Open TuningsThis article is more about what I would call my “theory” of open tuning more than the actual playing of the songs. How to play this music without tablature - which I don't know - is probably beyond my means to explain here. To be clear: by ‘open tuning' I mean that all the strings are dropped or tuned down to form a chord. And by ‘standard tuning' I mean E A D G B E.
For examples listed below are some of the tunings that I can use with the Dobro. I show them here so you can see exactly how I might make up a set for example. I also have different tunings for the 6 and 12-string guitars. Only one song is included here with each tuning although there are often more. And I vary the tonality of the tunings by frequent capo use. The bold letter is the actual key the guitar is open tuned to. The Roman numeral following the song title is the capo position.
Dobro
Gm+ - C G A# G A# D Was A Friend Gm - D# G A# G A# D Cheyenne-IV D# - D# G A# G A# D# Streets Of Stone-II D#m - C# F# A#F# A# D# Rainer's Song B D# F# B F# B D# Big Sigh- IV Bm - D F# B F# B D Black Cloud E7 - D E B E B D High Noon E+ - E E B E B D Celebration What For-IV Em - E E B G B E Regret G - D G B G B D Evergreen (The “+” sign means there is an added note in that chord but what that chord actually I can't say… if anybody knows please send the information and I'll post it!).
Other Important Tunings (and some examples of my songs which use them:
D- D A D F#A D- Just Ask Me, I Still Want You, King Of The World
Dm- D A D F A D- Ragged Caravan, Forget About Love
G- D G D G B D- Ride Hard, Time Bomb, Blue Room, Lucky World
Gm- D G D G A#D- Unmet, Work Song, Bad Luck Hand, She Makes Me
C- C G C G C E- Land Of Plenty, Baby Bean, Dead Is Dead,
Cm- C G C G C D#- Tornado Alley, Texas Rose
To Begin -
I've long wanted to write an article on my use of open tunings as I'm often asked about this particular aspect of my playing. Sharing just such information is one of the main reasons that I wanted to do a web page and this stuff is not a state secret. The tunings might look difficult but it's actually quite logical if you can take a little time and think it through. I've built up quite a collection now but I've been using them for a long time. Certainly I never ever thought that there would be this many when I began all of this 35+ years ago. But each of these tunings is important to me and I've spent lots of time inside each one them. I will say that being able to play the guitar in this manner has not only allowed me to expand my playing techniques but also my songwriting benifited. Each inspires the other. An acoustic guitar, cradled close to your chest and using these tunings is a wonderful thing.
My purpose here though is to try and demystify the whole process and to introduce you to a fun and fairly simple way of bringing new sounds to your guitar playing life. One of the most important things that I've learned is that there are NO RULES when it comes to playing guitar (except of course being in tune with yourself and others!). It's all music right? So no matter what you do, if YOU like it and it rings an emotional bell inside of you then I encourage you to pursue it. It's important to remember that this whole playing process is about music and music should be a fun and rewarding experience. I know at times we all get tired of our guitar playing and wish we could “be better” or “do more”. This is healthy and normal. One way to bust of out those doldrums is just what I'm proposing and trying to explain here!
Click on the picture to see it on high resolution (1,60 MB)
A Little History -
I think the first song I ever tried was David Van Ronk's version of ‘Green Rocky Road', which is in a dropped D tuning (D A D G B E). This simple and beautiful folk song was taught me by Cape Cod songwriter/guitarist George Gritzbach back in the early 70's. It took me a hell of along time to learn that tune because at the time I was also trying to learn the Travis style of guitar picking (“Freight Train” by Elizabeth Cotton) and that's with finger and thumb picks! Somewhere along the way I also picked up the open D tuning (D A D F#A D) which would have been the first true open tuning that I used. Simple blues and country music songs would have been what I started with. I also remember spending quite a bit of time then trying to teach myself how to play with the slide in this open D tuning. But as you know, using a slide is not easy and it would be many, many years before I would be comfortable with bringing that sound to the stage. If my memory serves me correctly (always suspect though!) it was quite natural that I also started to use the Dm tuning (D A D F A D). It was during these first months that I also wrote “Ragged Caravan” which is now my oldest song and one I still very much enjoy playing. I think from the beginning I was attracted to the deep and rich tonalities as well as the simplicity of what open tunings brought to the guitar (and my clumsy fingers of the time!). You didn't have to be a genius to hold one finger across all the strings to form a chord. But of course mastering the beast was and is a different story.
