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Seven years ago this coming spring I signed my first book contract with Mel Bay Publications. The edict was to deliver a comprehensive manuscript on the popular DADGAD guitar tuning, providing an overview of different styles of music plus exercises to give guitarists new to open and altered tunings (as well as those with some experience) an alternative approach to making the transition from standard to DADGAD tuning. The resulting book/CD project was given a working title that stuck- DADGAD Encyclopedia.

DADGAD tuning was used by guitarists long before the 80's renaissance that brought to light many of my influences and contemporaries, like Pierre Bensusan and the late Michael Hedges. British folk school pioneers Bert Jansch and Davy Graham are often credited with having at least "re-discovered" the tuning in the early 60s, possibly deriving it from the oud music of Morocco. It's probably safe to say that they were not the inventors of the tuning, but did much to further it and introduce it to popular culture.

I began using DADGAD several years ago- initially in arranging melodies by the legendary Irish bard Turlough O'Carolan, an itinerant folk harper contemporary with the Baroque period. [See this month's "Classic/Flamenco Guitar" column by Joseph Mayes for further details regarding O'Carolan.]

The tuning which juxtaposes intervals of perfect fifths and fourths around a major 2nd between the second and third strings (B and G in standard, now G and A in DADGAD), works beautifully in emulating the flowing sound of the harp. Later, as my directions were changing, I began composing in this tuning and in the last year have been working more in an improvised style; I have found DADGAD to be ideal for all of these approaches. In that sense, it's no different than standard tuning; you just have to bear in mind where the interval relationships have been changed.

It's important to realize that only 3 strings have been altered from standard to achieve DADGAD tuning:

The low E string in standard is lowered to D.
The high B (second string) is lowered to A.
The high E is also lowered a whole tone to D.

While the three altered strings require you to let go of preconceived chord shapes and positions, it is possible to become a fluent reader of standard notation with the guitar in DADGAD tuning. Of course, tablature will come in handy in reading music in this or any other altered or open tuning.

In DADGAD Encyclopedia I provide a very detailed opening section illustrating three different ways to change from standard tuning to DADGAD. From there, particularly for those who have played guitar in a rhythmic chordal style, I map out the traditionally first-learned chord shapes as they would be in DADGAD, which in some cases require fingering only one string. How easy is that!

DADGAD Encyclopedia features fifteen pieces including a mix of original, traditional, classical, gospel, Celtic, and blues tunes. These range in difficulty from a piece called "Passage" which I wrote to get you up and playing a piece of music almost immediately, to very melodic linear arrangements like my interpretation of O'Carolan's classic Si Beag Si Mhor and more advanced pieces involving my two-handed tapping Chapman stick-like technique. The book comes with a CD (recorded at Will Ackerman's Windham Hill Records studio) including all fifteen pieces.

For those with a classical guitar background, you may find my transcription of J. S. Bach's Prelude from the First Cello Suite of interest. This beautiful motoric work by the masterful Baroque composer lies surprisingly well on the DADGAD fretboard, and in a sense is easier to play than in standard tuning.

As mentioned earlier in the article, given my background in playing Celtic music, I wanted to include several examples of this style. The main source of these beautiful melodies was the music of folk harper Turlough O'Carolan who lived in the late 17th century and was blind all his adult life. O'Carolan's melodic compositions, some 200 of which were passed down through the years, lie extremely well on the fretboard in this tuning; largely because they were written on the harp, they have a very linear quality that lends itself to DADGAD.

One reason that O'Carolan's tunes lie so well on the fretboard is the change in interval between the second and third strings, now G and A rather than G and B. With the availability of this major second interval, it's very easy to play a scale pattern beginning on a stopped B note on the high A string, descending sequentially to open A then open G on the G string catching an F-sharp stopped at the fourth fret on the D string and resolving on the open G string again.

DADGAD Encyclopedia also includes a number of 8-bar studies that are meant to present musical concepts within a short span with varied technique. These range from simple closing cadence ideas to complete pieces of music that can serve as a springboard for players to launch into their own ideas.

Although there is a certain mystique associated with playing in open tunings, it's really not that difficult when you look at how the guitar was designed and understand how basic chords are made up of familiar patterns that account for a great deal of your guitar playing ability. First off, you have six strings, each assigned an open-string pitch whether it's E from standard tuning or D from DADGAD. The open-string pitches are immediately available to you, simply plucked with the fingers; for many, that is the start of a musical journey.

In standard tuning, many of us learned a 3-string simplified G major as our first guitar chord. Even though simplified, that chord- whether learned from your Uncle John, a qualified guitar teacher, or your older brother's Mel Bay book- was made up of fundamental notes on three strings, perhaps combined with a sympathetic open string, all coming together to make that magical G chord that got you so excited about playing the guitar in the first place.

I encourage you to approach DADGAD tuning with that same sense of wonder, allowing the tuning to take you on yet another playing journey on an alternative path. I hope you'll seek out DADGAD Encyclopedia at your local Mel Bay retailer and let it lead you on that journey.

Sincerely,
Jim Goodin