Friday, March 24, 2006
Tuning to and from Open D and Standard Guitar Tuning
I frequently get asked about tuning a guitar, to and from open-D from standard guitar tuning, or tuning the guitar within itself, in open-D. Teachers and students both have expressed concern over “how to tune this way”, as if there was some complicated technique involved. Or, that it is somehow more difficult to tune in open-D than in standard tuned guitar.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Tuning in open-D is at least as simple, if not simpler, than tuning in standard guitar tuning. Let’s look at some scenarios.
Re-tuning from standard guitar tuning.
One of the neat things about open-D, especially versus some other alternate tunings, is that it is relatively friendly to make the switch from standard guitar tuning. It's important to remember: your A and D strings as they are in standard tuning stay the same. From there, it’s a matter of adjusting the other four strings:
low E becomes low D
A stays the same A
D stays the same D
G becomes F#
B becomes A
high E becomes high D
I do it by taking the D in standard and getting the low and high Ds tuned to it. Then I use the low A string to adjust the B to A. Finally I bring the G down a half-step to F#. Once you get used to it, it’s a breeze. So, step by step:
using your existing D in standard tuning,
1) re-tune your low E string to D (lower it a whole tone)
2) then re-tune your high E string to D (lower it a whole tone)
3) use your existing A in standard tuning to re-tune your B string to A (down a whole tone)
4) tune your G string down to F# (down a semi-tone)
Four simple steps to re-tune your guitar from standard tuning to open-D tuning. I always remind students that once you are done, a strum of your guitar should produce an in-tune major chord. This is one of the main differences from standard tuning. Even with no tuner at hand, you should be able to hear if your guitar is in tune, at least with itself (which I touch on later in this piece). The simplicity of re-tuning to open D is the repetition of strings. You have three Ds and two As to work with. The trickiest part becomes the G to F# step. Keep in mind, though, that this move is what completes the D major chord of open-D tuning. This last move will play a big part as to whether your guitar is in tune.
To make the switch back to standard guitar tuning, I generally use the age-old "tune one string to the other approach". Your A and D strings (5th and 4th) are already there. Use your D string with finger on fret 5 for find G. When you have G back, use that string with finger on fret 4 to find B. When you get B back, use that string with finger on fret 5 to find E. Finally use the high E string to bring your low string back up to E.
Here are some other potential scenarios.
Tuning the guitar to itself. This is the easiest of all in open-D tuning. Say you have no reference pitch to tune to, but you think one of the Ds you have in relatively in tune (keeping in mind that in open D, you have three Ds to choose from – D A D F# A D). First thing I do is get the three Ds in tune with one another. This is not unlike tuning your two E strings in standard guitar tuning, only it’s easier. The gap between each D is an octave. Once you here no “wowing” or vibrations between your in-tune D and the other, they are in tune. Then tune the third D. Next I would take one of my two As and get it in tune with the closest D string. Again you listen for the vibrations between the notes, much like a violinist does. Finally, I would bring the F# in with the other now in-tune strings. The simplest way to do this, I find is to strum an open-D chord and adjust the F# string until it sounds like a nice, clean in-tune chord.
Another way to tune the guitar to itself. Supposing you still have that one in-tune D string. You can tune the guitar to itself similar to how standard tuned guitars can be tuned, string to string. The fret pattern is just a little different in open-D (outlined in the end-notes of my book Guitar-eze A Simpler Approach to Playing Guitar:
Starting with your lowest D,
hit a note holding down fret seven (A) to tune your open A string
When that’s in tune, hold down fret five of your A (D) string to tune the open D string
Then hold down fret four of your middle D string (F#) to tune the open F# string
Next, hold down the fret three of your F# string (A) to tune the open A string
Finally, hold down the fret five of your A string (D) to tune the open high D string
Tuning with a tuner. Unfortunately many of the least expensive tuners are made to only tune to standard tuned guitar E A D G B E. this obviously neglects all of the other tuning possibilities for guitar. There are many, and getting more popular all the time. If you’re stuck with one of these, at least you know that the A and D on this tuner correspond exactly to your own A and D strings, which are exactly the same as the A and D in standard guitar tuning. Then tune the rest of the guitar to itself from there.
Much more practical are chromatic tuners which have every note available to tune your guitar. A little more expensive, they are well worth it. Happy tuning… and by the way, give it a try – open-D: D A D F# A D .
http://www.easierguitar.com
Nothing could be further from the truth! Tuning in open-D is at least as simple, if not simpler, than tuning in standard guitar tuning. Let’s look at some scenarios.
Re-tuning from standard guitar tuning.
