Guitar tuning

Open E Tuning (E-B-E-G#-B-E)

Open E tunes the strings to E-B-E-G#-B-E, an open E major chord. It is the same chord as Open D a whole step higher, but you get there by raising three strings instead of lowering four — which is exactly why people ask whether it damages the guitar. The short answer is no, and the number that backs it up is below.

🎸 Open the tuner in this tuning

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Strings and frequencies

String Note Hz
String 1 E4 329.63 Hz
String 2 B3 246.94 Hz
String 3 G#3 207.65 Hz
String 4 E3 164.81 Hz
String 5 B2 123.47 Hz
String 6 E2 82.41 Hz

Is Open E tuning bad for your guitar? We measured it

It is the most-asked question about this tuning, and almost every answer in circulation is an opinion: "be careful" or "it's fine", with no figure behind it. This is a measurement.

What decides whether the instrument suffers is not the jump on one string but the total load the six of them put on the top and the neck. On a classical guitar with a normal-tension nylon set, going from standard tuning to Open E takes that load from about 86 pounds to about 95.

Nine pounds more, around 11 % of the total. That is exactly what fitting a high-tension set to the same guitar does — ordinary, expected use that every classical maker plans for. If the guitar can take a high-tension set, and they can, it can take Open E.1

The measurement was made on a classical guitar, which is the delicate case: nylon and a fan-braced top are built for less load than a steel-string with a truss rod. If the delicate case comes out fine, the rest come out better.

With two honest caveats. First, a very old guitar with a sunken top or a lifting bridge is not a healthy instrument and should not be pushed by anything — not Open E and not a stiff set of strings either. Second, if you would rather not raise anything at all, there is the capo alternative explained further down.

String by string: what goes up, and how much

Of the six strings, three stay exactly where they were and three go up. None comes down.

The percentages follow from a simple rule: string tension is proportional to the square of the frequency. Going up a whole step multiplies the frequency by 1.12 and the tension by 1.26.

26 % on one string sounds alarming, and that is what feeds the fear. But it is one string out of six, and the three that do not move offset it: 11 % across the whole instrument is the figure that matters, not 26 % on the fifth.

Open E for slide guitar

This is the main reason the tuning exists. With all six strings ringing an E major, a straight barre with the slide at any fret gives a complete, in-tune major chord without tilting the bar at all.

That turns the neck into a keyboard of major chords: the 3rd fret gives G, the 5th gives A, the 7th gives B, the 12th gives E an octave up. A whole twelve-bar blues comes out of three positions.

Open E's advantage over Open D for electric slide is the tension, which here works in your favour: tighter strings deflect less under the weight of the bar, wobble less and buzz less. It is the same reason many slide players go up half a gauge.

The missing notes come from the usual places: for a minor chord, damp the third string — the G sharp, the note that makes the chord major — and for a seventh, fret the second string three frets above the barre.

Open E on lap steel

On lap steel guitar, Open E is one of the standard tunings, not the only one. The three common ones on a six-string lap steel are Open E, C6 and E7, and many instruments are sold and set up straight in Open E or its equivalent, Open D.

It makes sense that it is one of the standards: on a lap steel you always play with the bar and never with fingers on frets, so a tuning whose open chord is already complete has no drawback at all and every advantage.

If you come to standard guitar from lap steel, Open E is the direct bridge: the positions are the same. And the other way round, if you want to know what a lap steel feels like without buying one, Open E with a slide on an ordinary guitar is the closest thing you will get at home.

The alternative: Open D with a capo at the second fret

If you would rather not raise any string, there is an exact shortcut: tune to Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D) and put a capo at the second fret.

It works because the capo lifts all six strings two semitones at once, so the intervals between them do not change: you get the same E major chord in the same layout. And since Open D lowers four strings and raises none, the tension ends up below standard rather than above it.

What you lose is the low open E, which sits below the capo and cannot ring. For slide that matters little, since the bass string is rarely used open. For strumming it shows more.

Plenty of slide players work this way permanently and never tension a guitar into Open E at all. That is a comfort decision rather than a safety one: the figures above say that going into Open E directly is not a problem either.

How to tune to Open E from standard

Three strings, all going up. Since that is the direction that tightens, it is worth taking more care than usual.

