35 Best Songs in Drop D for Guitar (linked to pro tab)

This is a list of some of the best songs in drop D for playing on guitar, most of which are focused on electric guitar and modern rock with heavier distortion.

Drop D shows up mostly in rock and metal, though became more widely used in the early 2000s. At the same time, drop tunings lower than D were becoming a lot more popular, going down to C, B, and even A with seven string guitars.

Korn stands out on that front and the nu-metal era, in general.

For drop D specifically, Tool's Adam Jones, and Mark Tremonti (during the Creed years, especially), used the tuning extensively. 

But this list focuses on songs originally written in drop D. I've also included some that have drop D tab versions, or that can easily be played in drop D.

If you have questions or suggestions for the list, feel free to reach out via the comments section below.

Best Drop D Songs for Guitar

All songs are linked to their corresponding Songsterr tab, Ultimate Guitar in some cases.

1. Audioslave "Show Me How to Live"
2. Creed "Are You Ready"
3. Creed "Higher"
4. Creed "Bullets"
5. Pretty much every Creed song
6. Alter Bridge "Open Your Eyes"
7. Bring Me the Horizon "Mantra" (easily played in drop D)
8. Bring Me the Horizon "Teardrops" (easily played in drop D)
9. The Used "Pretty Handsome Awkward"
10. Nickelback "Animals"
11. Dorothy "Missile"
12. Godsmack "Keep Away"
13. P.O.D. "The Messenjah"
14. Rage Against the Machine "How I Could Just Kill a Man" (Cyprus Hill cover)
15. Soundgarden "Spoonman"
16. Tool "Aenima"
17. Tool "Pneuma"
18. Soundgarden "Outshined"
19. Rage Against the Machine "Killing in the Name"
20. Tool "Schism"
21. Tool "The Grudge"
22. Pretty much every Tool song
23. Foo Fighters "Everlong"
24. Led Zeppelin "Moby Dick"
25. Pearl Jam "Even Flow"
26. Three Days Grace "I Hate Everything About You"
27. Three Days Grace "Break"
28. Avenged Sevenfold "Bat Country"
29. Avenged Sevenfold "Afterlife"
30. Lost Prophets "We Still Kill the Old Way"
31. Kid Rock "American Badass" ("Sad But True" riff played in drop D)
32. Halestorm "I Miss the Misery"
33. Muse "Psycho"
34. Papa Roach "Last Resort"
35. Disturbed "Down with the Sickness" (drop D version)

Ultimate Guitar and Songsterr Tabs

If you need tabs, Songsterr and Ultimate Guitar are your two main options. We like Songsterr better because they offer all of their tabs for free. With Ultimate Guitar you have a Pro membership available, which gives you premium tabs with a ton of different features.

Their free tabs are mostly user submitted.

We've reviewed both:

• Ultimate Guitar Review
• Songsterr Review

The main problem with Ultimate-Guitar is that they've pushed their pricing way up over the past couple of years. In the past, at just a few bucks a month, it was well worth it, but $25/month for tabs is way too much.

Go with Songsterr if they have what you need, which they likely will.

Drop D VS Full Step Down

Drop D simply moves your low E string down to D, allowing you to play power chords with one finger.

Fender has a good (free) lesson on drop D here: Drop D tuning

However, when you see lower tunings, it's often just drop D down a half or whole step.

For example, you might have: C#, G#, C#, F#, A#, D#

This is just drop tuned down 1/2 step, which is a fret lower. A whole step would be C, G, C, etc. and the same as two steps lower.

For the time being, we haven't included these songs, but will do so in a different list.

Conclusion

Obviously there are a ton of songs in drop D out there that are great for guitar. It's an easy tuning to play in and gives you some variety to work with if you want to get away from standard tuning.

To that end, if you have something to add, please feel free to drop it in the comments section below and I'll add it to the list.

We keep pages like this updated and the community is a huge help with that.

Either way, thanks for trusting our content.

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