One of the neat things about open-D, especially versus some other alternate tunings, is that it is relatively friendly to make the switch from standard guitar tuning. It's important to remember: your A and D strings as they are in standard tuning stay the same. From there, it’s a matter of adjusting the other four strings:
low E becomes low D
A stays the same A
D stays the same D
G becomes F#
B becomes A
high E becomes high D
I do it by taking the D in standard and getting the low and high Ds tuned to it. Then I use the low A string to adjust the B to A. Finally I bring the G down a half-step to F#. Once you get used to it, it’s a breeze. So, step by step:
using your existing D in standard tuning,
1) re-tune your low E string to D (lower it a whole tone)
2) then re-tune your high E string to D (lower it a whole tone)
3) use your existing A in standard tuning to re-tune your B string to A (down a whole tone)
4) tune your G string down to F# (down a semi-tone)
Four simple steps to re-tune your guitar from standard tuning to open-D tuning. I always remind students that once you are done, a strum of your guitar should produce an in-tune major chord. This is one of the main differences from standard tuning. Even with no tuner at hand, you should be able to hear if your guitar is in tune, at least with itself (which I touch on later in this piece). The simplicity of re-tuning to open D is the repetition of strings. You have three Ds and two As to work with. The trickiest part becomes the G to F# step. Keep in mind, though, that this move is what completes the D major chord of open-D tuning. This last move will play a big part as to whether your guitar is in tune.
To make the switch back to standard guitar tuning, I generally use the age-old "tune one string to the other approach". Your A and D strings (5th and 4th) are already there. Use your D string with finger on fret 5 for find G. When you have G back, use that string with finger on fret 4 to find B. When you get B back, use that string with finger on fret 5 to find E. Finally use the high E string to bring your low string back up to E.
Here are some other potential scenarios.
Tuning the guitar to itself. This is the easiest of all in open-D tuning. Say you have no reference pitch to tune to, but you think one of the Ds you have in relatively in tune (keeping in mind that in open D, you have three Ds to choose from – D A D F# A D). First thing I do is get the three Ds in tune with one another. This is not unlike tuning your two E strings in standard guitar tuning, only it’s easier. The gap between each D is an octave. Once you here no “wowing” or vibrations between your in-tune D and the other, they are in tune. Then tune the third D. Next I would take one of my two As and get it in tune with the closest D string. Again you listen for the vibrations between the notes, much like a violinist does. Finally, I would bring the F# in with the other now in-tune strings. The simplest way to do this, I find is to strum an open-D chord and adjust the F# string until it sounds like a nice, clean in-tune chord.
Another way to tune the guitar to itself. Supposing you still have that one in-tune D string. You can tune the guitar to itself similar to how standard tuned guitars can be tuned, string to string. The fret pattern is just a little different in open-D (outlined in the end-notes of my book Guitar-eze A Simpler Approach to Playing Guitar:
Starting with your lowest D,
hit a note holding down fret seven (A) to tune your open A string
When that’s in tune, hold down fret five of your A (D) string to tune the open D string
Then hold down fret four of your middle D string (F#) to tune the open F# string
Next, hold down the fret three of your F# string (A) to tune the open A string
Finally, hold down the fret five of your A string (D) to tune the open high D string
Tuning with a tuner. Unfortunately many of the least expensive tuners are made to only tune to standard tuned guitar E A D G B E. this obviously neglects all of the other tuning possibilities for guitar. There are many, and getting more popular all the time. If you’re stuck with one of these, at least you know that the A and D on this tuner correspond exactly to your own A and D strings, which are exactly the same as the A and D in standard guitar tuning. Then tune the rest of the guitar to itself from there.
Much more practical are chromatic tuners which have every note available to tune your guitar. A little more expensive, they are well worth it. Happy tuning… and by the way, give it a try – open-D: D A D F# A D .
http://www.easierguitar.com
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Children and Open-D tuned Guitar
I have found that kids really take to open-D tuning while learning guitar. I've had different type of child students. Some were brand new to guitar. Others had lessons in traditional standard tuning. Both types of students benefit from open-D.
By far, the more interesting case study seems to be the children transitioning from standard tuning to open-D. In my experience, these kids are generally a bit older, say 10-12 years of age. Usually they've had some exposure to guitar, by way of lessons, or in the odd case, self-taught. Most that I've encountered have been frustrated. That's the reason they or their parents sought an alternative guitar teaching method in the first place. Often, I have been shown method books, and lesson plans, and I've received demonstrations of what they've learned and played to date. Then, I'm often told what they want to learn to play. How different this can be! They've struggled with "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and such. They want to learn White Stripes, Nirvana, or Led Zeppelin, or Black Sabbath...
