Pierre Bensusan explains DADGAD

Watch the video and you'll learn all about DADGAD tuning. Pierre describes this open tuning as 'modal'. A mode is a variation on the standard scales, for instance, what we recognise as 'do, ray, me, far' is a major scale, while if you start with 'ray'(the second note) you have a mode based on the major scale. DADGAD makes modal playing a little easier because it has no 'third'.

To understand this, you must know a little about chord theory. Unfortunately, many, if not most, beginner guitarists just learn chord shapes, that is, where to put the fingers on the fretboard without learning what the notes are. The key of 'C' has the notes C D E F G A B C and we can number them one to eight (which is why we call the gap from one C to another C an 'octave'). To play a major chord, you need the first, the third and the fifth of the scale. It's really that simple. If you've ever wondered why we chords called B maj 7 or E7 flat 9 or Asuspended4, now you know why. These chords have extra notes in addition to the three needed to make a simple chord.

Now in DADGAD, we have three Ds and two As or the three firsts and two fifths in the key of D. Knowing that the scale of D major is D E F# G A B C# D we can see that on the guitar the third(F#) is missing. The third note also defines the chord as major or minor - drop the third down a semitone, or one fret, to change the chord to minor. So DADGAD is neither major nor minor, thus making it a little easier to pick out melodies in different modes, whilst letting the open strings ring freely. Pierre talks about Scottish bagpipes and this is a good example.

To play a D major or a D minor is easy - you only need to add one note! More in my next post.