭2) should sound like this string open.
- 4th string: D3 to D♭3. The 5th string at its 5th fret (D♭3) should sound like this string open.
- 3rd string: G3 to G♭3. The 4th string at its 5th fret (G♭3) should sound like this string open.
- 2nd string: B3 to B♭3. The 3rd string at its 4th fret (B♭3) should sound like this string open.
- 1st string: E4 to E♭4. The 2nd string at its 5th fret (E♭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: every string keeps 89 % of its 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
Every chord shape you know keeps working; it sounds a semitone lower. A capo at the 1st fret brings you back to standard pitch, which is how players in half step down join a band that plays in standard.
Playing along in half step down
- Songs in E♭: if a recording sounds a semitone below your guitar in standard, it is probably in half step down. The chord shapes from a standard-tuned chord chart fit it as written.
- Back to standard pitch: a capo at the 1st fret.
- One more string: drop the 6th string a whole step more, E♭ to D♭, and you are in drop C♯; a semitone lower again is D standard.
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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