dadgad

[bill67]

I'm old I guess dumb,what does the dadgad tuning do,And why wouldn't regular tuning work.

[E-minor7]

Wellll,, , nothing wrong with the ordinary tuning, , , , unless you're a bit tired of it.

 

Then tuning to this and and might bring you somewhere else - as you probably know or imagine.

 

I actually never goofed with the DADGAD, which perhaps is a mistake. But I fear it will bring me too close to a few of my heros - whom I wanna play, not copy.

 

Might be time to turn those screws and see what happens. . .

 

Yeah - screw it, bill67

 

 

 

[retrorod]

Hey Bill, NEVER too old, my man!

 

It is simply another way of tuning the guitar. I am sure that once you tune that way that a bunch of songs that you recognize will come to memory... The tuning is 'intuitive' with partial Am and A7 shapes of chords up and down the fretboard.

 

Its DADGAD from bass (left to right)....A,D,G, stay the same.

 

This is a trick that even an old dog can learn....believe me, I know!

 

 

 

[retrorod]

Wellll,, , nothing wrong with the ordinary tuning, , , , unless you're a bit tired of it.

 

Then tuning to this and and might bring you somewhere else - as you probably know or imagine.

 

I actually never goofed with the DADGAD, which perhaps is a mistake. But I fear it will bring me too close to a few of my heros - whom I wanna play, not copy.

 

Might be time to turn those screws and see what happens. . .

 

Yeah - screw it, bill67

 

 

 

 

LOL....Em7

 

You have a 'use' of "the language" that absolutely delights me......In some PRIMORDIALway....

 

 

 

[E-minor7]

LOL....Em7

 

You have a 'use' of "the language" that absolutely delights me......In some PRIMORDIALway....

 

 

Well thanx, retro - you know (and for general information) English isn't my first language so at times I tumble forward like half blindfolded donkey.

 

Back to tunings, , , can only recommend trying a few alternatives. It's exciting and it's cheap. Maybe start with a dropped D.

 

 

[bill67]

 

Well thanx, retro - you know (and for general information) English isn't my first language so at times I tumble forward like half blindfolded donkey.

 

Back to tunings, , , can only recommend trying a few alternatives. It's exciting and it's cheap. Maybe start with a dropped D.

I like guitar the way it is,I wouldn't learn different chords at all if I did it would be for different instrument.

[E-minor7]

I like guitar the way it is,I wouldn't learn different chords at all if I did it would be for different instrument.

 

I read you - better stay EADGBE, , , perhaps lower them all a half step .-)

[Rambler]

I'm old I guess dumb,what does the dadgad tuning do,And why wouldn't regular tuning work.

It gives you a suspended 4th chord, which makes easier for certain kinds of rolls and melodies, especially in Celtic music. Here's two examples

 

John Renbourn: Lindsay (traditional)

 

Richard Thompson: Vincent Black Lightning (this rocks)

[bill67]

 

I read you - better stay EADGBE, , , perhaps lower them all a half step .-)

Now what difference sound does that do.

[Smurfbird]

Lowering by a half-step does what it states. But you may find yourself able to sing in a key that previously alluded you (if you sing, of course).

 

It also gives a slightly different sound without causing you to relearn a thing. I've lowered as much as 1-1/2 steps before it all gets too rubbery, but it makes the same old-same old chords sound novel.

 

Try it. You got nothing to lose.

 

(Many recording artists tune a half or full step down...Jackson Browne likes the half-step for sure.)

[E-minor7]

Lowering by a half-step does what it states. But you may find yourself able to sing in a key that previously alluded you (if you sing, of course).

 

It also gives a slightly different sound without causing you to relearn a thing. I've lowered as much as 1-1/2 steps before it all gets too rubbery, but it makes the same old-same old chords sound novel.

 

Try it. You got nothing to lose.

 

(Many recording artists tune a half or full step down...Jackson Browne likes the half-step for sure.)

