Guitar Open G Tuner — Tune to Open G in Your Browser
Mic-based chromatic tuner pre-set to Open G. No download, no sign-up, works in your browser.
Tuning summary
- Notes (low to high)
- D2 · G2 · D3 · G3 · B3 · D4
- Instrument
- Guitar
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- About this tuning
- Strumming open strings produces a G major chord. Classic slide and Rolling Stones tuning.
Start tuning
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About Open G on guitar
Open G is DGDGBD, low to high. Strum the open strings and you hear a G major chord, which is what 'open' means: the unfretted strings are tuned to a triad. The lowest string is sometimes left off entirely (a '5-string Open G' setup) because Keith Richards, the tuning's most famous user, plays a Telecaster with the low D removed.
The tuning's greatest strength is barre chord economy. Lay one finger across all strings at any fret and you have a major chord at that root — fret 5 is C, fret 7 is D, fret 12 is G an octave up. That single-finger barre is the engine behind Rolling Stones rhythm guitar from 'Honky Tonk Women' onwards. Slide players love Open G for the same reason: a glass or steel slide gives you a moveable major chord.
Beyond the Stones, Open G is core to Mississippi Delta blues — Robert Johnson, Son House, and Muddy Waters used variants of it — and to country slide guitar. Joni Mitchell used Open G for a number of her early songs, and Led Zeppelin's 'In My Time of Dying' and 'Bron-Y-Aur' lean on the tuning. It is the most common open tuning after Open D.
Coming from standard, the easiest entry point is to strum the open strings and play single-finger barres up the neck. To play a minor chord, you need to lower the third (the B string at fret 3 implies G major; flatten that and you get G minor). Sus4 and add-ninth voicings are easy because the open D and high D give you ringing intervals over any barre.
Frequently asked questions
- How is Open G different from standard tuning?
- Three strings change: the 6th E to D, the 5th A to G, and the 1st E to D. The middle three (D, G, B) stay the same.
- Why does Keith Richards play 5-string Open G?
- He removes the low D because it muddies the chord and is rarely used in his rhythm parts. The five remaining strings spell a clean G major triad.
- Is Open G good for slide guitar?
- Yes — it is one of the two most common slide tunings (alongside Open D), because a slide barre gives an instant major chord.
- Can I play minor chords in Open G?
- Yes, but you will need to fret the third — typically by lowering the B at fret 3 to a Bb.
- Does Open G work for songs in other keys?
- Yes. The whole tuning is moveable: capo at fret 2 puts you in Open A, fret 4 in Open B, and so on.