Lack of progress on guitar generally translates into lack of fun, which evolves into lack of interest. It gives me great pleasure to see the turn-around, once we re-tune the guitar to D A D F# A D. I like to throw the lesson plans out, at least at first, and just show the child, how much simpler it is to strum in open-D tuning. I show them that a major chord can be played with as few as three strings, by holding down a single finger; and that the same finger can be moved up or down the fret board of the guitar to create new chords. I also demonstrate the fat "rock" sound (electric or acoustic guitar - it doesn't seem to matter) of the low D A D strings. I'll show a simple D D6 D7 pattern right at the bottom of the guitar neck to show how even open strings can sound cool with the simplest of manipulations.
I ask all students of my system to read through all of my (48-page) book, before they play anything. Not only does this cover all the basics of Guitar-eze's open-D system, but it also offers philosophical advice along the way. I stress the importance of experimention. I have some hard and fast rules, of course, such as the necessity of strengthening the index finger at the start (although this rule can be broken and I do break it personally all the time). The purpose of the initial read is to try to reinforce the visual nature of open-D. This way, students can start to see how and why their fingers change the sounds the guitar produces.
It gives me great personal satisfaction to see students (of any age) "get" guitar, even after they've experienced frustration or a lack of progress in the past.
http://www.easierguitar.com
By far, the more interesting case study seems to be the children transitioning from standard tuning to open-D. In my experience, these kids are generally a bit older, say 10-12 years of age. Usually they've had some exposure to guitar, by way of lessons, or in the odd case, self-taught. Most that I've encountered have been frustrated. That's the reason they or their parents sought an alternative guitar teaching method in the first place. Often, I have been shown method books, and lesson plans, and I've received demonstrations of what they've learned and played to date. Then, I'm often told what they want to learn to play. How different this can be! They've struggled with "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and such. They want to learn White Stripes, Nirvana, or Led Zeppelin, or Black Sabbath...
Lack of progress on guitar generally translates into lack of fun, which evolves into lack of interest. It gives me great pleasure to see the turn-around, once we re-tune the guitar to D A D F# A D. I like to throw the lesson plans out, at least at first, and just show the child, how much simpler it is to strum in open-D tuning. I show them that a major chord can be played with as few as three strings, by holding down a single finger; and that the same finger can be moved up or down the fret board of the guitar to create new chords. I also demonstrate the fat "rock" sound (electric or acoustic guitar - it doesn't seem to matter) of the low D A D strings. I'll show a simple D D6 D7 pattern right at the bottom of the guitar neck to show how even open strings can sound cool with the simplest of manipulations.
I ask all students of my system to read through all of my (48-page) book, before they play anything. Not only does this cover all the basics of Guitar-eze's open-D system, but it also offers philosophical advice along the way. I stress the importance of experimention. I have some hard and fast rules, of course, such as the necessity of strengthening the index finger at the start (although this rule can be broken and I do break it personally all the time). The purpose of the initial read is to try to reinforce the visual nature of open-D. This way, students can start to see how and why their fingers change the sounds the guitar produces.
It gives me great personal satisfaction to see students (of any age) "get" guitar, even after they've experienced frustration or a lack of progress in the past.
http://www.easierguitar.com
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Songs I Play in Open-D Tuning
Most guitar sites I visit treat alternate tunings as a pleasant, but relatively insignificant sidebar. Lest anyone be misled into believing the myth (that alternate guitar tunings are strictly a one-off specialty item), here are some potential songs and genres I play in open-D tuning.
First and foremost, I should clarify – I am primarily an electric guitarist, who plays almost exclusively in open-D tuning (D A D F# A D). I do come from the school of thought, however, which states guitar chops should be built on acoustic guitar. Thus, I do one heck of a lot of practicing on acoustic guitar. Most of my experimentation on alternate tunings, therefore, comes on acoustic guitar.
All joking aside, open-D is a fantastic medium for rhythm guitar in polka music (stop snickering). During my (profitable) years as a sideman (all you starving artists), I played a considerable amount of rhythm guitar, often in oom-pah bands. As I was still discovering the miracle of open-D tuning, I did many gigs in standard (E A D G B E) tuning, struggling with the changes, memorizing rather than feeling the song structures. Somewhere along the way, once I’d felt confident enough, I tried the switch, to open-D tuning. I never looked back. Once my left had was freed from constraining finger positions and difficult chord transitions, I was able to concentrate on my right had stylings. Believe it or not, in polka music, rhythm guitar is an art, and one I never quite had the hang of, until I finally flipped over to open-D. By simplifying the left hand work, my right hand got more subtle, and my strokes developed more variety. I was even able to develop a greater range of chord fingerings, away from the typical I-V7 most polka players use. End result: a much more varied sound, embellished even more by the fact that with open-D tuning, you can reduce or add the number of strings you hold down (with one finger on a mjor chord) at will, from as few as three strings to all six strings.