 

✓

[BluesKing777]

I like DADGAD tunings, and similar for fingerpicking Gaelic tunes, but it all gets a bit samey......

 

 

Al Petteway has a great DVD lesson on playing blues in DADGAD to give you an idea of some of the different things that can be done with it. He also has a number of lessons on more 'regular' types of playing in the tuning, including Celtic and Appalachian tunes. Very, very enjoyable, and I keep a spare guitar tuned and ready......

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Fullmental Alpinist]

Now what difference sound does that do.

 

Lowering your tuning a half step will instantly turn you into Stevie Ray Vaughan. Nothing else to learn. You'll be a guitar hero.

[jedzep]

You guys are bad...

 

Bill, when you change the tuning by lowering or raising the octave, you're just changing the key, but the chord shapes are still the same, just producing a lower or higher range. It helps if you're a singer, especially an older one, to find a comfortable voice range. Tunings that are dif than standard, such as DADGAD, allow for unique chord configurations used for certain songs. If you never play those songs it doesn't matter. There are hundreds of unique tunings available for those with a greater brain use factor than I have. I got on the train too late.

[E-minor7]

I would never betray a good EADGBE. In fact I don't really like to retune my Gibsons - except for the half step down.

 

A dropped D here and there is all.

 

When seriously retuning, it happens on the Martin dreads and the 12-fret. Even switched G and B string and then retuned on the D-35 a few years back.

 

Now that was pretty wild. . .

[Fullmental Alpinist]

 

Well thanx, retro - you know (and for general information) English isn't my first language so at times I tumble forward like half blindfolded donkey.

 

 

Really? I always thought your lyric prose was because you were a poet. It's quite admirable, really.

 

FMA

[MorrisrownSal]

I play mostly standard tuning, with an occasional dropped d.

However a funk lately, and hitting a wall has had me not only playing around in open D, but also in open D6... which I learned to be the tuning of a new artist I had downloaded.

Hey man, sometimes you hit a funk... A new tuning can loosen up the cobwebs in your brain. Don't knock it until you give it a chance. I'll try anything short of slapping my guitars.

[BluesKing777]

Another trick is to learn a song you already know in a different tuning - that will clear the brainal cobwebbing and may even cause brain pain!

 

 

Start simple!

 

 

BluesKing777.

[MissouriPicker]

The chords in many of the open tunings can be pretty simple. Lots of formations that call for 1 or 2 fingers. Really kind of opens-up your stable of music and offers a bigger pallet of tones. If you like it, you'll find yourself learning some techniques you hadn't considered before. Anyway, don't be afraid to try it.

[rustystrings]

There are some pieces that were written or composed in non-standard tuning, and it isn't possible to play them in conventional EADGBE - John Fahey's Wine and Roses/Red Pony/Approaching of the Disco Void, which is in the Fm tuning that he learned from Skip James, would be exhibit A. DADGAD was heavily pushed (and maybe even introduced) in the '60s British folkie world by Davy Graham. I've read that he liked it because he could introduce Middle Eastern textures into his music with assorted drone strings in that tuning. If you've ever been to a Richard Thompson solo show, you've seen him tune and retune steadily through the night, as he uses different tunings for different songs.

 

I've always liked D modal, which is an old Neil Young favorite - DADGBD, especially when using a D2 chord form as the point of departure. I've also used dropped D (just lower the bass E and leave the rest alone) for things that needed an alternating bass part. I like Open D for slide and Open G for when I wanna be a Keef Richards clone.

[Martin 1940D28]

No doubt, this is the way to go, when you 'aint able to play it the real way. Another easy way out.

[Rambler]

... the way to go, when you 'aint able to play it the real way. Another easy way out.

No less real than any other way, really.

[MorrisrownSal]

1398726477[/url]' post='1514371']

No doubt, this is the way to go, when you 'aint able to play it the real way. Another easy way out.

 

I don't get your mindset. It's a box with strings that makes music. Any way that makes music is the real way.