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Topic: Alternative Tunings
Open D tuning is the next in my alternative tuning series.
Going from standard tuning, the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings are lowered a whole step and the 3rd string is lowered a half step.
This is one of the quintessential slide blues guitar tunings, used by guitarists like Robert Johnson and Duane Allman, and a relatively common one for fingerstyle players and folk-rockers ranging from Joni Mitchell to Leo Kottke. Of course, some of them used the Open E variation, which is a whole step up, or tuned down to C or even B but it's played the same. Its root position playability has made it one of the most commonly used alternative tunings.
The scale tones created by this tuning are
| String | Scale Tone |
| 1st | root |
| 2nd | fifth |
| 3rd | major third |
| 4th | root |
| 5th | fifth |
| 6th | root |
As before, my demo starts with the open string strum. Since this is a popular slide tuning I decided to try a double demo of 4 different types of slide. The slide riff I use is picking the high strings with my fingers while strike lower notes with a thumbpick. I slide between the 12th, 5th and 7th fret and throw in notes from the 10th and 3rd frets on occasion, a typical bluesy riff.
The first of the four is a Dunlop brass slide, the second is a Dunlop Blues Bottle glass slide, the third is a Dunlop Mudslide (ceramic) and the last is a Big Heart heart slide (also ceramic). I used my Global SG Jr. style guitar and my RP-350.
Click Here To Download Open D Tuning Demo MP3
Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the Open D Tuning and I'll try to answer them as best I can.