Admittedly, this (polka) intro to the advantages of open-D might sound off-putting to a long-haired rocker or spiky-headed punk. Believe it or not, though, stroking polka rhythms is just a hair away from much rock rhythm guitar. The closest of all genres to polka guitar strumming has to be ska music. The um-cha um-cha um-cha pulse of that jittery proto-reggae style can be beautifully captured in open-D tuning. Red Red Wine, the old Neil Diamond classic, as done up by UB40 is a perfect example of a song I play this way. Another is a ska’d up version of Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe. Just listen in your head for that um-cha um-cha to the I-IV-V pattern of the song.
If the offbeat just isn’t your thing, consider how you can rock out with that DAD bottom of open-D tuning. That full grind (distortion on or not) simply cannot be done better than in open-D. Ask any drop-D tuning fan. Only in open-D, you have the rest of the chord to throw in also (in major keys) without any bum notes dropping in by accident. The Chuck Berry chug of Johnny B. Goode and so many other rock ‘n’ roll songs, alternating between the V and the VI on the low end, is dramatically simplified from how it has to be fingered in standard tuning (something I never got). The move is one finger, two frets up. That’s it. Drop that little movement and you’re back to a typical hard rock eighth note riff, with just on finger on the fret board. Any tempo sounds great, from dead slow to hyper speed punked. Plus, you can duplicate the motion on your other A string (second highest), for a different but equally pleasing texture.
Moving back into the realm of off-beat playing, one that I’ve found which sounds simply terrific is the swinging offbeat shuffle. This is simply stroking chords on the off-beat, to a swinging beat, with a walking bass line. There’s a whole encyclopedia of potential material and songs here, from swing, to blues to country. Think of Pride & Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan (without all the amazing lead fills – we’re talking about me playing here); Caledonia by Big Joe Turner, Guitars, Cadillacs, by Dwight Yoakam, you name the swingin’ song and tempo – open-D tuning sounds fantastic as an accompaniment. Jazzing it up means adding a finger two frets up on the A string to create a major sixth (e.g. G6). What you're doing, to terrific effect, is emulating the pumping sound of boogie-woogie piano, on your guitar.
These are just some of the styles and songs I play in open-D. That’s not to mention the Rolling Stones stuff, the Chicago Blues, the slide (e.g. Elmore James), and so many more. Blues stylings alone in open-D could be the topic of a whole article to itself.
http://www.easierguitar.com
First and foremost, I should clarify – I am primarily an electric guitarist, who plays almost exclusively in open-D tuning (D A D F# A D). I do come from the school of thought, however, which states guitar chops should be built on acoustic guitar. Thus, I do one heck of a lot of practicing on acoustic guitar. Most of my experimentation on alternate tunings, therefore, comes on acoustic guitar.
All joking aside, open-D is a fantastic medium for rhythm guitar in polka music (stop snickering). During my (profitable) years as a sideman (all you starving artists), I played a considerable amount of rhythm guitar, often in oom-pah bands. As I was still discovering the miracle of open-D tuning, I did many gigs in standard (E A D G B E) tuning, struggling with the changes, memorizing rather than feeling the song structures. Somewhere along the way, once I’d felt confident enough, I tried the switch, to open-D tuning. I never looked back. Once my left had was freed from constraining finger positions and difficult chord transitions, I was able to concentrate on my right had stylings. Believe it or not, in polka music, rhythm guitar is an art, and one I never quite had the hang of, until I finally flipped over to open-D. By simplifying the left hand work, my right hand got more subtle, and my strokes developed more variety. I was even able to develop a greater range of chord fingerings, away from the typical I-V7 most polka players use. End result: a much more varied sound, embellished even more by the fact that with open-D tuning, you can reduce or add the number of strings you hold down (with one finger on a mjor chord) at will, from as few as three strings to all six strings.
Admittedly, this (polka) intro to the advantages of open-D might sound off-putting to a long-haired rocker or spiky-headed punk. Believe it or not, though, stroking polka rhythms is just a hair away from much rock rhythm guitar. The closest of all genres to polka guitar strumming has to be ska music. The um-cha um-cha um-cha pulse of that jittery proto-reggae style can be beautifully captured in open-D tuning. Red Red Wine, the old Neil Diamond classic, as done up by UB40 is a perfect example of a song I play this way. Another is a ska’d up version of Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe. Just listen in your head for that um-cha um-cha to the I-IV-V pattern of the song.
