Free Online Drop D Bass Tuner
Drop the E to D, read it against D1 the whole way.
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Left to right: 4th string, the thickest, to 1st, the thinnest. Tune one string at a time.
Allow microphone access to begin
How to use this tuner
Click Start Tuning and allow microphone access. Play one open string at a time, and the tuner shows how sharp or flat you are from that string’s target in cents. Tap a string button to hear the note and lock the tuner to it.
The bar spans −50 to +50 cents. Zero is perfectly in tune. The lowered D string reads sharp at the attack and settles over the first second; the history line shows it. Read the plateau.
The tuner reads against the nearest open string of Drop D tuning (D1, A1, D2, G2), so the cents value is the distance to that string, not to the nearest chromatic note. Tap a string to hear its reference pitch and lock the tuner to it; tap again to release.
Bass Guitar is already selected. The bass is a concert-pitch instrument written an octave above where it sounds, so the tuner shows the sounding octave: D1, A1, D2, G2. Changing the dropdown turns string mode off; tapping a string turns it back on.
Default is A440. Tap + / − to match a recording or another instrument that cannot be adjusted.
Drop D on a 4-string bass is D1, A1, D2, G2: the E string lowered a whole step to D1 at 36.71 Hz, and the other three strings unchanged. It matches a guitarist in drop D an octave lower and gives the bass the low tonic under songs in D without a 5-string. Because only one string moves, most bassists switch in and out of it mid-set, and a good number of basses have a lever at the E tuner (a drop tuner or D-tuner) that flips the string between E and D at a preset tension.
The E string of a bass is thick, and a whole step of slack on it is a lot of peg travel. On the way down a chromatic tuner reports E, then E♭, then a sharp D, and it is easy to stop at the wrong one. This page reads the string against D1 from the start, so the cents value tells you how far you still have to go and the needle comes in from the right edge and stops at centre. Tap the D1 button to hear the target or to lock the tuner so a harmonic from another string cannot pull the reading. Go a few cents past D and come back up, so the string is loaded against the peg in the direction that holds.
Once the low string is at D, play it against the open D string: the two should be a clean octave with no beating, and the seventh-fret harmonic on the low D should match the open A. A lowered E string vibrates in a wider arc and can buzz on the first fret or rattle in the nut slot; if it does, the fix is a slightly heavier E string (.110 instead of .105) or a touch more relief, not more tuning. Fretted notes on the dropped string will also read a little sharp at the twelfth fret if the saddle was set for E tension; if you stay in drop D for long stretches, intonate the string for D.
Drop C and drop C♯ on a 4-string follow the same pattern from a lowered set: tune all four strings down a whole step or a half step first, then drop the lowest a further whole step. Strings light enough for standard get very slack at C1, and a heavier set or a 5-string is usually the better answer; the 5-string bass page covers a B0 that sits below drop C. For standard EADG, the bass guitar tuner reads against E1.
Frequently asked questions
What are the notes in drop D bass tuning?
D1, A1, D2, G2 from the lowest string to the highest. Only the E string changes, down a whole step to D. The low D and the open D string are then an octave apart.
Will a lowered E string buzz?
Often, a little, because it vibrates in a wider arc at lower tension. A slightly heavier E string or a small increase in neck relief fixes it. Fretted notes on the dropped string may also read a few cents sharp until the saddle is intonated for D.
How do I check drop D by ear?
Play the low D against the open D string; they should sound a clean octave with no beating. The seventh-fret harmonic on the low D should match the open A string.
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