DADGAD Tuning

rpe

rpe

NM - Land of Excrement
Do any of you utilize this or other tunings and what are you currently working on?

I really just discovered it in recent months and really enjoy it. I'm working on The Thornbirds Theme as arranged by Al Petteway - it's alot of fun and a beautiful song.

rpe
 
Yes, I discovered DADGAD and other alt tunings about 5 years ago and immediately fell in love with the sound.

I have been working on an epic D tune that works around many different figures that I've worked into my playing over the years -- just never tied it all together.

Goo luck

h1pst3r
 
I've used the DADGAD tuning lots over the years, as well as DADGAE and DADDAD (yes, the G string is de-tuned all the way down to D and can get a bit...err, loose). A few other variations of open tuning that I forget.

I'm kind of amazed that my D-28 survived all that up-and-down tuning I used to subject it to! :eek:
 
I've only played around a little with EADGBD, which makes things a little interesting.

A question for you alt-tuners: When you play in something like DADGAD, do you start out by learning chord forms in that tuning, or do you just explore & come up with what you like on your own?
 
I have always just explored. Usually I'm driven to alternate tunings when I'm trying to learn a guitar part that's in a non-standard tuning configuration. The hardest part is often trying to find out what tuning a player is using. Once you get the correct tuning, then you will discover all sorts of voicings that are not available in the standard EADGBE configuration. It can be a real eye-opener.
 
I haven't really delved in chords (yet) but am working on fingerstyle arrangements of nice tunes.
 
Yeah, my band plays exclusively in CGCFGC tuning. It's a step down from DADGAD. It's really heavy, but open chords ring out really nicely.

We started using this tuning because we were playing metal and screamo music that was in dropped D, but a step down (CGCFAD). But, most of the music I write is in open D, so we just comined the two to open C.
 
one of my all time favorites is EAEEBE, you can get some really full, very pretty (is that word ok to use) chord voicings...
 
I guess there's an infinite amount of alternate tunings we could use. When I tune to CADGAD I have trouble keeping the low C in tune.
 
I use to use DGDGBD for slide, but haven't for years. I find if I learn violin or piano parts for guitar, that often suggests voicings in standard tuning I wouldn't have thought otherwise.

For bass, I am going to move to CGDA, on octave below a cello. That should get five string functionality on a four-string :cool:
 
Most alt tuning playing I do is all finger style. I had a teacher years ago who had a small computer program which mapped all the chords and inversions once the tuning was plugged in. I bet you can find something like that online...give a look.

h1pst3r
 
One of my longtime faves on acoustic has been EBEABE because with all the unison and drones, it really frees me up for clear harmonics. It's an open E tuning except for the A, which is used for most of the melody line stuff. I also like it because it is easily achieved with a cut capo, so I can go back and forth between it and regular tuning instantly. If you want to try it, just use a Kyser capo and put it on the guitar upside down at the second fret. You should have the loger bar against the neck and the pad on the shorter bar is what is fretting the strings. This doesn't give quite enough even pressure for regular use or hard playing, but it will give you an idea.
 
sile2001 said:
......use a Kyser capo and put it on the guitar upside down at the second fret. You should have the loger bar against the neck and the pad on the shorter bar is what is fretting the strings. This doesn't give quite enough even pressure for regular use or hard playing, but it will give you an idea.
Click to expand...

I think I remember someone advertizing a capo that allowed you to go to DADGAD instantly. Have you heard of this?
 
I have a cheap acoustic I use just for open tunings.

I thought DADGAD was my own little secret- me and Jimmy Page :)

I have a song written in that tuning- gets a very good response from people.
 
Yo Zaphod! I also use DADDAD, at first for covers of "4+20" and "Suite Judy Blue Eyes", but later for "Requiem" , the second cut on my CD "Reunion". It's like a drop-D on steroids. If you are interested, here's a link to the raw mono house mix, no EQ, compression, or FX of any kind, including the vocals.-

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=3239/album68

The guitars were done with one Taylor 710CE into an AKG C414B-ULS on the 12th fret into an Avalon AD2022 into a TC Electronics M300 for A-D conversion only (bypass engaged), then into a Roland VS1824CD. There's an unholy signal chain you could only see in a project studio.

BTW, we agonized over whether the song (my brother wrote the lyrics years ago, I set them to music) was a copyright infringement. We came to the conclusion that it is not legally speaking, derivative. The song is a ghost story, and a comment on the burnout and demise of Jefferson Airplane. This one's for you, Al Schmitt. I never realized until I saw them choke on stage, what you did for them in the studio. Do it for me sometime.- Richie
 
jfrog said:
A question for you alt-tuners: When you play in something like DADGAD, do you start out by learning chord forms in that tuning, or do you just explore & come up with what you like on your own?
Click to expand...

Definitely the latter..
 
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