DADGAD Guitar Tuning

The use of open tuning in guitar playing can be very useful. It can aid in playing finger style guitar as well as aid in slide guitar playing.

A popular tuning in finger style guitar is called DADGAD. Simply put, it spells out how the guitar is to be tuned lowest string first, going to the highest. Another way of referring to this tuning is by the chord the notes make; Dsus4th. The D chord is comprised of the following notes; D (root), F# (third) and A (fifth). By replacing the third (F# note) with the suspended forth (G note) you have Dsus4th chord or the DADGAD tuning.

There are some players that use DADGAD very successfully in their playing. French finger style guitarist Pierre Bensusan plays almost exclusively in DADGAD. Michael Hedges and William Ackerman have also recorded songs in DADGAD. Some of my music on Associated Content has been recorded in DADGAD. Many Irish jigs are played in DADGAD.

Starting with standard tuning EADGBE we will now tune to DADGAD. The lowest E string is tuned one octave lower than the 4 (D note) string. The tuning of the 6th string can be compared to the forth string. Also by placing your finger on the 7th fret 6th string (A note), this will match the 5th string open A note.

Next tune the high E string (1st string) to be one octave higher than then the forth string (D note). This can be done by comparing the 4th string and the 1st string. It can also be done by placing your finger on the 3rd fret 2nd string (D note), this will match the 1st string open D note.

The last step is to tune the B string one step down to A note. This can be accomplished by comparing the 5th string (open A note) to the 2nd string. This can also be done by placing your finger on the 2nd fret 3rd string (A note) which will be the same as the 2nd string open A note.

The final step is to check your tuning for all the strings one final time. You have just changed the surface tension of the guitar, so by adjusting one string, you might have inadvertently adjusted the tuning of another string.

Have fun playing in DADGAD. Try using a Capo on different frets to change the key of the guitar and the song you are playing in.