Guitar tuning · B E A D F♯ B
B Standard tuner.
B E A D F♯ B: 2½ whole steps down from standard. Tune with your mic or by ear, at A4 = 440 or any pitch you need.
Tuner · Any tuning
Tune your guitar.
Pluck a string and the meter shows how far off it is. Tap any string to hear it at its true pitch and tune by ear.
- Pick any instrument and tuning
- Shift it down or up by half steps
- Set A to anything: 440, 432, 442…
B E A D F♯ B · E Standard shape · −5 st
Check string tension →The sound never leaves your device.
Keys: Space start or stop · ← → half step · ↑ ↓ A (Shift: bigger steps) · 1–9 string · M mode · R hear · − + volume · L copy link · Esc done
Ready
tab: E
Strings 1 → 6
3 times each
Tap Start, then pluck any string.
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Strings · tap to hear
Instrument
Try uke, bari, 5 string, cello…
Tuning
B Standard
Shape
Shift
Standard pitch
Higher or lower
Fine-tune
Moves every string a little, for example to match a recording.
Custom tuning
Any strings, any notes
One row for each string. The top row is the top string, usually the thickest.
Start from
Strings
+ adds a lower string at the top. − takes the top string away.
Notes from C0 to C8. Type a note like D2, F♯3 or B♭1, or use − and +.
Save and use keeps it on this device (up to 8 tunings). Use without saving tunes with it for now.
Reference A
Slider 380–500 Hz. Type any value from 300 to 600 Hz.
More pitches
Sound
Violin, viola, cello and double bass start with Bowed, the rest with Acoustic.
Note length
Match a recording Beta
Find the A a song was recorded at, then tune to it and play along.
…listening
Play the song, loud and clear.
Result
This recording sits on A 440
The tuner already matches it: nothing to change.
A recording is only known within a half step: if the song is a half step down, also change the tuning.
Beta: tested on real records and synthetic songs. Check the result by ear.
Nothing is uploaded: the sound is measured on this device.
Settings
Mode
Guided: one string at a time, from the thickest.
Meter
Bar: a slider with a mint in-tune zone.
Note length
How long a tapped string and Hear sound. Repeat plays the string again every few seconds, Continuous holds it: tap it again to stop.
Reference sound
Violin, viola, cello and double bass start with Bowed, the rest with Acoustic. A sound you pick stays.
Volume
Phone speakers play very low notes an octave up.
Note names
Sharps and flats
Octave numbers (E2, E4)
Tells the two E strings apart: E2 is the low one, E4 the high one.
Frequencies (Hz)
Each string's pitch in hertz, such as 82.4 Hz.
In tune within
Precise is not used with harmonics: Normal ±3 applies.
Harmonic mode
For one low string: play its 12th-fret harmonic (×2) or its 5th-fret one (×4).
Pro view
The pitch heard in Hz, tenths of a cent and the input picker. Turns on octave numbers and frequencies.
Device names appear after you allow the microphone.
Input channel
Auto picks the channel with sound. Interfaces: choose the input your instrument is plugged into.
Background
Night ocean, cosmos, forest and more.
The sound never leaves your device. No account, no cookies.
Guitar · Downtuned standard
About B Standard
Every string sits 2½ whole steps below E Standard: B E A D F♯ B. Downtuned standard tunings keep every chord shape you know; songs simply sound lower and the strings feel a bit looser.
B Standard puts a 6-string guitar where a baritone lives. Expect to need heavier strings, and maybe a setup, to avoid fret buzz.
Also written: BEADF#B
How to get there from standard
- String 6: lower 2½ whole steps (E2 → B1)
- String 5: lower 2½ whole steps (A2 → E2)
- String 4: lower 2½ whole steps (D3 → A2)
- String 3: lower 2½ whole steps (G3 → D3)
- String 2: lower 2½ whole steps (B3 → F♯3)
- String 1: lower 2½ whole steps (E4 → B3)
Quicker from Drop A: raise String 6 a whole step (A1 → B1).
Why players use it
Why B Standard
B Standard, B E A D F♯ B, lowers every string two and a half steps, a perfect fourth. That is the home pitch of a baritone guitar, and its low B is the same note a 7-string adds under its E. On a six-string every shape stays, so a riff written in standard comes out a fourth lower with no new fingering.
The sound sits between guitar and bass: chords still read clearly, but the open string growls. The cost is slack strings, and the worry that slack strings kill speed. Sepultura's Andreas Kisser had that worry when the band first tuned down, until heavier strings solved it; he later held up Trauma of War, listed here in B Standard, as proof that a low tuning can still be fast.
