A Powerful 8-String A5 Drone Tuning

This "A5" tuning for an 8-string guitar transforms your instrument into a massive, resonant drone machine, centered around the powerful A5 chord. With its low E bass and multiple octaves of A and E, this tuning delivers an incredibly full and authoritative sound. It's particularly well-suited for genres that demand a heavy, sustained sonic presence, such as modern metal, doom, drone, and ambient music. The open strings, when strummed together, produce a rich, layered A power chord, making it ideal for creating thick, wall-of-sound riffs and resonant open-string textures.

Technical Analysis

The tuning follows a consistent pattern of E and A notes across the fretboard, creating an A5 chord (A and E, without the major or minor third). The specific open string notes are E1 A1 E2 A2 A2 E3 A3 E4 (from lowest to highest string).

• The lowest strings (8, 7) establish a deep foundation with E1 and A1.
• Strings 6 and 5 provide the next octave of E2 and A2, with String 4 surprisingly duplicating A2, adding to the richness and making the middle of the tuning particularly dense.
• Higher strings (3, 2, 1) continue the pattern with E3, A3, and E4, rounding out the full octave range.

This construction naturally lends itself to powerful open-string voicings. Chords formed by simply barring across frets will naturally produce power chords (e.g., barring all strings at the 3rd fret would give you a C5, at the 5th fret a D5, etc., although the duplicate A2 on string 4 might create interesting voicings here). The overall shape of the tuning means that many common chord shapes will need to be rethought, but simple two-finger or three-finger power chords will be readily available across different string sets. Slide guitarists will find this an immensely satisfying tuning, as moving a slide across all open strings instantly creates perfectly voiced power chords up and down the neck.

How to Tune

Follow these instructions to set your 8-string guitar to the "A5" tuning. Please ensure your guitar is in standard tuning before making significant adjustments, or use a reliable tuner.

• String 8 (Lowest String): Tune down 2 semitones to E1.
• String 7: Tune down 2 semitones to A1.
• String 6: Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) to E2.
• String 5: Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) to A2.
• String 4: Tune down 5 semitones to A2. Caution: Tuning down 5 semitones is a significant change. A different string gauge is advised for optimal tension and tone.
• String 3: Tune down 3 semitones to E3.
• String 2: Tune down 2 semitones to A3.
• String 1 (Highest String): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) to E4.

Here are the open notes for each string of your 8-string guitar in A5 tuning, from the lowest (String 8) to the highest (String 1):

• String 8: E1
• String 7: A1
• String 6: E2
• String 5: A2
• String 4: A2
• String 3: E3
• String 2: A3
• String 1: E4