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Guitar tuning · 8 string
8-String Standard Tuning
Seven-string standard with a low F♯ underneath — into bass territory.
The strings
Low to high, the way you would say it out loud.
F♯8th
B7th
E6th
A5th
D4th
G3rd
B2nd
E1st
Getting there from standard
The six standard strings stay exactly as they are; the extra strings are tuned below them.
- 1st string — leave it at E
- 2nd string — leave it at B
- 3rd string — leave it at G
- 4th string — leave it at D
- 5th string — leave it at A
- 6th string — leave it at E
- 7th string — added, tuned to B
- 8th string — added, tuned to F♯
Why players use it
The eighth string lands on F♯, below the lowest note on a four-string bass. Everything above it is standard tuning, so the extra range is additive rather than disruptive. Long scale lengths are close to mandatory for the low string to sound like a note at all.
What it buys you
Bass-register riffs and full guitar chords on the same instrument.
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