DADGAD tuning

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VikingBlues
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DADGAD tuning

Post by VikingBlues »

I've been playing around with DADGAD tuning a bit - though to be honest I'm winging it and playing it a lot by ear. :roll:

I've not managed to get much bluesy from this tuning - I'm think I'm getting more of an acoustic singer songwriter slightly folksy vibe from it.

Using the following approximate chords in a rough tab format, but I've not put all the detail - just an outline what chords are in there - the dashes are between the different sections of the piece:-

0 0 0 - - X X X X 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 - - 3 0 0 X 0 0 - - 2 5 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 2 0 0 0 0
4 0 2 - - 0 4 2 4 0 2 - - 0 0 0 2 0 - - 7 6 4 6 0 2 0 - - 0 0 6 4 6 7
0 0 4 - - 2 4 2 5 0 4 - - 2 5 0 4 7 - - 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 - - 2 2 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 - - 3 2 0 5 0 0 - - 2 5 0 0 7 - - 9 7 5 7 0 0 7 - - 2 2 7 5 7 9
5 0 0 - - X X X 5 0 0 - - 2 5 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0

I can get something like this:-
download/file.php?id=1402

The Hagstrom is on rhythm duties tuned to DADGAD. The PRS on lead is standard tuned! The Violin Bass just has the bottom string dropped to D. At least the rhythm has come out stronger than the last recording I tried with no drum / backing track.

So does anyone else use this tuning - do you have some favourite chord voicings I've not shown above? - do you have any favourite chord sequences? - are there any tricks for making things bluesier? :icon_whoknows:
Attachments


DADGAD tuning improv. 'Oh Gad Dad'.
Oh Gad Dad.mp3 - (3.26 MiB)

An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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vancouverois
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Re: DADGAD tuning

Post by vancouverois »

Lovely chords sequence, I am sure there are a few folk songs that use this tuning.
Can't remember which ones tough. :think:

Edit: Pink Floyd Fearless and Led Zep Kashmir and the folk ones I was thinking of are
some of John Renbourn.
Last edited by vancouverois on Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jan 15th 2007
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2WheelsOfBlues
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Re: DADGAD tuning

Post by 2WheelsOfBlues »

VB it's sounds good.
If i understand correctly that you use a chord thats already written, and as a player you have to look what and how youre playing it.

Well it to my ears very nice and i do not now this i a other song.
play guitar like the wind, mysterious but definitely present....
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VikingBlues
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Re: DADGAD tuning

Post by VikingBlues »

Thanks guys - glad it sounds OK - but I don't think it's got the possibilities for bluesy stuff for me to do much with it.

Yeah - some of the chords I picked up from a book, some I found by experimenting. The altered tuning makes the fretboard a total mystery unfortunately so its like learning all over again. It does have the advantage though that if you're playing in D you can use any string open as an accidental note and it should sound OK.

The first group / part I've shown has three chords - G, Dsus4 and D. Dsus4 being all open strings DADGAD.

The next group was C, some sort of B? (B,F#,B,A -maybe Bm7), A7sus2 (I've just discovered), and D.

The next set is Em7, a different voicing of G, Dsus4, D, and something else (the notes D,E,A,G.A.D- A7sus4 I now find).

The fourth set is a different voicing of D, something (notes D,E,D.C#,A,D - might be Dmaj9), something with a lot of Ds (D,D,D,B,A,D - A7sus4), and something else (the notes D,E,A,G.A.D).

Hmmm :alright: ... I'll not go on - as you'll see I really don't know what I'm doing other than going by how it sounds when played and if the progression of chords sounds right. I'm only finding the chord names doing a search after I've found a group of notes that sounds right on the fretboard. :shy:

I suspect players like Davey Graham and Richard Thomson would have been far more aware of the tuning. This tuning by Jimmy Page on 'Black Mountain Side' and 'Kashmir' I believe.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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12bar
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Re: DADGAD tuning

Post by 12bar »

Interesting tuning - I've added it as Celtic open g to the scale and chord generator. Sounds really "folkish". :thumbsup:
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DADGAD has some details about.
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VikingBlues
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Re: DADGAD tuning

Post by VikingBlues »

12bar wrote:Interesting tuning - I've added it as Celtic open g to the scale and chord generator. Sounds really "folkish". :thumbsup:
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DADGAD has some details about.
Thanks for the link - that's clarified a point or two.

Ah .. Celtic ... that would explain it - something about the air in Scotland I think. :D

That it's based on an open chord that is suspended makes sense too - I've always been drawn to the sound of suspended chords. And the drone effect that you can get - well there's the sound of the pipes swirling across the heather. :cool:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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