When or how do you know when to use drop tunings?

by Martin
(Kissimmee, FL)

Question:How do you know when to use drop tunings or other tunings other than the standard A tuning? Is this something that is indicated on the sheet music anywhere, i.e. the clef?

Answer

I'm no expert on reading sheet music but I've never known tuning to be specified on the stave. The clef is more about key than tuning.

Tuning may sometimes be specified on a tab. E.g. for DADGAD tuning, you might see...

D----------
A----------
G----------
D----------
A----------
D----------

As for when to use alternate tunings such as drop D, I use it either for finding fresh chord voicings (mainly open chords) unattainable in standard tuning or for more convenient fingering. Drop tuning, for example makes powerchord fingerings more accessible for faster riffs as you only need to barre one finger across the bottom 2/3 strings...



It also means you can use that crunching open D powerchord as the base of your riff when you're further up the fretboard. This is why metal guitarists favour drop tuning on many songs.