Guitar Baritone Tuner — Tune to Baritone in Your Browser

Baritone guitar standard tuning is B E A D F# B, low to high — a perfect fourth below standard tuning, on a longer-scale instrument (typically 27-30 inches). The same chord shapes as standard work, transposed down a fourth, but the long scale and heavier string set give the baritone a distinct voice that a regular 6-string detuned to baritone pitch cannot quite match.

Baritone guitars have a long history in country and surf music — Duane Eddy's twangy melodic playing on records like 'Rebel Rouser' is baritone-driven, as is much of the score work for Western films from the 1960s. In the modern era, baritone guitars appear in metal (Mastodon, Earth's Dylan Carlson), in indie rock (Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain), and as a session staple for any producer who wants a guitar that sits between bass and rhythm guitar in the arrangement.

The defining quality is the scale length. A 27-inch baritone has roughly 20% more string length than a standard guitar's 25.5 inches, which means the tension at any pitch is higher. A baritone tuned to B1 has a tighter low B than a standard guitar tuned to Drop B, even though the pitches are identical. That tightness is why baritones sound like a different instrument rather than a detuned guitar.

If you are picking up a baritone for the first time, recognise that the chord shapes feel further apart because of the longer fretboard. Stretches that are easy on a standard guitar require more reach. Start by playing single-line melodies in B (your new 'open' key) before tackling chord work. The instrument rewards melodic, single-note playing more than busy chord strumming because the longer strings resonate louder when struck individually.