There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like a new guitar to get me writing songs. If money was no object, I’d have so many guitars I’d have to build an entire warehouse for them, believe me. But the next best thing is to hear one of my familiar companions in a new way, and the best way to do that is to experiment with altered tunings.
My friend, muse and guitar hero Richard Leo Johnson (Fingertip Ship, Languages, The Legend of Vernon McAllister) once compared exploring a new tuning to being taken on a bus blindfolded, driven to the middle of nowhere and dropped off to find your way home, only in a good way. I couldn’t describe it better.
My favorite tuning to play in, and the one I have written the most music in, is DADGAD, and it has been gaining enough popularity that it’s showing up in some crazy, unexpected places. One could almost play a DADGAD drinking game when watching television – listen to the commercial soundbeds and the first person to call “DADGAD!” when you hear the tell-tale suspended sound of a rich acoustic guitar, gets a shot of whatever their poison of choice may be. I was probably the first Iowa guitarist to experiment with DADGAD in the early 1980s; people could often track me through guitar stores by checking for DADGAD. It’s been a mission of mine ever since to turn as many people on as I can to the expanded possibilities DADGAD has to offer.
Drop both E strings a whole step to D, and then drop the B string a whole step to A. First position in DADGAD starts at the second fret, like a mandolin. Your first chord is a D5 – put your first finger on the third string (G) at the second fret (fig 1). That’s it. If you want to get fancy and add the major 3rd to it, put your third finger on the fourth string (middle D) at the fourth fret (fig 2). Make it a Dm by fretting the fourth string at the third fret (fig 3).
Fret the fourth string (middle D) at the second fret, mute the sixth string (bass D) and you’ve got A7 (fig 4). Put your second and third fingers on the fifth and sixth strings (low A and bass D) at the fifth fret, and you’ve got a G9 chord (fig 5). Slide those fingers down to the second fret and you have an Em7 to die for (fig 6).
There are a few consistent shapes that work up and down the fretboard, and I’ve included diagrams for all of those. The real key is to use your ears and play with familiar chord shapes and see what works and what can be shifted ever so slightly to produce some wonderful new voicings that can speak to your soul and inspire you. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the key of D either – I’ve written in G, in C, in F, even in Bb. It definitely helps to know relationships between chord families across key centers.
I’m including a brief DADGAD discography so you can hear it in action. Guitarists from Leo Kottke to Pierre Bensusan to Michael Hedges to Laurence Juber to Catfish Keith to Pat Kirtley to yours truly have discovered the incredible harmonic possibilities DADGAD has to offer. Your hands, and your ears, will thank you for checking it out.
| A Brief DADGAD Discography |
Pierre Bensusan
Pres du Paris
Rounder Records, Re-issued 1993
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Laurence Juber
Altered Reality
Solid Air Records, 1998
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Pat Kirtley
Irish Guitar
Mainstring, 1997
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Gayla Drake Paul
How Can I Keep From Singing?
Ivanhoe Road Music, 1997
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Dick Gaughan
Handful of Earth
Topic, 1981
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Jim Tozier
Celtic Guitar
Solid Air Records, 2005
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| Other frequent DADGAD flyers: Bert Jansch John Renbourne Davy Graham Micheal O’Domhnaill Daithi Sproule Richard Thompson | |
Want to hear some DADGAD in action? Check out these two songs by Gayla Drake Paul