If the offbeat just isn’t your thing, consider how you can rock out with that DAD bottom of open-D tuning. That full grind (distortion on or not) simply cannot be done better than in open-D. Ask any drop-D tuning fan. Only in open-D, you have the rest of the chord to throw in also (in major keys) without any bum notes dropping in by accident. The Chuck Berry chug of Johnny B. Goode and so many other rock ‘n’ roll songs, alternating between the V and the VI on the low end, is dramatically simplified from how it has to be fingered in standard tuning (something I never got). The move is one finger, two frets up. That’s it. Drop that little movement and you’re back to a typical hard rock eighth note riff, with just on finger on the fret board. Any tempo sounds great, from dead slow to hyper speed punked. Plus, you can duplicate the motion on your other A string (second highest), for a different but equally pleasing texture.
Moving back into the realm of off-beat playing, one that I’ve found which sounds simply terrific is the swinging offbeat shuffle. This is simply stroking chords on the off-beat, to a swinging beat, with a walking bass line. There’s a whole encyclopedia of potential material and songs here, from swing, to blues to country. Think of Pride & Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan (without all the amazing lead fills – we’re talking about me playing here); Caledonia by Big Joe Turner, Guitars, Cadillacs, by Dwight Yoakam, you name the swingin’ song and tempo – open-D tuning sounds fantastic as an accompaniment. Jazzing it up means adding a finger two frets up on the A string to create a major sixth (e.g. G6). What you're doing, to terrific effect, is emulating the pumping sound of boogie-woogie piano, on your guitar.
These are just some of the styles and songs I play in open-D. That’s not to mention the Rolling Stones stuff, the Chicago Blues, the slide (e.g. Elmore James), and so many more. Blues stylings alone in open-D could be the topic of a whole article to itself.
http://www.easierguitar.com
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Great Jam on Sunday the 5th
Took me two days to recover from it - maybe our biggest turnout of jammers ever - a whole sax section, with Chester on trumpet, was the high point.
Had a great harp player drop by for his first time - he was terrific; our special guest from last week came back and wailed on guitar and vox.
A couple whole bands came out to take the stage - just one great combo after another, so much so that the bar didn't want us to stop - so we carried on an extra hour - til 9:30.
I had a bottleneck out and ready to rasp out some slide, but it mysteriously vanished (under the stage?), so much for that. Dave Whitehead came up to make up for it.
Just a wild ride all afternoon and into the evening.
I found a bit of a problem with my guitar set up - it had fallen at a gig the week before, and I noticed some higher frets sounded out of tune. Due to the miracle of open-D tuning, a few quick adjustments and I was able to reset it on the fly!
Had a great harp player drop by for his first time - he was terrific; our special guest from last week came back and wailed on guitar and vox.
A couple whole bands came out to take the stage - just one great combo after another, so much so that the bar didn't want us to stop - so we carried on an extra hour - til 9:30.
I had a bottleneck out and ready to rasp out some slide, but it mysteriously vanished (under the stage?), so much for that. Dave Whitehead came up to make up for it.
Just a wild ride all afternoon and into the evening.
I found a bit of a problem with my guitar set up - it had fallen at a gig the week before, and I noticed some higher frets sounded out of tune. Due to the miracle of open-D tuning, a few quick adjustments and I was able to reset it on the fly!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Guitar Open Tuning Explorations – Open D and Open G
Guitar Open Tuning Explorations – Open D and Open G
One of the most pleasant surprises a guitarist discovers once immersed in open-D and open-G tuning is their similarity. This might sound a bit strange, considering the disparity of the two guitar tunings in interval. Incredibly, though, once you’ve got one, the other is well in reach. Following is an exploration, with a few examples, the close relationship of open-D tuning and open-G tuning. Both tunings are widely known, particularly as blues or roots tunings. Open-D in particular is frequently cited as a fine alternate tuning for acoustic guitar. I thought I would discuss the useful relationships found within open-D and open-G, which seem to make them not-so-distant guitar tuning cousins.
I took the “open-D first” path to find my way in open G. Let's take a look at some mechanics of open-D first.
Open-D tuning allows you to play a complete triad with an octave with no string manipulation. That is, you can play D major chord with no finger to fret. The four high strings on the guitar in open position are D F# A D. Similarly, major chords are formed up the fretboard of the guitar using one finger on the same four strings. Two frets up, or a whole tone, for example, becomes an E-major chord; three frets up is an F-major; and so on, up to the twelfth fret which once again, as the octave, becomes D-major.
In open-G tuning, you still have a major triad, but only three notes worth, on your high strings, G B D. This note relationship also continues up the fretboard, second fret becoming A-major, third fret Bb-major and so on. The octave appears, once again, at the twelfth fret, or G, for a G-major.
Once I started to find my way around in open-D tuning, exploration in open-G yielded some incredible similarities. Before you discover anything, however, you have to find where the two tunings coincide. That's where the relationship (and the fun) begins.
