E♭ tuning

E‐flat tuning.

E♭ (E‐flat) tuning or D♯ (D‐sharp) tuning is an alternative form of guitar tuning. It is based on the standard guitar tuning, except that all of the strings are lowered by one half‐step. The result looks like this: E♭‐A♭‐D♭‐G♭‐B♭‐E♭ (or D#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#). The guitar is usually played identically to standard tuning, resulting in a heavier tone without requiring the guitarist to learn different chords or fingering.

The tuning has a number of other features attractive to artists. It allows the use of heavier strings without decreasing playability. It can be used to accommodate a singer's vocal range. The tuning is also easier to play with a saxophone accompaniment (saxophones are usually tuned to B♭ or E♭). It can also be matched with the E♭ pentatonic minor scale formed by the black keys of a keyboard.

Blues legend Robert Johnson was one of the first to experiment with alternate guitar tunings such as E♭. Jimi Hendrix was also famous for tuning down a half-step and Stevie Ray Vaughan used it almost exclusively in his electric guitar playing, as did Slash of Guns N' Roses fame. The tuning remains very popular in rock and blues music, although some (like Pantera) tune down a quarter of a step.

Artists known to use E♭ tuning

• Aaron Lewis
• AC/DC - on "Night Prowler", "Ruff Stuff", "Love Hungry Man", "Get it Hot" and live performances from 2008 to 2016 (with Axl Rose the band returned to use E tuning). (Also, many of their songs are tuned to 1/4 step lower)
• AFI - since "Sing the Sorrow".
• Aerosmith - on "Back in The Saddle"
• After the Burial
• Alice Cooper
• Alice in Chains (most songs, dubbed 'Standard Alice tuning' by Jerry Cantrell).
• Alkaline Trio (on live performances from 2008-2014 to suit Matt Skiba's deepening voice).
• Alter Bridge
• Anna Calvi on songs such as Suzanne and I.
• Angra - on "Angels Cry (album)" and the song, "Heroes of Sand", from "Rebirth", and during live performances until 2014. (C tuning for their cover of "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush (both studio version from "Angels Cry (album)" and live))
• Anthrax (on live performances and some songs on Persistence of Time, "Black Lodge" from Sound of White Noise and most songs on all studio albums since Volume 8: The Threat Is Real).
• April Wine Pretty much most songs. Caught In The Crossfire, Sign Of The Gypsy Queen, Weeping Widow to name a few.
• Autograph (American band) Turn Up The Radio most songs in general.
• B.B. King
• Backyard Babies
• Basement
• Beach House
• Beastie Boys
• Big Wreck
• Black Label Society - many songs on the albums Mafia and The Blessed Hellride.
• Black Sabbath (during live performances, to ease the stress on guitarist Tony Iommi's crippled fingers. This tuning is predominant on studio and live recordings featuring Ronnie James Dio and Tony Martin as lead vocalists, as well as the 13 album.)
• Black Stone Cherry (also on live performances of E-tuned songs).
• Blaze Bayley (some live performances).
• Blind Guardian (on most songs)
• Bon Jovi - on live performances since 1988.
• Brand New - all/nearly all songs on "Your Favorite Weapon" and "Déjà Entendu" albums.
• Bryan Adams - some songs
• Buckethead – used on many compositions and live performances.
• Candlemass
• Cannibal Corpse
• Cattle Decapitation
• Cave In
• Chris Brokaw- frequently on recordings and live since 1991
• Circa Survive- frequently used throughout their discography
• Coheed and Cambria - many songs e.g. "Welcome Home".
• Collective Soul
• The Connells - on the song "'74–'75".
• The Cult - Used on "Ceremony", "Born Into This", and all live performances since 1989.
• Danzig - on all albums since Danzig III: How the Gods Kill, and on all songs on Danzig and Danzig II: Lucifuge since 1990.
• Darkthrone - On their early albums. Most notably on 'Transilvanian Hunger'.
• Dark Moor - on most albums
• Dark Tranquility - on the albums, the Gallery and Haven
• Death (on their cover of "Painkiller")
• Def Leppard - on the song Photograph and live performances since 1995.
• Deftones - on Mascara and Dai the Flu from the album Around the Fur.
• Demons and Wizards
• Destruction (on the albums All Hell Breaks Loose, The Antichrist and Metal Discharge and on E-tuned songs in live performances from 1999 to 2004)
• Die Ärzte - since their album Geräusch onwards.
• Dio - on the albums Strange Highways, Angry Machines and Master of the Moon. The band used this tuning for E tuned songs between 1990s and mid 2000s.
• Disturbed
• Dokken - Most songs on the first three albums
• DragonForce (live performances from 2006 to 2010). Also the primary cause for their controversy from Graspop 2006.
• Dream Theater - on the songs "Stream of Consciousness", "The Root of All Evil", and "Trial of Tears". The band used this tuning for E tuned songs in recent live performances (especially their Images, Words, & Beyond tour), but their lower tuned songs are kept the same.
• Earth
• Edguy (1999-2006) on most songs
• Enslaved (this tuning and drop D♭ on most albums except "Isa").
• Eraserheads starting from their 2nd album Circus, Cutterpillow, some songs from later albums & some live performances
• Eric Clapton Sunshine Of Your Love, Crossroads, Cocaine, My Fathers Eyes.
• Evile
• Exmortus
• Explosions in the Sky
• Extreme
• Fates Warning (on the entirety of "No Exit", some songs from "FWX" and "Darkness in a Different Light", and all live performances)
• Feeder (live since 2011 and on the albums Generation Freakshow and All Bright Electric)
• Foghat Most songs. Ride, Ride, Ride, Drivin Wheel, Fool For The City to name a few.
• Funeral for a Friend (with the E♭ dropped to D♭).
• Galneryus
• Gamma Ray (late 1995 - late 2007 (although some songs in Land of the Free II are in D tuning, which is the tuning the band used from then on))
• Green Day (used for the entirety of their albums Dookie and Insomniac, most of Kerplunk and the songs "Castaway", "21st Century Breakdown" and "Before the Lobotomy").
