This short guitar lesson will help show you how to get into Drop D tuning fast on stage.

There is nothing worse than going to a concert, or a competition, to listen to a guitarist, only to find that 30% of their time on stage was spent tuning their instrument. As string players, it is our duty to make sure that tuning is fast and kept to a minimum, as it interferes with our communication with the audience. (We should also program the music so that all pieces that require a certain tuning are grouped together-it helps keep the guitar in that tuning longer.)

Drop D Fast

Secret Hack: peg turns

It is that simple. Learn how many peg turns down it takes to get below note D, and then how many turns up it takes to get near to (or preferably on) note D. Make sure you give the string a tug, to check its not stuck in the nut, then re-tune.

So for myself and my blah blah pegs, its 5 turns down to (almost) note C, then 2 1/2 turns up to almost note D. I then use the open 4th string AND a clip on tuner to make sure its in.

And that’s it. This hack will work with any tuning you need to get into in a hurry on stage, securely. Note: that each tuning peg system is unique, and so my 5 turns might be 4 1/2 or even 6 for you. Use the clip on tuner to help learn where your notes are.

General Tuning

Why you need to tune down, and a general guide to tuning, can be found on the link below. There is some awesome help there from Martin Taylor’s tuning video too!

Tune a guitar