Taking our starting point open-D again, and working up the fretboard five frets brings you to G major. The triad, using the four highest strings of the guitar, is G B D G. Here is the coincidental meeting point of open-D and open-G tuning. That G B D is identical to the open-G starting position – G B D. You literally have open-G tuning at your fingertips, while in open-D!
Whatever licks and patterns you develop at this point, fifth fret, in open-D, using those three notes - G B D - you can translate them to open-G tuning, on the three high strings which are exactly the same – G B D.
Here's a practical scenario: If you were on stage for instance, and you needed open-G tuning for a song, changing guitars, or even re-tuning would become unnecessary. You could simply make the fifth-fret barre chord your starting G-major, or capo on the fifth fret to get that same G-major starting point. Even letting the high G ring isn’t a problem; it’s part of the chord.
Similarly, and this is where can become really useful, the same rule applies up the fretboard. Your second-fret A chord in open-G can be exactly translated on the seventh-fret A in open-D tuning. In short, anything you play on your middle strings in open-D (D F# A) can be replicated exactly, five frets up on the three high strings in open-G.
One classic example of a riff that springs from this relationship is the Rolling Stones’ Live With Me, (live version from the Get Yer Yayas Out album). The main riff is a manipulation of A major and open-G major (Keith Richards' adopted tuning of preference, at least in that era). In the song, the riff starts on the A-G lick and then morphs to a similar D-C riff on seventh and fifth frets. The whole thing can be re-produced, to great effect, in open-D tuning, starting on frets seven and five (A and G) and then jumping to the twelve and ten frets (D and D) – an exact replication. Learning one tuning gives you a door-in to another tuning.
When I surf different sites looking for references to alternate guitar tunings, I often find that alternate guitar tunings are mentioned within the context of acoustic guitar. Notice that the example I provide for comparing open-D to open-G tuning is a killer, classic electric guitar riff. Electric guitar players (as well as acoustic) stand to benefit a great deal by becoming familiar with some of these excellent alternatives.
I heavily promote the versatility of open-D tuning for guitar (the raison d'etre for the blog). This is another facet of it – learn one, and another opens its doors to you. My path was open-D first. I don’t think it matters which end you start at, though. I was drawn to the open-D tuning because it gave the complete four-note chord up front. But for any open-G players out there, flip over to open-D and explore the similarities (and the differences!) of two great alternate guitar tunings.
One of the most pleasant surprises a guitarist discovers once immersed in open-D and open-G tuning is their similarity. This might sound a bit strange, considering the disparity of the two guitar tunings in interval. Incredibly, though, once you’ve got one, the other is well in reach. Following is an exploration, with a few examples, the close relationship of open-D tuning and open-G tuning. Both tunings are widely known, particularly as blues or roots tunings. Open-D in particular is frequently cited as a fine alternate tuning for acoustic guitar. I thought I would discuss the useful relationships found within open-D and open-G, which seem to make them not-so-distant guitar tuning cousins.
I took the “open-D first” path to find my way in open G. Let's take a look at some mechanics of open-D first.
Open-D tuning allows you to play a complete triad with an octave with no string manipulation. That is, you can play D major chord with no finger to fret. The four high strings on the guitar in open position are D F# A D. Similarly, major chords are formed up the fretboard of the guitar using one finger on the same four strings. Two frets up, or a whole tone, for example, becomes an E-major chord; three frets up is an F-major; and so on, up to the twelfth fret which once again, as the octave, becomes D-major.
In open-G tuning, you still have a major triad, but only three notes worth, on your high strings, G B D. This note relationship also continues up the fretboard, second fret becoming A-major, third fret Bb-major and so on. The octave appears, once again, at the twelfth fret, or G, for a G-major.
Once I started to find my way around in open-D tuning, exploration in open-G yielded some incredible similarities. Before you discover anything, however, you have to find where the two tunings coincide. That's where the relationship (and the fun) begins.
Taking our starting point open-D again, and working up the fretboard five frets brings you to G major. The triad, using the four highest strings of the guitar, is G B D G. Here is the coincidental meeting point of open-D and open-G tuning. That G B D is identical to the open-G starting position – G B D. You literally have open-G tuning at your fingertips, while in open-D!
Whatever licks and patterns you develop at this point, fifth fret, in open-D, using those three notes - G B D - you can translate them to open-G tuning, on the three high strings which are exactly the same – G B D.
Here's a practical scenario: If you were on stage for instance, and you needed open-G tuning for a song, changing guitars, or even re-tuning would become unnecessary. You could simply make the fifth-fret barre chord your starting G-major, or capo on the fifth fret to get that same G-major starting point. Even letting the high G ring isn’t a problem; it’s part of the chord.
