What is Drop D Bass tuning?
Drop D on a bass lowers the 4th string — the low E — by a whole step to D. The other three strings stay at A, D and G. The open strings are then D–A–D–G, with the lowest string exactly an octave below the 2nd.
It is how a four-string player reaches the notes below E that so much rock and metal is written around, since guitars in Drop D have a low D too. The cost is on that one string only: every note on it is now two frets higher than you are used to, so the G that was at the 3rd fret is at the 5th.
The highlighted strings are the ones that move. Tap a string to hear its target.
String notes and frequencies
The exact pitch of each open string at concert pitch, A = 440 Hz — the numbers a strobe or a frequency counter would show. The tuner above works from the same targets.
| String | Note | Frequency | From standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4th | D1 | 36.71 Hz | E1 → D1, 2 semitones down |
| 3rd | A1 | 55.00 Hz | unchanged |
| 2nd | D2 | 73.42 Hz | unchanged |
| 1st | G2 | 98.00 Hz | unchanged |
Dropping the E string
- Lower the 4th string until the dial reads D. It passes D♯ on the way. The target is D1, a little under 37 Hz — expect the octave readout to wander, and trust the letter.
- Check it against the open 2nd string. That string is D2, an octave higher. Played together they should sound like one note with no wobble.
- Or use the harmonic. The 12th-fret harmonic of the dropped string is D2 — the same pitch as the open 2nd string, and easy for a microphone to hear. The dial will light the 2nd string’s chip for it, since that is the note it is.
Where the notes are
The first five frets of every string in this tuning. Each fret is one semitone, so this is also how to check a string against its neighbour: find the fret where the lower string plays the higher string’s open note.
| String | Open | Fret 1 | Fret 2 | Fret 3 | Fret 4 | Fret 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C |
| 2nd | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G |
| 3rd | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D |
| 4th | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G |
Frequently asked questions
What changes on the fretboard in Drop D?
Only the lowest string. Every note on it moves two frets toward the bridge: F is at the 3rd fret instead of the 1st, G at the 5th instead of the 3rd. The other three strings are exactly as before. The lowest string’s notes at any fret are now the octave of the 2nd string’s notes at the same fret.
Is Drop D on a bass the same as a five-string?
No. A five-string’s low B reaches three notes lower still, and its E string is unchanged, so nothing has to be relearned. Drop D gives two extra notes below E on a four-string at the price of refingering one string.
Should I buy a detuner?
If you switch often, a drop-D tuning key is worth it: a lever on the 4th string’s tuner that drops it to D and returns it to E in one movement. For occasional use, the tuner and five seconds are enough.
For everything else about tuning the instrument itself — strings that slip, pegs, and what the dial is telling you — see the bass tuner and the standard bass tuning this one is measured from.
Chords on a bass
A bass rarely holds a chord shape: it plays a chord’s notes one at a time, and most of the time just its root. Two shapes cover nearly everything. The fifth of any note is on the next string up, two frets higher; the octave is two strings up, two frets higher. Root, fifth and octave are the frame of every major and minor chord, and because a bass is tuned in fourths throughout, that shape is the same anywhere on the neck — except from the dropped string, where the fifth is on the next string at the same fret and the octave two strings up at the same fret.