lesson
Drop D Tuning
To create Drop D tuning on the guitar, you simply lower the pitch of the 6th string down one step to D. A simple way to do this is to pick the open 4th string, a D note, and tune the 6th string to the sound of the ringing 4th string. The 6th string D note will be one octave lower than the 4th string D note, but you will still be able to hear when they are in tune as they will both be D notes.
Drop D Power Chords
Tuning the sixth string down to D gives your guitar a deeper, or heavier, sound when you use the 6th string in a chord. It also allows you to play power chords with a single finger. Don't forget to add distortion or overdrive to your power chords.
Look at the example below. The first measure is an F5 power chord played in standard tuning. The second measure is the same F5 chord played in Drop D tuning. Since the 6th string is now tuned a whole step (two frets) lower to a D note instead of an E, when you bar at the 3rd fret you get an F note. So the F note, which was at the 1st fret in standard tuning, is now at the 3rd fret (2 frets higher) in Drop D tuning.
Here are the power chords (5 chords) in Drop D tuning as they move up the neck of the guitar:
You can also play a D5 chord using the open 4th, 5th, and 6th strings (one octave lower than the 12th fret D5.) You can do more with drop D than just power chords. It is also great for fingerstyle playing. Enjoy.