Guitar tuning
E Flat Standard Tuning
E flat standard lowers every string from standard tuning by one semitone while preserving familiar standard-tuning shapes.
- Notes low to high
- Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb
- Strings
- 6
- Default frets
- 24
- Open pitch range
- Eb2 to Eb4
- 24-fret pitch range
- Eb2 to Eb6
- Also called
- Half-Step Down, Eb Standard
How this tuning changes the guitar
Every string is one semitone below standard tuning, so the intervals between strings remain unchanged. Familiar shapes and fingerings transfer directly, but every written standard-tuning shape sounds one semitone lower.
Fretboard and chord implications
An E major shape sounds as E flat major, an A minor shape sounds as A flat minor, and the same transposition applies to scales and arpeggios. Read the displayed concert pitches when playing with fixed-pitch instruments.
E Flat Standard Tuning fretboard notes
E Flat Standard Tuning string notes
| String | Note | Pitch |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Eb | Eb2 |
| 5 | Ab | Ab2 |
| 4 | Db | Db3 |
| 3 | Gb | Gb3 |
| 2 | Bb | Bb3 |
| 1 | Eb | Eb4 |
Common uses
- classic rock
- blues-rock
- lead guitar
- lower vocal keys
Practice this tuning
- Tune from low to high as Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb, then play each open string while saying its note name and string number aloud.
- Play familiar E, A, and D chord shapes and name the concert chords they produce in E flat standard.
- Transpose a standard-tuning riff down one semitone without changing its fingering, then identify each sounding root on the diagram.
Open this tuning in the fretboard tool
Start with e flat standard tuning loaded, then adjust root, scale, fret count, labels, colors, and orientation.
Open in interactive fretboard