Tuning #4: Open D

Another very popular tuning, you can hear a bit of BrownSugar- era Keith Richards and a little bit of Joni Mitchell. As before, we start by tuning the first and sixth strings down a tone to D, then the second string down a tone to A. Finally, we tune the third string down a semitone from G to F#, giving us (low to high): D A D F# A D.

Example 19

Play what would be an A7 barre chord in standard tuning and you get this interesting Csus2/G chord. The G is our bottom note on the sixth string, but we then move up to an E on the fifth string, which would give us a Csus2/E… Don’t get stuck on the theory, just keep looking for weird chords!

Example 20

Though it’s only one note different from Example 19, this is contrasting enough in theory to have a completely different name. It works very well with Example 19 (and a straight barre at the 5th fret) for some Joni Mitchell-style moves.

Example 21

Bringing back some open strings, this Dm7 makes use of the open sixth string (D) as the root. In a band context (or with a bass player), this could become a movable chord by omitting the sixth string/root.

Example 22

Though we could use the open sixth string as the root here, there’s no need, as it appears on the fifth string. This also makes this chord movable, so it’s worth investigating whether other chords might be found by tweaking this shape. The 6th (B) is found here on the third string.

Example 23

Judging by the name, this is a very common chord, but because we’re in open D, there is a twist… The 7th (G) is adjacent to the root (A) on the open second string, so this gives a certain dissonance – or texture, at least. A useful chord, for sure.

Example 24

More the type of chord you’d expect to find in a jazz ballad than in open D tuning, but that’s what makes things interesting. Another two-finger chord with a complicated name. Why not see if you can find a Dmaj7 somewhere to resolve this to?