Open E Tuning on 6-String Guitar: Notes, Chords and How to Use It
Open E is one of those tunings that makes a guitar feel brand new. You retune three strings, strum without touching the neck, and a full, ringing E major chord comes out. It's the sound behind a great deal of slide guitar, blues and big, open-chord rock, and it's a brilliant way to discover new ideas, because your hands can no longer rely on old habits. Let's walk through it step by step.
What Open E Actually Is
In standard tuning, your strings are E, A, D, G, B, E. In Open E, from string 6 (the thick one nearest your chin) to string 1 (the thin one nearest the floor), they become:
- String 6: E
- String 5: B
- String 4: E
- String 3: G#
- String 2: B
- String 1: E
Notice there are only three different note names: E, G# and B. Those are the three notes of an E major chord. A chord is simply several notes sounding together, and a major chord is the bright, happy-sounding kind. Open E spreads those three notes across all six strings, so the whole guitar is one big chord before you play anything.
How to Get There from Standard Tuning
Good news: strings 6, 2 and 1 stay exactly where they are. You only change the middle three, and all three go up in pitch.
- String 5: tune up a whole step, from A to B. A whole step is the distance of two frets.
- String 4: tune up a whole step, from D to E.
- String 3: tune up a half step, from G to G#. A half step is the distance of one fret.
A clip-on or app tuner makes this quick. Turn the pegs slowly, because tuning up adds tension to the strings, and creep up to the note rather than overshooting it. Then check by ear: string 4 should sound like string 6, just higher (the same note an octave up, meaning the same letter name at a higher pitch). String 5 should sound like a lower version of string 2. When those pairs blend smoothly without a wobble, you're in.
Because three strings are tighter than usual, many players keep a second guitar in Open E or go easy on very heavy string gauges. Listen to your guitar and don't force it.
Why Players Love It
The sound
Strum the open strings and you'll hear E major ringing with a richness standard tuning can't quite match. The repeated E and B notes reinforce each other, so the chord sounds wide and resonant, almost like a piano with the sustain pedal down.
Easy chord shapes
Lay one finger flat across all six strings at any fret (that's called a barre) and you get another major chord. One finger, a full chord. To name it, look at the note under your finger on string 6; the chord takes that name. Move your barre to fret 12 and you're back to E major, an octave higher. This is exactly why slide players adore Open E: a glass or metal slide resting across the strings works like a perfect barre that can glide smoothly between chords.
Heavier riffs and drones
A drone is a note that keeps ringing underneath while other things change. With the low E on string 6 open, you can thump it with your thumb while playing melodies higher up. Bluesy, swampy, stomping riffs come almost for free, and the open strings fill out the sound so a single guitar can sound huge.
How the Intervals Change
An interval is the distance between two notes. Your familiar scale and chord shapes depend on the intervals between neighbouring strings, and Open E rearranges them:
- E to B (strings 6 to 5): a perfect 5th
- B to E (strings 5 to 4): a perfect 4th
- E to G# (strings 4 to 3): a major 3rd
- G# to B (strings 3 to 2): a minor 3rd
- B to E (strings 2 to 1): a perfect 4th
In standard tuning, most neighbouring strings are a perfect 4th apart. Here, the gaps are a mixture of larger and smaller jumps. In practice, that means the scale patterns and chord shapes you've memorised won't land on the right notes any more. A G chord shape, for example, will just sound odd.
Don't treat that as a problem. Treat it as a fresh map. Many Open E players think less in shapes and more in terms of the barre: find the chord with one finger, then add a finger or two on nearby frets to colour it. If you want scales, the interactive fretboard on this site can show you where the notes fall in this tuning so you can learn them by eye and ear.
What to Listen For
As you explore, pay attention to three things:
- Sympathetic ringing. When you play a note on one string, open strings with matching notes hum along quietly. That shimmer is part of the tuning's character.
- Clashes. Some fretted notes will rub against the ringing open strings. Sometimes that tension sounds great; sometimes you'll want to mute a string with a spare finger.
- Tuning drift. The raised strings may slip flat at first as they settle. Recheck after a few minutes.
Your First Thing to Try
Strum all six open strings and let E major ring out. Now barre a few frets up, strum, and slide back down to the open strings. Keep doing that, moving between the open chord and a barre or two, in a slow, steady rhythm. Then try the drone idea: pick the open string 6 with your thumb on every beat, and with your other fingers play single notes on string 1 at different frets, listening to how each one sits against that low E.
Give it ten relaxed minutes a day for a week. Don't chase songs yet; just chase sounds you like and remember where you found them. Before long, your hands will start to know this tuning, and you'll find riffs coming out that you'd never have stumbled on in standard tuning.
More on the instrument itself: the 6-String Guitar guide.