Similarly, and this is where can become really useful, the same rule applies up the fretboard. Your second-fret A chord in open-G can be exactly translated on the seventh-fret A in open-D tuning. In short, anything you play on your middle strings in open-D (D F# A) can be replicated exactly, five frets up on the three high strings in open-G.
One classic example of a riff that springs from this relationship is the Rolling Stones’ Live With Me, (live version from the Get Yer Yayas Out album). The main riff is a manipulation of A major and open-G major (Keith Richards' adopted tuning of preference, at least in that era). In the song, the riff starts on the A-G lick and then morphs to a similar D-C riff on seventh and fifth frets. The whole thing can be re-produced, to great effect, in open-D tuning, starting on frets seven and five (A and G) and then jumping to the twelve and ten frets (D and D) – an exact replication. Learning one tuning gives you a door-in to another tuning.
When I surf different sites looking for references to alternate guitar tunings, I often find that alternate guitar tunings are mentioned within the context of acoustic guitar. Notice that the example I provide for comparing open-D to open-G tuning is a killer, classic electric guitar riff. Electric guitar players (as well as acoustic) stand to benefit a great deal by becoming familiar with some of these excellent alternatives.
I heavily promote the versatility of open-D tuning for guitar (the raison d'etre for the blog). This is another facet of it – learn one, and another opens its doors to you. My path was open-D first. I don’t think it matters which end you start at, though. I was drawn to the open-D tuning because it gave the complete four-note chord up front. But for any open-G players out there, flip over to open-D and explore the similarities (and the differences!) of two great alternate guitar tunings.
Friday, March 03, 2006
What About All the Other Guitar Sites and Systems Out There...
Yeah, I keep hearing that one.
Frankly, they scare me - a lot of them do anyway. When you have a computer situation as tenuous as mine has been (three wipe-outs within a one-year period), you tend to get a little cautious in how you surf.
But, as I was firing up Guitar-eze again for its re-launch, I surfed a lot of guitar sites to get a feel for what was what on online guitar.
I was frightened. I say so right on my site homepage. Without going into a lot of name-detail (do any search and you'll find them all yourself), too many (if not most) guitar websites are:
1) hopelessly cluttered
2) filled with ads
3) have scary pop-up your machine prefers to block or at least warn you about
4) are generally filled with lots of graphics but little content
5) offer "free" lessons
5) offer tabs
(By contrast, Guitar-eze has none of this, although the site's sole raison d'etre is to sell my books and promote open-D tuning. More on this later.)
Some of the forums I've surfed have continuous entries which have nothing to do with guitar, like porn, and other assorted spam. Some of the forums, on the other hand are amazing.
Some of the sites I looked at are a one-page advertisement for a guitar self-teaching downloadable system, which you scroll, scroll, scroll down, until you get a price (anywhere from $29.99 and up) and a buy button. They tend to be filled with incredible testimonial claims.
I find it all a little frightening.
One common search result, which I have not quite figured out yet, offers a "comparison" of four different online downloadable guitar learning systems, and rates them, and offers a link to them.
I've tried many of the sample lessons offered on the guitar sites I've researched. Some of them are actually pretty good guitar lessons. In fact, so as not to appear like I'm bashing all guitar sites, some of them are very good, informative websites. By that I mean there is less clutter, less advertising, no pop-ups, etc. The lessons found on these sites tend to be good. But they seldom, from what I've seen, offer much for the absolute beginner, or for someone who has been struggling on guitar. For a "guitar player" with some experience, there's a huge range of good material, and the range of free stuff is really cool, too.
Conclusion - there are tons of guitar sites on the internet. Some are good. Some are awful. Many are trying to sell you something. If they're not trying to sell you something they are attempting to make money with advertising they hope you will click on.
Guitar-eze does none of this. But I am selling something, aggressively.
The purpose of my site is help anyone play guitar more easily, in open-D (something many guitar sites mention, but seldom promote). I offer information on the site blog as well as this one, but the idea is to get people to take up guitar in open-D through the purchase of the Guitar-eze books (that's right, no downloadable stuff, for now, anyway). I offer after sales support, naturally, for any aspiring guitarist who buys. I also offer a free evaluation before purchasing. Prospective buyers can tell me their personal guitar situation and guitar aspirations, and I'll reply with a custom commentary and strategy based on their input. This is different in the world of guitar websites, and I'm proud of it.
My site blog also answers any questions and comments received, so the whole world can hear the answer - the assumption being that many people think of the same guitar questions, but few actually have the nerve to ask (by the way the e-mail is info@easierguitar.com ).
There you go. Some thoughts on online guitar. Happy surfing and check out Guitar-eze if you can.
http://www.easierguitar.com
Frankly, they scare me - a lot of them do anyway. When you have a computer situation as tenuous as mine has been (three wipe-outs within a one-year period), you tend to get a little cautious in how you surf.