Why Open Tunings?
The simple answer of course is that it's fun AND it sounds good for the guitar to be tuned in this manner. There are so many more ‘overtones' and moods you can get. From the sad and mournful minors (Strange Love & Backroads - D G A#G A# D), the major happys (Little Toes, All For You - D G B G B D), psychedelic (Slow Poison D#G#A#G#A#D#) to name just a few of my songs. Pop, blues, country music, whatever… as many styles as you want. Certainly the vast majority of my recorded work was done in this way. It is fun and rewarding.
Although you might not think it when you first start out, I do believe the guitar is physically easier to play. Even though you do have to invent some new fingering positions and train yourself to remember them, once you figure the moves it's not so hard. It's really no more work then you use now in learning a new chord in standard chording positions.
One of the great things about open tunings is that by leaning and using them they should help in opening up the neck of the guitar for you. In other words give you new ideas about how to create other new sounds and inspire you in new directions. AND when you get back into using standard tuning I think you'll find that you've many new ideas at your fingertips. I've found that open tunings really do shake you out of the humdrums and ho-hums. And for me it is incredibly helpful in coming up with new material. Almost like the songs are inside the new fingerings and sounds and by going down that road the songs will be there to greet me!
Picture: Peter Scheibner
The first thing:
A tuner! I want to recommend that you use some kind of chromatic guitar tuner if you can afford one. It's not vitally important but all of this twisting and turning of guitar strings can be difficult at the beginning. It's easy to get lost and/or frustrated and a tuner will help you stay the course. Look - basically you'll have to throw away what you know about chording and finger positions and endeavor to try and learn the guitar anew! A little thing like a tuner will go a long way in relieving some of that stress you'll naturally put on yourself! I know! At the beginning of all this I'd wake in the morning after working at my guitar the night before and not know WHERE the hell I was! I couldn't afford a tuner then though so I understand (the hard way) how this works. Ok - so a tuner will help keep you on track.
If you don't have a tuner then I'd say that the trick to tuning the guitar is to find one string that stays the same and tune ‘off' of that string. For example in the D tuning (see above) the D and A strings remain the same. So you could start there and begin by dropping the 2 E strings down to D. Easy. Next, drop the B to A (by tuning the B down until it matches the A string although it will be one octave above of course) and finally drop the G string one-half note to F#. It's pretty simple really and if you get lost with all of that twisting and turning, remember that both the A and D strings haven't changed and you can use them as anchor notes. Do use your ears though as tuning the guitar is actually easier because it's all one chord and if something is ‘out' then you should be able to hear it.
Now for the minor chords you must make another small move and drop another string (or stings depending where you are!) one-half step to get to open minor. If you're in the D chord we just talked about then to get to minor you must drop the G string (now tuned to F# for the open D ) one half step to F and voila! Dm - the perfect chord for slide work and for playing your blues away!
Remember: all major chords - without 7th's and augmentations etc.- are made up of only 3 different notes - see above. As you have 6 strings on the guitar, when you open tune it some of those strings are going to be doubled).
Now what?
D, G or C are very common forms and I'd suggest using these.
The first thing to remember of course is that if the guitar is open tuned - no matter what the strings are tuned too - if it sounds good when you strum them in the open position - then you can move up and down the neck with a barre (one finger across all the frets) and immediately you'll have 11 new and different chords. Especially good for slide if you're using that. If you are in a major chord, try and make it into a minor (or visa versa). It's a half-step move (see the Other Important Tunings shown above), usually on one or two strings so, again, once you've figured that out you've immediately expanded what you can do. Now you'll have to figure out a new way to hold your hand so you can make that minor (or major) chord. It will feel clumsy at first but keep at it and soon you'll discover a way. If you look at my chord diagrams you'll see that it is entirely possible. Be patient with yourself though. As mentioned before, this is about relearning some fundamentals and that will take time. And not to forget why we use open tunings: the voice of the guitar has a larger and fuller sound when you let some of the strings ring open when you make your chord.
How do I remember both?
