Open tunings

[Brad Little]

In almost 60 years of playing guitar, the closest I've ever come to open tuning is the occasional dropped D, but I'm thinking about taking the plunge. Any suggestions on a good book to start with or a good tuning. I'm thinking about DADGAD, but am very open to suggestions.
Brad

 

[hearth_man]

Me too for 40 years. The only other tuning besides standard for me has been tuning down a full step for my 12s, both electric and acoustic, and one of my 6 string acoustics. All Guilds of course.

 

[GuildedCage]

There is a tuning Jimmy Page used that I really like, DGCGCD

 

[gjmalcyon]

You can head down the rabbit hole of Joni Mitchell's tunings here:

Joni Mitchell - Tuning Patterns

And there's the Bruce Palmer Modal Tuning, used by Stephen Stills on Suite Judy Blue Eyes, 4+20, etc.:

The Deft Fingerpicking and Odd-Tuning Riffage of Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills’ status as a rock legend stems just as much from his singing and songwriting contributions in Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young) and his own solo work as it does fro

www.guitarworld.com

 

[wileypickett]

That's a rabbit hole I've been down for 45 years! (Haven't touched standard tuning in all that time; have invented more than 100 open tunings.)

Open C was the first open tuning I fell in love with: CGCGCE.

It's a favorite tuning of Joni Mitchell's; was first used by John Fahey so far as anyone knows:

John Fahey and the Open C

Today we’re going to listen to some John Fahey -- old, but gold. It’s also a great opportunity to check out the Open C alternate tuning. Here’s how you

www.roadiemusic.com

Open tunings are not just the province of folkies; Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden and other rock bands have recorded stuff in open C, or variants thereof.

I have several pieces in a variant I came up with: CGCECE (tuned down several half-steps; I usually start with the low E tuned down to A.)

Open C is an interesting place to start if you're curious.

 

[davismanLV]

I bought the Kindle version of Joni's big book that has all the real tunings and such. My Breedlove and Taylor are in CDGFGC and DAEF#AD respectively. The DV-72 is in CGDGCD. One of 'em is in Drop D and one in standard. If you're familiar with Joni's work and her songs the book really makes it fairly easy to follow. Shapes of chords follow certain patterns, they change a bit at times. It's fun!!

 

[Canard]

Richard Thompson

How to Get the Most Out of Alternate Tunings by Richard Thompson

Sponsored by Elixir® Strings Guitar legend Richard Thompson demonstrates how to get a richer, fuller sound out of your guitar using alternate tunings and Elixir® Strings. Watch and learn as this Fairport Convention icon performs licks and chords in DADGAD,…

acousticguitar.com

 

[Canard]

DADGAD Wizard Pierre Ben Susan

Santa Monica, a busy little tune, I have tried to master a number of times.

 

[geoguy]

DADGAD is especially nice if you wish to learn some Celtic tunes.

Open D (DADF#AD) is good for bluesy tunes . . . here's an easy sample:

 

[Nuuska]

Wiley - did you ever experiment on 12-string having string-pairs tuned other tnan octave or unison?

If my memory serves me right - Stefan Grossman used some.

 

[wileypickett]

Not something I've fooled with much myself, no. You can get an interesting effect, but then you're wedded to it.

Not sure about Stefan Grossman (not that I know of) but Chris Proctor sometimes tunes the paired strings to different notes.

There was a bluegrass mandolinist (I'm forgetting has name) who used to finger the two unison strings on different frets when taking solos, which gave his voicings an unusual quality.

With those strings so close together, I don't know how he got his fingers to do that! But if one could do it on mandolin, one could certainly do it on 12-string. I imagine.

 

[Canard]

Bruce Cockburn

Sunwheel Dance - DADF#AD​

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Foxglove - CGCGCE​

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[Canard]

Luca Stricagnoli - better grandstanding showman live than he is guitarist and he is a pretty good guitarist.

Open tunings can be harmonic prisons but they free you to explore other things. Luca uses special capos as get out of harmonic-jail free cards.

 

[Canard]

Richard Thompson

1952 Vincent Black Lightning – EBGDGC

 

[davismanLV]

Luca Stricagnoli - better grandstanding showman live than he is guitarist and he is a pretty good guitarist.

Open tunings can be harmonic prisons but they free you to explore other things. Luca uses special capos as get out of harmonic-jail free cards.

Amazing!! But it makes my head hurt a bit..... Yikes!!

 

[Canard]

Amazing!! But it makes my head hurt a bit..... Yikes!!

You ain't seen nothing, yet. Here he is only using 2 guitars. He sometimes uses 3 or 4 guitars at once. With bows sometimes. Sometimes with capos that look octopuses.

I saw him a number of times when he was still quite young. He played what he played well. He was not good at jamming/improvising. He stumbled in group things with more complex harmonic structures. But he was young, very young then. A nice boy from Italy.

He has a very charming stage presence and has a pied-piper effect on audiences, leading them directly to the merch table at break and after the show. Very charming and funny to talk to.

He had one of the best pieces of stage patter I have ever heard.

"Now, I don't want to be the cause of any relationship fights after the the show. 'Honey, why didn't we buy one of Luca's CDs? I told you we should have.' This can be avoided. Lots of CDs at the merch table."​

 

[Rayk]

I have a bunch written down . Joni Mitchell she’s killer with it .

Rabbit hole lol yeah that’s true!
I pretty much just turning gears until I put something that sounds good to me then I use it .

 

[Canard]

The DADGAD Godfather - Davey Graham

Pull Davey from the Jenga-Tower of open tunings and it all collapses. No Jansch. No Renbourn. No Page. Etc. Or at least very different versions of so very many, many players.

How to play DADGAD like Davy Graham

In this audio and tab lesson, we're going to be examining the DADGAD style of Davy Graham - the alternate tunings pioneer who is widely regarded as the father of this versatile tuning method.DADGAD is

www.musicradar.com

The Secrets of DADGAD Open Tuning

Check out this guitar lesson at TrueFire!

blog.truefire.com

How to Play Like DADGAD Pioneer Davey Graham

A key figure of the early Sixties British folk revival, Davey Graham (1940–2008) was a unique steel-string–wielding hybrid.

www.guitarworld.com

The tune everyone had to learn in the 60s, Anji. If you could play this at open stage night at a coffee house, you were it.




Paul Simon came back from London with Anji under his belt, having lifted it virtually note for note from Bert Jansch, who lifted it from Graham. (He also came back with Martin Carthy's version of the trad tune Scarborough Fair, having pestered Carthy again and again to teach it to him, and he promptly copyrighted it. And if the boys from Los Lobos ever find him alone in a back alley .... .)

 

[Rich Cohen]

Drop C is fun. It allows many options for playing in C, as it fits into the other chords of the group. Dylan used it in "Desolation Row."

 

[Guildedagain]

It's shocking how many rock songs were obviously written in DADGAD around that time.