But, as I was firing up Guitar-eze again for its re-launch, I surfed a lot of guitar sites to get a feel for what was what on online guitar.
I was frightened. I say so right on my site homepage. Without going into a lot of name-detail (do any search and you'll find them all yourself), too many (if not most) guitar websites are:
1) hopelessly cluttered
2) filled with ads
3) have scary pop-up your machine prefers to block or at least warn you about
4) are generally filled with lots of graphics but little content
5) offer "free" lessons
5) offer tabs
(By contrast, Guitar-eze has none of this, although the site's sole raison d'etre is to sell my books and promote open-D tuning. More on this later.)
Some of the forums I've surfed have continuous entries which have nothing to do with guitar, like porn, and other assorted spam. Some of the forums, on the other hand are amazing.
Some of the sites I looked at are a one-page advertisement for a guitar self-teaching downloadable system, which you scroll, scroll, scroll down, until you get a price (anywhere from $29.99 and up) and a buy button. They tend to be filled with incredible testimonial claims.
I find it all a little frightening.
One common search result, which I have not quite figured out yet, offers a "comparison" of four different online downloadable guitar learning systems, and rates them, and offers a link to them.
I've tried many of the sample lessons offered on the guitar sites I've researched. Some of them are actually pretty good guitar lessons. In fact, so as not to appear like I'm bashing all guitar sites, some of them are very good, informative websites. By that I mean there is less clutter, less advertising, no pop-ups, etc. The lessons found on these sites tend to be good. But they seldom, from what I've seen, offer much for the absolute beginner, or for someone who has been struggling on guitar. For a "guitar player" with some experience, there's a huge range of good material, and the range of free stuff is really cool, too.
Conclusion - there are tons of guitar sites on the internet. Some are good. Some are awful. Many are trying to sell you something. If they're not trying to sell you something they are attempting to make money with advertising they hope you will click on.
Guitar-eze does none of this. But I am selling something, aggressively.
The purpose of my site is help anyone play guitar more easily, in open-D (something many guitar sites mention, but seldom promote). I offer information on the site blog as well as this one, but the idea is to get people to take up guitar in open-D through the purchase of the Guitar-eze books (that's right, no downloadable stuff, for now, anyway). I offer after sales support, naturally, for any aspiring guitarist who buys. I also offer a free evaluation before purchasing. Prospective buyers can tell me their personal guitar situation and guitar aspirations, and I'll reply with a custom commentary and strategy based on their input. This is different in the world of guitar websites, and I'm proud of it.
My site blog also answers any questions and comments received, so the whole world can hear the answer - the assumption being that many people think of the same guitar questions, but few actually have the nerve to ask (by the way the e-mail is info@easierguitar.com ).
There you go. Some thoughts on online guitar. Happy surfing and check out Guitar-eze if you can.
http://www.easierguitar.com
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Like, Who Created Standard Guitar Tuning, Anyway?
I'm going to do the research, but be interested in any quick answers all the same, guitar lovers. It was probably some medieval sharpie lute teacher or something who saw the opportunity -
"hee hee hee, If I just re-set some of these strings, there's no way to play a decent chord right off the bat, hee hee hee...."
Really, there has to be a reason why the ol's 6-string has this peculiar, virtually alien starting point EADGBE. The DGB part makes some sense, I guess, that's a semblance of a chord (an inversion, anyway), but then - why throw in an E on one side and a A on the other, for gosh sakes?
Here's a comparison I intend to publish in a future article, as an illustration:
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers D - 0
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers D - 3
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers E - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers E - 3
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers F - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers F - 4-5
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers F# - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers F# - 4-5
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers G - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers G - 3
... and so on. You get the pick-ture (that's a guitar pun). Keep pickin' and check back!
http://www.easierguitar.com
"hee hee hee, If I just re-set some of these strings, there's no way to play a decent chord right off the bat, hee hee hee...."
Really, there has to be a reason why the ol's 6-string has this peculiar, virtually alien starting point EADGBE. The DGB part makes some sense, I guess, that's a semblance of a chord (an inversion, anyway), but then - why throw in an E on one side and a A on the other, for gosh sakes?
Here's a comparison I intend to publish in a future article, as an illustration:
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers D - 0
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers D - 3
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers E - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers E - 3
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers F - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers F - 4-5
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers F# - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers F# - 4-5
open-d guitar tuning – number of fingers G - 1
standard guitar tuning – number of fingers G - 3
... and so on. You get the pick-ture (that's a guitar pun). Keep pickin' and check back!
http://www.easierguitar.com
