Well over 30
years ago, English fingerstyle patriarch Davey Graham developed one of
the most attractive and versatile alternate tunings for guitar: D A D G
A D (commonly pronounced "dad gad"). Graham invented it while living in
Morocco to facilitate his playing with oud players. Upon his return to
England, the tuning quickly gained popularity among British guitarists
playing traditional music, among them John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, and
Jimmy Page. Later, D A D G A D became the tuning of choice for great
French fingerstyle guitarist Pierre Bensusan.
One of D A D G A
D’s main attractions for guitarists is the rich, harplike sonorities
that can be produced with relatively easy chord fingerings. Since it
does not explicitly state a modality (as D major and G major tunings
do, for instance), D A D G A D can be used to play in a variety of keys
and modes.
The open strings
of D A D G A D produce a D-suspended-fourth chord (root, fourth,
fifth). The third of a D scale (F# or F), which would peg the tuning as
major or minor, is missing from the open strings. Because of that,
guitarists can use D A D G A D as easily in the key of D minor as in D
major. It is an effective tuning in the key of G, and it also works
well for modal tunes and pieces with independent treble and bass lines.
To get into D A
D G A D from standard tuning, lower your sixth string one whole step,
from E to D. Also lower your second string a whole step, from B to A,
and your first string a whole step, from E to D. To make sure your
guitar is in tune in D A D G A D, match the seventh fret of the sixth
string to the open fifth string, match the second fret of the third
string to the open second string, and match the fifth fret of the
second string (already tuned down) to the open first string.
SCALES
AND CHORDS
An initial
disadvantage of any alternate tuning for standard-tuning players is
that the chord and scale fingerings are different from standard. Some
alternate tunings, such as dropped-D (D A D G B E), are only slightly
altered from standard tuning and don’t take much effort to learn.
Others are a bit further away from standard and consequently might take
more work.
If you have
trouble fathoming alternate tunings, it may help you to think of the
four bass strings of D A D G A D as the same as dropped-D tuning. Or,
if you prefer to compare D A D G A D to standard tuning, the chords and
scales on the third, fourth, and fifth strings are the same.
In D A D G A D,
the two treble strings have the same relationship to each other as they
do in standard tuning and dropped-D: a perfect fourth (five frets)
apart in pitch. They are simply tuned one whole step lower than
standard. Any fingerings that you use in standard tuning will have to
move two frets higher on the two treble strings in D A D G A D to produce the same sound.
If you approach
D A D G A D in this manner, at least you will have a familiar basis
from which to work. But don’t get too hung up on trying to produce
standard-tuning sounds with an alternate tuning. There will likely be
times when you will want your voicings to sound the same as standard
tuning; but the beauty of alternate tunings is the opportunity they
provide to create new chords and new voicings, and to play scales with
harplike sustain. By being open to new chords and voicings, you will be
able to take fuller advantage of an alternate tuning.
