When You Tune Your Guitar Down to Drop C and D, Doesn't It Break Your Guitar Strings? and Does Drop B Exist?

Question

I would like to play in other tunes, but I'm afraid that it could break my guitar strings so I haven't tried yet. And does Drop B exist?

Answer 1

Non-standard tunings do not damage the strings, but if you play professionally or semi professionally, or in a band, if you use other tunings it is worth having lots of guitars tuned differently just to save time.

The most common non-standard tuning is drop D, lowering the low E to a D, making the lower 3 strings, played at the same fret, an octave part with a fifth in the middle.

Other popular tunings are "open" tunings, where each open string is part of a particular chord, eg open C will contain only the notes C,E and G. These tunings are great for slide playing and favoured in rock blues, by people such as the Rolling Stones.

Another unusual and pleasant tuning is "lute" tuning, which simply lowers the B string to a Bb.