{"id":1196,"date":"2014-04-07T17:29:29","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T17:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ashleyjsaunders.com\/wp-blog\/?p=1196"},"modified":"2022-10-03T11:25:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T11:25:48","slug":"dadgad-tuning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/dadgad-tuning\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring DADGAD Tuning On Guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are two only two guitar tunings that I mostly use. These are Standard and\u00a0DADGAD<\/strong>. There’s something special about how the DADGAD tuning sounds on the guitar. I’ve loved the sound of this guitar tuning for years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, over the last few weeks, I’ve been teaching a Nick Drake song. This song is written in Standard tuning with one alteration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The G string has been lowered to an E note – EADEBE. Also, a lovely tuning that doesn’t (I believe) has a name!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both DADGAD and EADEBE alternative guitar tunings allow us to use open strings to fill out the chords.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They also allow us to look at the guitar linearly (i.e. Moving up and down the fretboard in a line) rather than the usual box type (i.e. Moving between chords that are close together, in the same position).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy to solo in DADGAD tuning and would require some thinking to make soloing happen. That said, it is a great tuning for playing rhythm and songs in D. You might know this guitar tuning as Celtic tuning. People have been using it for hundreds of years!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How To Tune A Guitar To DADGAD?<\/h2>\n

So how do we tune our guitar to DADGAD<\/strong> tuning? Well, we need to Lower the pitch of a few strings. Never raise the pitch unless you\u2019re moving up a half step\/whole step as this is the quickest way to break a string.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So starting in standard tuning or EADGBE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First, we need to lower the low E string down a whole step from E to D. There’s no change to the 5th string – A. Also, the 4th string stays the same – D. So far we have DAD<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There’s also no change to the 3rd string – G. Our B string needs to be lowered a whole step to A. And finally, the top string, like the bottom needs to be lowered down a whole step from E to D.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that’d folks is how we re-tune the guitar to get to D A D G A D<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How Does The Fretboard Look In This Tuning?<\/h2>\n

As it can be a little tricky to get your head around a new tuning, it’s worth starting by looking at the whole fretboard. DADGAD looks something like this:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DADGAD<\/a><\/p>\n

[click for large version]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hopefully, seeing how DADGAD looks across the fretboard makes exploring this guitar tuning a little easier. It might take you a while to fully explore the tuning, but that’s part of the fun!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DADGAD Chords<\/h2>\n

If that’s all good, let\u2019s look at some\u00a0DADGAD<\/strong> chords. These are all basic chords to get you started.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember, the best way to learn new chords<\/a> is to use them in a song straightaway. You’ll never learn it in isolation alone, so give it context by actually using it in a song!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

D<\/p>\n

\"D\"<\/div>\n

\n

D<\/p>\n

\"D<\/div>\n

\n

D major 9<\/p>\n

\"Dmaj9\"<\/div>\n

\n

D\/F#<\/p>\n

\"D<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

G<\/p>\n

\"G\"<\/div>\n

\n

G add11<\/p>\n

\"G<\/div>\n

\n

G maj7<\/p>\n

\"G<\/div>\n

\n

G maj9<\/p>\n

\"G<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

Gmaj9<\/p>\n

\"G<\/div>\n

\n

G\/B<\/p>\n

\"G<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

A<\/p>\n

\"A\"<\/div>\n

\n

A add11<\/p>\n

\"A<\/div>\n

\n

A7 add11<\/p>\n

\"A7add11\"<\/div>\n

\n

A11<\/p>\n

\"A11\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

A13<\/p>\n

\"A13\"<\/div>\n

\n

A\/C#<\/p>\n

\"A<\/div>\n

\n

Bm<\/p>\n

\"Bm\"<\/div>\n

\n

F#m<\/p>\n

\"F#m\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can use any and all of the above chords today. They’ll enable you to start playing songs in the tuning. Don\u2019t worry about fingering, just use what\u2019s close!\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember to write down (and give them a name) any chords you find, using\u00a0Blank Chord Boxes<\/a>. So get exploring!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you find any chord you can’t name, please leave a comment, and I’ll help you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Songs In DADGAD Tuning<\/h2>\n

Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, is the most famous song in this tuning. A recent and still often heard song in DADGAD is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls<\/a>. Frontman John Rzeznik, love this tuning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All guitars on Bert Jansch’s Jack Orion are in this open tuning! And boy does that song sound great!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best way to start exploring the DADGAD tuning is to pick any song in the key of D. Simply re-tune into\u00a0DADGAD<\/strong> tuning and have some fun relearning how to play guitar!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next time we\u2019ll look at EADEBE tuning<\/a> in the same way! So, stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I mainly use two guitar tunings: Standard and DADGAD. Discover more about DADGAD Tuning including how to re-tune your guitar, basic chords and a few songs.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[390],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guitar-lessons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyjsaunders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}