Open Tunings For Interesting Chord Shapes And Guitar Solo Lines

Let's try Open tunings : D, A, D, G, B, E

The easiest tunings to get to know is the drop D tuning. Acoustic guitar tunings like the drop D tuning, is very similar to the standard guitar tuning.

In this open tunings, only the 6th string is tuned down to D. The rest of the strings from the 5th string to the 1st string, are the same as the standard guitar tuning. Also note that the position of the chords and fingerings are the same as the standard guitar tunings. These guitar tunings give a richness to the guitar chords and adds warmth and color to the song. It is enjoyable to play in this tuning because it makes it easier to approach chords and solos.

How To Get The Drop D Tuning: D,A,D,G,B,E?
Tune the 6th string E down a tone to D. The 5th string to A. The 4th string to D. The 3rd string to G. The 2nd string to B and the 1st string to E. You will note that the only change is the 6th string. The rest are the same as the standard guitar tuning . Having drop the 6th string down to D, move up the 6th string to the 7th fret which now becomes an A note. Match this with the 5th open string A and tune it up to get to the same pitch. Still on the 6th string, move to the 12th fret. Play the harmonic and match the D note to the 4th string D. Go to the 5th string and fret the 10th fret G and match the 3rd string G note. Get the note to match as close as possible listening to the beats between the notes. Move to the 4th string, 7th fret B note and tune it to the 2nd string B. Move to the the 3rd string 7th fret D note and match it to the 1st string D note. Listen for the beats, the less you hear of the beats, the more in tune you will be.

Playing The Drop D Open Tunings
Having tuned the guitar, let's play the D chord shape in the 2nd position adding our 6th string low D bass note to it. Strike from the 6th string low D to the 1st string and be amazed at the beauty of how rich the sound is. Same chord as the standard tuning but just one slight change in the 6th string and presto, we have a lot of creative ideas flowing. The low D note is an octave lower than the 4th string D note. Chords are much easier to handle and the bass note helps with the richness.

D Maj Scale And Positions In Open Tuning
The main key tonality is in the key of D. The tonic or root of the chord is D, but we are also able to play in the key of D minor. The Dmaj scale comprises of the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D. When we use the drop D tuning, the positions on the 6th string are changed. We will develop and play through some chord shapes in the open tunings.

| DMaj7 | GMaj7 | Emi7 | Asus | A7 | F#mi7 |

| Bmi7 Asus | Dmaj9 |

| GMaj7 | F#mi7 | Emi7 Asus | DMaj9 | GMaj7 |

|F#mi7 | Emi7 | A7 |

DMaj7 | Emi7 | GMaj7 | Bmi7 | F#mi7 | GMaj7 |

| Emi7 Asus | DMaj9 |

Play through these examples, note the chords and its positions and bass notes. Observe how the texture of the chords give a warm feeling to the changes. As much as possible, try to learn the positions and its relative fingerings by heart. I know you will have a lot of fun with these changes. You will find that these alternate tunings can add a lot of color to composing songs and working out guitar solos, and you might get hooked on this D open tuning.

We will now move to another interesting study of how to creatively tune the guitar - G Open Tuning

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