Open tunings are a great way to achieve a particular or unique sound for a song. They can also facilitate fingerings, help you release old patterns, discover new sounds and have fun!
Left hand fingerings can be very easy in open tunings, allowing for more attention to right hand work. In this lesson you will learn how to make chords and create melodies in the open D tuning and incorporate rhythmic skills that you have already acquired.
Retune your guitar
In order to play in open D tuning, you will need to tune the strings (starting with the 6th string) to D A D F♯ A D. You can tune your guitar to these notes by using The Relative Tuning Method, but you will choose different frets for comparison and matching than the ones that you use in standard tuning. Be certain that your guitar is in tune in standard tuning before changing to the new tuning.
The procedure is as follows:
- The 6th (lowest) string will change from the E in standard tuning to a D, so tune the 6th string down until when it is fretted at the 7th fret, it matches the open 5th string.
- The 5th string (A) will stay the same as in standard tuning.
- The 4th string (D) will stay the same as in standard tuning.
- The 3rd string will change from the G in standard tuning to an F♯, so press on the 4th fret of the 4th string, compare the 3rd and 4th strings and tune the 3rd string down to match the fretted 4th string.
- The 2nd string will change from the B in standard tuning to an A, so press on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string, compare the 2nd and 3rd strings and tune the 2nd string down to match the fretted 3rd string.
- The 1st string will change from the E in standard tuning to a D, so press on the 5th fret of the 2nd string, compare the 1st and 2nd strings and tune the 1st string down to match the fretted 2nd string.
Learn a chord progression
Now that you have tuned to the D chord, begin to experiment with a I – IV – V progression. You can produce a I chord (in this case, D) simply by strumming the open strings. The IV and V chords will be made by placing your first finger over all six strings to make a barre. Barre the fifth fret (V) to make a IV chord (G) and barre the seventh fret (VII) to make a V chord (A). In order to become acquainted with the sounds and the finger placements, try playing any familiar song that has a I – IV – V progression.
Once you are comfortable with these basic chords, set up a rhythm, using either a strumming or fingerpicking pattern. You can use one that you already know or you can make up your own. The goal is simply to keep a steady beat and play until you get into a groove. Once you have that groove, you can begin to experiment.
Improvise
Next, try creating melodies that go with your rhythm. You can easily make melodies on the first string and then combine those melodies with one or more of the chords you’ve practiced. By using the major scale formula you can locate the notes of the scale. (On the first string they will be the open string and the notes on frets 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17 and 19.) These are the notes that you will use to make your melodies.
You should be having some real fun by now, but don’t stop with these activities – experiment! You will be amazed at the sounds that you can produce by placing your fingers randomly on the frets. Invent chord shapes. When you find a sound that you like, practice the shape, moving it to various places on the fretboard and combining it with your melodies and with the I – IV – V progression.