On the records
Who plays in B Standard
It is rare on TuneLit: 12 songs. Sepultura's Roots (1996), produced by Ross Robinson, is the record most players know in it, with Roots Bloody Roots, Attitude, Lookaway, Dusted and Endangered Species. Reza on Against (1998) and Trauma of War (2013) bring Sepultura to seven.
The rest are single songs. Napalm Death's Glimpse into Genocide and Cursed to Crawl are the lowest songs on Diatribes (1996), Clawfinger's Recipe for Hate is on Zeros & Heroes (2003), Americon is a Kerry King song on Slayer's World Painted Blood (2009), and Kyuss recorded Katzenjammer for Wretch (1991) more than a whole step below its first version.
Songs on TuneLit
Famous songs in B Standard
Each song has its own page: the exact tuning, the pitch of the record and how to get there string by string. Tune sets the tuner to the record, cents included.
- Roots Bloody RootsSepultura · Roots (1996) · −15 ¢Tune
- AttitudeSepultura · Roots (1996) · −15 ¢Tune
12 songs · 5 bands
Every B Standard song on TuneLit
Open a band to see its songs in this tuning. Each song opens on its album page, at its own Tune button, set to the pitch of the record.
Sepultura 7 songs
Napalm Death 2 songs
Clawfinger 1 song
Kyuss 1 song
Slayer 1 song
Playing tips
Playing in B Standard
Use the right guitar. A baritone, 27 inches or longer, holds B with ordinary heavy strings. On a normal 25.5-inch neck you need a much heavier set, above all on the low string, plus a setup: wider nut slots, saddles moved back for intonation, a truss rod adjustment.
A 7-string is not the same thing. In standard tuning it adds a B under E A D G B E and leaves the other six strings alone, while B Standard moves all six down, so tabs for one do not fit the other. The bass tunes to B E A D, the lowest four strings of a five-string bass.
6 strings
Notes and frequencies
| String | Note | A = 440 | A = 432 | A = 442 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | B1 | 61.74 | 60.61 | 62.02 |
| 5 | E2 | 82.41 | 80.91 | 82.78 |
| 4 | A2 | 110.00 | 108.00 | 110.50 |
| 3 | D3 | 146.83 | 144.16 | 147.50 |
| 2 | F♯3 | 185.00 | 181.63 | 185.84 |
| 1 | B3 | 246.94 | 242.45 | 248.06 |
The tuner on this page works at any A4 from 300 to 600 Hz, and can shift the whole tuning by half steps or fine cents.
Measured
How the tuner hears B1
B Standard goes down to B1 on String 6, 61.74 Hz. A phone mic hears B1 faintly: in our phone-mic model its fundamental arrives 9 dB quieter. Read from its overtones, B1 stayed within 1 ¢.
No tuner for B Standard?
The capo trick
If your tuner only knows E Standard, clamp a capo across fret 5 and tune the strings, capo on, to E Standard (E A D G B E) as usual. Take the capo off: every open string drops 2½ whole steps and you are in B Standard (B E A D F♯ B).
A capo pushes the strings a little sharp, so the open strings can end up a few cents flat. Check each one again without the capo: the tuner on this page reads B Standard directly.
String tension
Strings and tension
Strings 6–1: about 44% less tension (approx., same strings, same scale length).
To keep the feel of a 10–46 set at standard pitch, try about 13.5–62 (approx.: string makers' charts differ, and many players simply like it looser).
A longer neck helps too. Compared with a 25.5″ guitar, a 27″ scale gives back about a half step of tension and 28.6″ about a whole step (approx.).
Check string tension → String by string, with your own set and scale length.
Neighboring tunings
Higher tunings first. Each rung moves every string of B Standard by a half step; in the tuner, the ◂ ▸ arrows on the tuning chip do the same.
- C♯ StandardAll strings 3 half steps lower
- C StandardAll strings 4 half steps lower
- B StandardThis pageAll strings 5 half steps lower. Notes: B E A D F sharp B
- B♭ StandardAll strings 6 half steps lower. Notes: B flat E flat A flat D flat F B flat
- A StandardAll strings 7 half steps lower. Notes: A D G C E A
Questions
What are the notes of B Standard?
From String 6 to String 1: B1 E2 A2 D3 F♯3 B3. At A4 = 440 Hz the lowest string is 61.74 Hz and the highest is 246.94 Hz.
Why is it called B Standard?
Standard tunings are named after the lowest string. All strings move 2½ whole steps down from E Standard, so String 6 becomes B1 and every chord shape stays the same.
Do I need heavier strings for B Standard?
Strings 6–1: about 44% less tension (approx.). To keep the feel of a 10–46 set at standard pitch, try about 13.5–62 (approx.: string makers' charts differ, and many players simply like it looser).