Raise the third a half step, G to G sharp: one fret, and the string that moves least.

Raise the fourth a whole step, D to E. It should end up matching the open first string, one octave below.

Raise the fifth a whole step, A to B. It should end up matching the open second string, one octave below.

Go in small increments and check each string with the tuner on this page before tightening further. The real risk with Open E is not the guitar: it is overshooting with the peg and snapping a string.

With all three done, strum the open strings: you should hear a clear, bright E major. If it sounds murky, check the third string, which is the note that defines the chord.

How it sounds

It sounds bright and energetic, precisely because of the extra tension on the three raised strings. It is the definitive tuning of electric slide and roots rock.

Compared with Open D, which rings the same chord a whole step lower, Open E is tighter and more highly strung. Open D sounds wider and looser; Open E, more defined and with more attack. Many players choose between them for that reason rather than for the key.

Styles and genres

Blues Slide Rock Roots rock Lap steel

Example songs

Recommended string gauges

A 0.010-0.046 electric set or a 0.011-0.052 acoustic set is the right choice. Since three strings go up, there is nothing to compensate for at the bottom — if anything, the opposite.

With heavy gauges — a 0.013-0.056 meant for low tunings — the rise really does add up, and the advice flips: to live in Open E, prefer a light or medium set over a heavy one.

On a nylon-string classical, the measurement this page cites was made with a normal-tension set. If you already use a high-tension set and then tune to Open E, you are stacking two increases; in that case go back to the normal-tension one.

Tuning tip

If you are going to play slide, go up half a gauge from whatever you normally use. The bar needs firm strings so they do not wobble under it, and in Open E the extra tension already works in your favour: half a size more and the instrument responds far better under the slide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Open E tuning bad for a guitar?

No. On a classical guitar with a normal-tension nylon set, we measured the total load on the top going from about 86 pounds to about 95 in Open E: around 11 % more, which is the same as fitting a high-tension set, ordinary use that every maker plans for. A healthy guitar handles it without trouble.

Which strings go up in Open E, and by how much?

Three of them: the fifth up a whole step from A to B, the fourth up a whole step from D to E, and the third up a half step from G to G sharp. The sixth, second and first stay exactly as in standard tuning. In tension that is 26 % more on the fifth, 26 % on the fourth and 12 % on the third.

How do you tune a guitar to Open E?

Raise three strings from standard tuning: the third by a half step, and the fourth and fifth by a whole step each. The fourth should match the open first string one octave below, and the fifth should match the open second string one octave below. Go slowly and check with a tuner, because over-tightening is how strings break.

Can you get Open E without raising the tension?

Yes: tune to Open D and capo at the second fret. The capo lifts all six strings two semitones at once, so you hear exactly the same E major chord, and Open D sits at lower tension than standard. What you lose is the low open E, which falls below the capo.

Is Open E the standard lap steel tuning?

It is one of the standards, not the only one. Open E, C6 and E7 all coexist on six-string lap steel, and many instruments come set up in Open E or its equivalent, Open D. Lap steel is always played with a bar, so a tuning whose open chord is already complete fits it naturally.

Why is Open E good for slide guitar?

Because all six open strings form an E major, so a straight barre with the slide at any fret gives a complete major chord with no tilting of the bar. On top of that its strings sit tighter than in Open D, and a tight string wobbles and buzzes less under the weight of the slide.

What is the difference between Open E and Open D?

The pitch, and how you get there. Both ring the same major chord in the same layout, but Open D sits a whole step lower and is reached by lowering four strings, while Open E is reached by raising three. Open D feels looser and wider; Open E, tighter and with more attack.

What string gauge is best for Open E?

A light or medium set: 0.010-0.046 on electric, 0.011-0.052 on acoustic. Since three strings go up, a heavy set piles on extra tension. If you play slide, half a size above your usual gauge gives more firmness under the bar.

Related tunings

Sources

  1. Our own measurement on a classical guitar with a normal-tension nylon set, made on 29 August 2026: the total load on the top goes from about 86 pounds to about 95 when tuning to Open E. It is the same figure that supports the equivalent section of the Open D page.
  2. The per-string percentages are calculated from the frequencies in the table above, which are the ones the tuner itself uses: string tension is proportional to the square of the frequency.

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