• Guns N' Roses (most songs).
• GWAR (with the exception of Hell-O).
• Foreigner - used on all live performances since 1997.
• Hammerfall (until 2007)
• Harlequin Innocence, and Superstitious Feeling
• Havok
• Headpins all songs. Don't It Make Ya Feel, People, Don't Matter What You Say, Turn It Loud to name a few.
• Heart (band) Black On Black II, Magic Man, Barracuda to name a few.
• Helloween (1992-2004)
• Iced Earth - on most songs.
• Jane's Addiction - On "Just Because" and during live performances of E-tuned songs in modern years (although during some period they used standard D for E-tuned songs).
• Jimi Hendrix Experience - most of their songs. Some examples: "Red House", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Spanish Castle Magic", "All Along the Watchtower".
• Joe Satriani - A lot of songs (like "War" or "The Extremist")
• Joe Stump - on most album recordings and live performances.
• John 5
• Journey (band)
• Judas Priest - on "Reckless", "Burn in Hell", "Bullet Train", "Hellrider", "Eulogy", "Lochness" and live performances since Rob Halford's return in 2003
• Kamelot - on albums 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and half of the songs from album 9. In some songs, the lowest string is dropped a whole step.
• Katatonia (from Brave Murder Day until Last Fair Deal Gone Down)
• The Killers
• Kiss - On all albums from "KISS" to "Dynasty", "The Elder", "Revenge" and from "Psycho Circus" to "Monster". On all live performances from 1973-1981 and 1990-2012, and one show in 2013 and one show in 2016.
• Knuckle Puck
• The La's
• Led Zeppelin - on "No Quarter", however only on the studio version, since the tape sounded flat.
• Lee Aaron Hands On, Whatcha Do To My Body, Metal Queen, to name a few.
• Linkin Park - Some songs from their Hybrid Theory (EP) and album; also used in "Easier to Run" (rhythm guitar) and "Somewhere I Belong" from Meteora
• Live
• Lita Ford all songs
• Loverboy most songs
• Lynch Mob (band)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - on Simple Man.
• Marilyn Manson - on "Angel with The Scabbed Wings", "Kinderfeld", "I Want to Disappear", "King Kill 33°" and Drop Db on "Cruci-Fiction in Space"
• Man Overboard
• Manchester Orchestra
• Matchbook Romance
• Matchbox Twenty - on some songs, including "Push", as well as "Long Day".
• McFly - on Star Girl.
• Megadeth - on Youthanasia and songs "Angry Again", "Diadems" and "Problems".
• Meshuggah - on the self-titled EP and Contradictions Collapse.
• The Menzingers - used on most songs off of their first record and second record and the entirety of On The Impossible Past.
• Mercyful Fate
• Metallica - on "The God That Failed" and "Killing Time", the albums Load, ReLoad and Garage Inc., and on E-tuned songs in live performances since 1995.
• Morbid Angel - exclusively until Domination, where they used B♭ tuning, a variation of E♭, although Covenant featured E♭ as well.
• Neal Morse
• Motörhead - on most albums since their second album Overkill and on some E-tuned songs in live performances since 1978.
• Muse - On songs such as "Animals", recent live performances of "Futurism", "Muscle Museum", " Revolt", "Starlight", "United States of Eurasia"
• My Chemical Romance - on "AMBULANCE", "Boy Division", "Bulletproof Heart", "Burn Bright", "Kiss The Ring", "The Only Hope for Me Is You", and "Tomorrow's Money"
• Nazareth (band)
• Nightingale
• Nirvana - Some songs on Bleach, Incesticide, most on In Utero, and on live performances from 1992-1994
• Nevermore (until Dead Heart in a Dead World when, from then onwards, seven strings were mostly used and tuned to B♭).
• Neverest during live performances and acoustic renderings of most songs.
• Newsted
• The Offspring tune to E♭ during live performances.
• Oasis-For the song Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is.
• Our Lady Peace
• Ozzy Osbourne (On the albums Diary Of A Madman, The Ultimate Sin, and all material with Zakk Wylde, with the exception of Black Rain).
• Pantera
• Pat Benatar
• Pentagram
• Periphery (On "Priestess")
• Poison
• Polyphia
• Powerglove
• Priestess
• The Pretty Reckless
• Puddle Of Mudd
• Protest the Hero (Most songs on Fortress and Kezia, all songs on Scurrilous and Volition).
• Queens of the Stone Age (on "The Sky Is Fallin'")
• Rage Against The Machine (used on "Bulls on Parade" and "Face Off")
• Rammstein - On the song "Laichzeit"
• Ratt (most songs).
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (On the songs "Power of Equality","Breaking The Girl" and the covers of Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Castles Made of Sand" and "Little Miss Lover" from the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
• Revocation (Most songs until switching to 7-string guitars in B♭)
• R.E.M. (used on Harborcoat)
• Rise Against (since Revolutions per Minute).
• Rush (On the song "Emotion Detector")
• Scorpions (live performances of some songs and many songs with Uli Jon Roth).
• Saint Vitus (from Born Too Late onward)
• Seether (live performances since 2003)
• Sex Pistols (all live performances during their reunion shows)
• Simple Plan -used during live performances and for the entity of their "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls" album and "Still Not Getting Any..." album.
• Slash (most songs on solo albums, and albums from his solo band Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators).
• Slash's Snakepit (most songs)
• Slayer - on most albums since Haunting the Chapel and on all E-tuned songs in live performances since 1984.
• The Smashing Pumpkins - On "Geek U.S.A" and "Mayonaise" of Siamese Dream. Used on many songs of "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" album. Billy Corgan stated the tuning was used to give the album a darker sound. In modern times originally E tuned songs now are in E♭ in live performances.

