E Flat (E♭) Tuning for Guitar | Rock Guitar Universe (2024)

FAQs

How to tune to E flat on guitar? ›

Tune down the high E-string (the highest-pitched string).

Drop the pitch slightly below D♯ (E♭) using the corresponding tuning knob. Then raise the pitch back to D♯ (E♭). Again, D♯ and E♭ are actually the same musical note. This D♯ (E♭) is one octave higher than the D♯ (E♭) for the lowest string.

Re-finger it so you're using your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers to play it, leaving your index finger free. Move the whole chord shape up one fret. It means that instead of tuning your guitar E, A, D, G, B, E, you tune it to Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb. Every string is de-tuned by a semitone.

Slash always plays in E flat, and both B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix also tuned down for a number of their songs. Inspired by the tones of these early players, modern blues and blues rock guitarists like Philip Sayce and Dan Patlansky also use the same tuning.

The result is the creation of notes, such as D# and Eb, that are note a semitone apart, but are also not quite the same note. Some instruments were created to enable both notes to be played. An example of this is shown in the video below, where an organ features a split black key, enabling both D# and Eb to be played.

Eb Standard, while most famously showcased by Jimi Hendrix in the late 1960s, has been in use for centuries.

Drop G tuning has been most commonly found in heavy genres of music, creating a dark, foreboding sound. While drop B tuning has been favored by heavy metal bands such as Slipknot, bands that fall into the categories of hardcore, grindcore, death metal, and doom metal are the provinces of drop G tuning.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for tuning his guitar a half-step down. This is where each string was lowered one half step from standard tuning. This tuning is often referred to as Eb tuning because the open strings, from low to high, are tuned to Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb.

No it's not. 432 tuning is an alternate to the standard 440 tuning which isn't a semitone lower. To get to Eb you would have to go all the way down to 415 which is a full semitone lower. You'll find a lot of tuners allow you to set it that low if you wish.

But it wasn't until I lowered the tuning by a half-step — from E standard to E-flat standard — that the guitar felt and performed at its best. And it turns out, I'm not the only one to have noticed this. It's a common observation that Stratocasters just work better in E-flat tuning.

When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of the E♭ above middle C (or E♭₄) is approximately 311.127 Hz.

What is another name for E flat tuning? ›

To tune your guitar a half-step down, you'll need to lower the pitch of each string by one semitone. This tuning method is also known as Eb tuning or E flat tuning, as each string is tuned down to the nearest flat note.

The open sixth string, E, is tuned one half-step lower to E♭ (hence the name “E flat tuning“), the open fifth string, A, is tuned one half-step lower to A♭, and so on with the rest of the strings. E♭ tuning may be used for a couple of reasons: You can play in a lower key and use open strings.

On many of the Rolling Stones' greatest hits Keith Richards played in Open G tuning. Often he has the lowest string removed, so that he plays a five string guitar. If you don't want to remove that string, you can touch the lowest string with one of your fingers (fretting hand).

We can easily convert standard tuning to an open E tuning by tuning the fifth and fourth strings up one whole step, from A to B and from D to E, respectively, and tuning the third string up one half step from G to G#. The sixth, second and first strings remain tuned normally.

Strum both strings in the open position to determine their relative pitch. Complete the tuning by adjusting the high E, or first string, down a whole step and a half to Db. Verify the pitch of this string by strumming either the sixth or fourth string in the open position.

Eb tuning is still with A=440Hz, every string is a half step down. Eb is 100 cents lower than E. 432Hz is 31.8 cents below 440Hz. The notes are the same whatever frequency you choose as your A4 reference, they're just slightly different frequencies.