Welcome to Open G Guitar
Table of Contents
Open G tuning (D–G–D–G–B–D) is one of the most expressive alternate tunings available to guitarists. Favored by legends like Keith Richards, Ry Cooder, and Robert Johnson, it transforms the guitar into a resonant slide machine while also opening up beautiful chord voicings for fingerstyle playing.
Why Open G? #
In standard tuning, playing a G major chord requires three fingers and careful fretting. In Open G, strumming all six strings open gives you a full, rich G major chord. This frees your fretting hand to explore slides, hammer-ons, and unique voicings that simply aren’t possible in standard tuning.
The Tuning #
Starting from the lowest string, Open G is tuned:
| String | Standard | Open G |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (low) | E | D |
| 5 | A | G |
| 4 | D | D |
| 3 | G | G |
| 2 | B | B |
| 1 (high) | E | D |
Only three strings change from standard tuning, making Open G accessible for anyone who already plays.
Stay tuned for lessons, chord charts, and song breakdowns — all in Open G.