It can be a chore to remember this stuff and that's the truth. Paper and pencil come in handy and I do use them. I diagram finger positions and have invented a kind of tablature that I use. Mostly it's just to remind me of finger and fret positions. As each tuning requires its own special positions, you almost need to write stuff down unless your memory is much better then mine. A tape recorder of some kind (I use a mini disc these days) helps as well and I do use all the tools I can.
Click on the picture to see it on high resolution (1,50 MB)Arranging a set list:
As anyone who has seen me play live will tell you, it can be a bit much with all the twisting and tuning and capo changing and sometimes between every song! Add a harmonica into the mix and it can rapidly swerve into the boring if you are fiddling away too much. This “fiddling” of course I try to limit as much as possible.
One way I smooth things out is by sequencing the set list so that the guitar requires minimal moves from one tuning to the other. In fact, one of the reasons I ended up with so many tunings as above is precisely because I wanted to limit such drastic moves. For example check out what is involved to get from “Was A Friend” to “High Noon”. That's a long stretch for the A and G string and the other strings must be moved as well. Unless you have a roadie and 3 or 4 guitars of course…
Check out the list above - you'll see for example that the move between “Was A Friend” and “Cheyenne” is with just the low ‘E' string only (although I do add a capo which usually means I have to tune more then one string once the capo is applied). If you follow from “Was A Friend” until “Big Sigh” you'll see in every step just such minimal moves. The reason the list is separated after “Big Sigh” is that the move into “High Noon” is substantial and one I would probably only make between sets. Again - I'm trying to keep the on-stage guitar tuning to a minimum.
Here is a set list I recently played at a show in Concarneau, France.
The strings that are “boxed in” show me exactly which strings to move between songs. Capo positions are in Roman numerals.
Is this physically hard on the guitar? - The simple answer is no. The only problem you might encounter is that you will break more strings. Get used to it because it will happen. Also, the constant action of the strings moving over the saddle and nut can cause little ‘burrs' or rough edges at either of those points. If you start breaking a lot of springs be sure to check those locations and you can make the repair yourself. A small piece of fine sandpaper will smooth off the sharp edges and sometimes a bit of lead from a pencil rubbed into the groove will ease the friction somewhat. Me? When I change strings on the guitars I always save the old ones. Then when I break something I reuse one of the old ones. Hey, it's recycling and it'll save you money.
What are the positive and negative aspects of this kind of playing?
Positives: For me I think the biggest benefit is that it opens up the guitar neck for me. I mean both sonically and physically. I hear songs and sounds differently when playing in open tunings. I can play the slide and adding capo positions into the mix brings a whole new dimension to my music. I love the extra bottom end sound from the dropped tunings as the guitar has a rich and much fuller sound. And as already mentioned, I find that the open turnings inspire my songwriting and we all need that kind of help I think.
Negatives: You'll break more strings. You can spend a lot of time tuning your instrument. Not especially cool if you're standing in front of a roomful of people. If you play in a band it can be troublesome explaining what the hell you're doing. The bass-man can't tell from looking at your hands what your doing. Everybody has to wait on you while you get from one tuning to the other. It can be frustrating trying to remember what you did the other day and can't seem to remember how to do now.
And in the end -
Don't be afraid to move away from the 1st position. There are no rules except what sounds good. Confidence will come with practice and usage. I've read some articles on why the guitar chords that we used were invented and why it has become common usage and I guess that is all well and good. I for one don't believe it is necessary to follow those kinds of rules. That's what open tunings are all about. Of course if you play with other people (or a harmonica for that matter) you will need a common musical language and you will still have to keep your guitar in tune. It helps to be able to tell someone what chord it is that you're playing. On the other hand they can probably figure it out anyway.
Rule # 1: (and why this all started in the first place: Have fun!!
Don't be afraid to wind those strings up and down and keep the tuner handy!
Good luck!!
Recommended listening: anything by Sonic Youth, John Fahey, Michael Hedges, Peter Mulvey, Ani DeFranco, Rudolph Burger, Bob Brozman, Leo Kotke, Ron Harper, John Hammond Jr. etc. Many of the folk blues giants that played with slide used open tunings - Robert Johnson, Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, and of course we could go on and on… If you've a favorite artist please drop me a line and let me know. Enjoy!
