The Pros and Cons of Drop C Tuning for Guitar

Why use Drop C tuning and what is it? This video explains what this popular guitar tuning used primarily in metal music is and its benefits and drawbacks.

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Drop C is a tuning I have all but a few of my six strings in and have used it extensively in my music career, for longer than any other tuning. It has many of the advantages as the drop D tuning has with the added bonus of being tuned down one whole step beyond. While a six string guitar tuned to drop C doesn't have quite as much range as a seven string guitar in standard tuning, it does come close, allowing the player to have the familiar feeling of a six string while playing lower and having more possibilities than standard tuning may offer. And of course, drop tuning a guitar down low sounds really cool.

The guitar pictured in the thumbnail is the Ibanez RG5121 Prestige.

00:00 Intro and not sponsored

What is Drop C
00:29 Drop D as a precursor to drop C
01:04 What drop C is

Pros
01:37 Sounds cool
02:03 Easy power chords
02:17 Advantage over drop D
02:24 Avoids acoustic beating
03:07 Sound demo to showcase difference of thirds between one octave
03:22 Power chord adding intervals
04:04 Drop C with distortion
04:20 Extra range and why it’s important in playing music
05:45 Low tuning without resorting to a seven string
06:29 8 strings and beyond
07:13 Overview of advantages of drop C

Cons
07:23 Drop C isn’t standard
08:29 Relearning the fretboard might not be worth it
08:53 Many other drop tunings besides drop C
09:30 Lose a little range up top
09:46 Other guitarist might not be using this tuning
10:06 Different setup and string gage required
10:49 Extra range won’t work for songs written for specialized other tunings

11:24 Why I use this tuning on almost all of my 6 string guitars

12:13 Outro
12:39 Cat

[lebarak]

Pros:
Cons: Spending to much on monster drinks and dry wall repairs

[Fatmanourwenty]

I recently swapped to G# F# B E G# C# to learn some Conjurer songs and it's been a lot of fun. I stopped using drop tunings like drop C or drop B in favour of C# standard and A# standard but this weird Conjurer tuning has made me think of my own riffing quite differently.

[ricardog.s]

I played on D standard for YEARS on bass on bands and musical projects and never encountered any problems, sure I had to re-arrange a couple of songs but it was well worth the effort and it was easy to switch to Drop C when I needed it and MAN it was useful for some songs due sometimes the regular C (or "high C" in this case) sometimes didn't had the enough "power" in certain parts of a song and for reference I LOVE metal but I play anything from pop, to progressive, latin, rock, metal, etc. on bands so I can say from experience that D tuning and Drop C are very versatile and sound amazing

[maykstuff]

Pros: you can hit that C
Cons: you can't hit that low B

[UltimaJC]

D Standard and Drop C are where I feel most at home when I play

[zjb]

Drop C is the perfect tuning. IMO it's where 6 strings are perfect, especially for metal. You can tune up the low string for D Standard or tune the low string even lower to an A for the Mastadon/Periphery alternate tuning.

[TheDUDEGOOD]

Going back to standard tuning just felt alien after years of playing drop c

[hardstones]

I keep most of my guitars in either standard E or drop D, I use a Digitech drop to go further. I do have one guitar that is in D standard just so I can dip a bit lower than I typically would go too. That pedal is gold for me as I just play in my room and want versatility without having to dedicate guitars strictly to something cause of string gauges and scale lengths.

[sebastienleroux]

I’ve been tuning my guitars in standard D for almost a decade now. Even my acoustic one. I love that tuning. And of course, Drop C is inevitable. I just love that sound.

[cosmicowl]

With only one guitar I always felt like I had to stay in Drop D most of the time so I could play most songs. Now I just got a 7 string and bought strings for Drop G, which is like the Drop C of 7 strings and it’s awesome.

[Tartl]

Can i play in drop c with 10-46 strings?

[Rob_Cary]

I really dont see any flaws in drop C tuning. It's low enough to be heavy as fuck as long as you're not just relying on the lowness of the string for said heaviness and are putting effort into the writing of the breakdown but it's high enough to stay in tune with pretty much any string gauge on any 6 string as long as it isn't a POS. Can't go wrong with some drop C

[thejimmichanga]

D standard and drop C is where ive spent most of my 19 years of playing. As of late ive been spending most of my time in drop C# though.

[average_djent_enjoyer]

Drop C is my favorite sound, it does pretty much every style of metal well, and also since its a whole step down I can transpose the same way I would on trumpet. Im currently using 10-52s on my les paul prophecy also with fishmans next time I restring Im gonna try 11-60s from string source.

Also that guitar looks awesome!

[therdparallelthrift]

In my ideal situation, I would like a guitar in Standard, Drop D, Eb Standard, Drop C#, and Drop C and to stay in those tunings/not have to set them up more than once. I don't really play any songs in D standard (that I couldn't play in drop C). I play in all the other tunings, though, and spend the most time in Drop C and Drop D and Standard E. I used to go lower but I feel like Drop C, maybe a half step lower, is "low" enough for me. I'm not playing djent or doom, anything like that. I play stuff like Black Dahlia Murder, Arch Enemy, KSE, The Haunted, etc, but also, I play shred lead and do some open chords mixed with licks that's sounds like a mix of Eric Johnson meets a Emo band from the mid 2000s. I'm all over the place, musically, and like to be able to play, whatever I'm feeling at the moment.
Also, I like to write music in different tunings because I feel like it gives me a different palette to paint with and I'm inspired, differently. There are riffs that just sound "better" in certain tunings ( I won't get into the music theory reasons) and sure, you can transpose any song but is it going to sound "right"? maybe, maybe not, maybe the vocals won't work in a certain tuning but will in a lower tuning, etc, etc.
I think if you're wanting to go lower, like B standard or something, than you're going to need an extended range guitar or more strings, otherwise, strings are going to get quite floppy on a lot of guitars. You lose a certain bit of playability, the lower you go, too, on most standard range guitars. So, the lower the tuning, the less "shred" you'll be doing.

[Xylus.]

I've always been averse to tuning down. The idea of tuning down seemed more tedious than anything. I like alt tunings, but usually do something drastic. For example, I have a gretch setup just for F#-A-C#-E-G#-B, which is very fun, but also nowhere close to standard. D or c standard always seemed redundant. Recently however I started playing in C standard and some drop Bb (I know this video is about drop c, but I'm just generalizing about tuning down) and it's never been more comfy. I love thick strings. I started on upright bass, playing on strings that could support a suspension bridge, so fat strings make me feel more in control. Since getting my guitar setup in c standard, its been great. Nice fat strings, but so much less tension. I've never had a more comfortable playing experience.

TL;DR Tuning down is so much more comfortable, especially if you like your strings thick

[mattsaviators]

I usually stay in c# if I don’t have my pitch shifter so I can play riffs in drop c and drop d and not compromise it too much it’s just easier that way

[DeadbeatDadcore]

I liked drop C because it was easy to transpose from the key of C on a piano.

[ssofianos]

how many guitars are there behind you? 😊 you can make a presentation of them

[anthonycomparato]

okay drop C is cool but... your guitar man is just 😍