First jamming session

[trust24]

So it happened and i really enjoyed it. One question though the guiarist i was playing with said play one of the songs in drop d then you can play it on the same string, Can anyone explain this, I presume the E string was droped down to a D note but why do people do this

[Grayson C.]

In general, the lowest chord you can get on a guitar is an E. If you tune the E string down to a D, you can extend your low range. A lot of grunge does this, it's just for improving your pitch range on the instrument. However, I have to say, most people who do this have no idea what they are doing and just do it for no better reason than that it makes them cool.

[DudeistMonk]

Droping the E to D allows guitarists to make "power chords" on the same fret accross 3 strings which are just root, 5th, root (D,A,D). A lot of rock bands use these, Tool, RATM, grunge, punk...

As a bass player (especially if you play a 5) there is no reason to drop down, unless you want that low D.

[Stumbo]

5 string bass 'll get you there.

[WRXbase]

A 5-er will get you that, but having a 4 in drop D is easier to "bang away".

[Bass Troll]

A five string isn't really a subsitute for drop tuning. There's plenty of songs in drop D which would physically impossible on a 5 string in standard tuning.