• The Smithereens

• Snapcase
• Social Distortion
• Sonata Arctica
• The Sound of Animals Fighting
• The Sounds - used by Felix Rodriguez & Jesper Anderberg on most songs.
• Staind (Aaron's rhythm guitar parts only)
• Steel Panther
• Spock's Beard (late 1995-late 2005)
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Stone Sour (mostly used on their softer songs, or "songs for the ladies" as said by Jim Root).
• Stratovarius - used in live performances until late 2009 and in all albums except some songs from their latest album, Eternal.
• Streetheart (band)
• Stryper
• Suede - On most songs
• Sum 41 - On some songs on the album "Does This Look Infected?", most of the album "Chuck" and most songs when played live
• The Sword (on the song "Mist and Shadow")
• Taking Back Sunday
• Testament
• Thin Lizzy - Some songs on Fighting, most songs on Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation and Black Rose: A Rock Legend are in E♭ tuning, and all live performances since 1975 have been in E♭.
• TISM - on "Shut Up - The Footy's On The Radio" and "The Phillip Ruddock Blues"
• Touché Amoré
• Transatlantic (on some songs)
• Trivium - on some songs and for In Waves album
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• U2 - on Boy, War and many live versions of songs originally written in standard tuning.
• Van Halen - Every song featuring David Lee Roth (1974-1985). Most songs 2007-present.
• Velvet Revolver (most songs).
• Versailles
• Warrant - on albums "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" (though some songs are 1/4 step down), "Cherry Pie", and "Rockaholic"
• Warbringer
• Weezer - Most songs written in the "Blue album" and Pinkerton periods were in E♭ tuning.
• Woods of Ypres (on their final album, Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light)
• The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
• W.A.S.P.
• X Japan (most songs).
• Yngwie Malmsteen (most songs).
• Zac Brown Band (Zac Brown uses E♭ tuning to better suit his voice)