How to Tune a 7-String Guitar to Drop C

The History of Drop C Tuning and Extended Range Guitars

It’s been said that Drop C is the “standard tuning” of metal guitar, and there’s truth in that. Drop C has become a staple of heavy metal guitar for at least a generation. Bands like Soilwork and In Flames were early adopters of Drop C and C standard tunings in the late ’90s, and that became solidified in the styles of the early 2000s with the popularity of Metalcore and Nu Metal. Killswitch Engage wrote an entire catalogue of iconic riffs in Drop C during that era, along with bands like As I Lay Dying and System of a Down.

If you’ve been playing guitar in heavy styles of music for any length of time, you will naturally be familiar with Drop C, and likely already have a vocabulary of go-to riffs, chords, and shapes in the tuning.

More recently, 7- and 8-string guitars have become dominant in the genre, largely due to the influence of Meshuggah, which used 7-string guitars as early as 1998 with the release of Chaosphere, and then 8-string guitars on their 2002 release Nothing. But extended range instruments really exploded in popularity in the 2010s with bands like Periphery, Tesseract, and Animals as Leaders, who built on the rhythmic style of Meshuggah by adding other melodic influences.

Whether you come from that original school of 6-string Drop C styles and you’re considering making the move to 7-strings, or you’ve already been playing extended range guitars for some time, you may have considered how to bridge the gap between the two styles. The physicality of playing 6- and 7-string guitars is distinctly different, as are the conventions and types of riffs that are typically played on each.

The most common approach when first picking up a 7-string guitar is to treat it like a lower-tuned 6-string. Dropping the 7th string down to A immediately puts you in familiar territory. All those go-to riffs and shapes you learned in Drop C will immediately be at your fingertips. Many artists have employed 7-strings and extended range guitars in exactly this way, effectively translating the language of a 6-string in drop tuning to a lower register. But there’s another approach to the 7-string that’s worth considering—one that opens up a whole new set of possibilities.

Drop C with a Low G (G C G C F A D)

By tuning the top 6 strings to Drop C (C G C F A D) and the low 7th string to G, you can think of the 7-string not just as a lower-tuned 6-string, but a Drop C 6-string with an extended low range. That means all the vocabulary you’ve developed in Drop C is still available to you, but you also have an added lowest string to incorporate. This can be a great way to take your existing repertoire on 6-strings and open up a new landscape of options on the instrument.

Below I’ll describe two compositional techniques using this tuning, with examples from our own Eyal Levi and his band Daath. Drop C with a low G is heavily featured on Daath’s new record The Deceivers, and the arrangements make full use of that tuning across the entire range of the instrument. Each of the songs referenced below is featured on Riffhard with in-depth lessons on all the nuances of learning and performing the parts, and insights into the compositional techniques used. We’ll link to the full playthroughs for each song in this article, but if you want to dig in deeper with access to the full transcriptions and detailed song breakdowns, head over to Riffhard for the full lessons.

Using the Low String Selectively

Starting your song with palm-muted chugs on the low open strings is great—classic, even—but in and of itself it’s certainly not innovative or groundbreaking. However, creating an expectation of the tonal range of a song and then surprising the listener by dropping down to a lower register can be an effective compositional device.

As an aside, It’s worth noting that this is actually an approach often used by 5-string bass players in the genre, where the 4 higher strings of the bass are tuned to match the 4 low strings of the guitars one octave below, and the lowest string is incorporated only in specific sections for added effect.

In Sleep Token’s “The Summoning”, for example, the bass plays in unison with the guitar on the 4th string for the initial part of the song, then drops down to the lowest string at the start of the chorus around the 0:48 mark, which adds an element of surprise and makes the chorus feel more dramatic and impactful. There are valuable case studies of this across the genre and transcribing bass parts can be well worth picking up some of these nuances.

Daath’s “No Rest No End” is a great case study in building anticipation and delaying the use of the instrument’s lowest range on the guitar. The song starts with a harmonized clean guitar intro and builds to the entrance of the full band and distorted guitars in the main theme. The next two riff-based sections remain strictly within the range of 6-string Drop C tuning. Even when Eyal Levi moves to the 7th string for the riff at 0:50, it’s still within the note range of Drop C. It’s not until the 1-minute mark that the lowest notes on the guitar are played in the Verse 1 riff, creating contrast with the previous sections and maintaining momentum as the song progresses.

A similar approach can be heard in “Ascension”, where the use of the lowest string is also delayed until the start of the Pre-Chorus at 0:34, after three distinct sections that are constrained to the higher 6-string set in Drop C. Both the Pre-Chorus and Chorus incorporate the lowest string before returning to a more classic Drop C riff in the Post-Chorus. The sections that follow alternate between higher and lower registers, clean and distorted passages, and the composition as a whole moves through a wide dynamic and tonal range. The contrast between sections is a key part of what builds momentum and engagement throughout. This is a great example of a composition style guided by the ear, making intentional musical choices rather than relying solely on muscle memory or practiced shapes.

Layering Harmonies: The Guitar as an Orchestra

Another way to incorporate the lowest string in this tuning is to layer in low harmonies to complement chords or passages on the higher strings. In “Purified by Vengeance”, you’ll hear a densely layered composition with soaring harmonized leads over a wall of ringing power chords in the Pre-Chorus starting at 0:50.

The chord voicings in this section could easily have been written for 6 strings only, but incorporating the lowest string allows for doubling of chord tones in a lower register. This fills out the sound and creates a sprawling sonic landscape, utilizing the full range of the instrument. You can think of this as an orchestral approach—layering both the high and low end to maximize the instrument’s range.

Similar techniques can be heard in “The Philosopher”, Daath’s cover of the classic Death song. In the Pre-Chorus at 0:47, the section alternates between accented open low string notes and melodic lines harmonized in fifths. The Chorus elaborates on that theme with layered octaves a fifth apart over power chords in the rhythm. This song in particular illustrates the possibilities of the extended range 7-string, since we can compare it directly to the 1993 original, which was recorded in D standard on 6-strings. It’s a great test case for how extended range guitars have opened up new possibilities in arrangement and composition.

How Riffhard Can Help

If you’re looking to take your Drop C playing to the next level, consider checking out Riffhard. Our platform offers lessons from some of the world’s best metal guitarists, focusing on rhythm techniques and riff writing. Whether you’re into djent, metalcore, or progressive metal, we’ve got you covered with a wealth of resources to improve your skills and creativity.

One of the standout features we offer is The Shredule, a bi-weekly lesson plan curated from our extensive library. This helps you stay on track and ensures you make consistent progress in your playing. Plus, with access to over 150 video lessons, a custom metronome, and downloadable tabs, you’ll have everything you need to master Drop C tuning and beyond.

Final Thoughts

Experimenting with alternate tunings can be a great way to break out of old habits and discover new ideas. In this case, you have the opportunity to expand and elaborate on your existing Drop C vocabulary in a new context.

One practical way to apply this is to take an existing song in Drop C tuning—something you’ve written or learned—and experiment with adding layers or writing new sections incorporating the low G on the 7th string. And friendly reminder that Riffhard has dozens of lessons to help with that!

Consider the structure of the song, when the lower register is first introduced, and how the lowest string can be harmonized with the existing parts to fill out the arrangement. Both techniques are great starting points to open up new possibilities and inspire fresh ideas.