Open Tuning Part II - Here There Be Monsters
This is the second of two parts on open tuning. We’re going to learn how to put together a fretboard map and use it to figure out chords in open tuning.
Now, on with the chorus! Using our open D tuning to get voicings of Asus4 and D chords way up the neck, you can double the melody line, which puts a bit of punch into the chorus. By the bye, there’s a bit of anticipation going on here, with the D chord coming in slightly before the first beat of the following measure.
And this is probably a good place to mention that this notation is simply meant to be a starting point. As you’ve no doubt read in many of the song lesson articles here at Guitar Noise, be they “Easy Songs for Beginners” or on the “Songs for Intermediates” page, I’m not concerned with you getting this down precisely. You might even hear me take a few liberties with the rhythms in the MP3 examples in this lesson. Have fun with these arrangements and come up with ways to make them your own.
The chorus ends with a Bb based arpeggio (feel free to call it Bbmaj7(add6) if you’re a stickler for these things). then a C6/9 arpeggio. Both of these arpeggios use the same rhythm from the verses. Finally, a repeat of the same turnaround used to herald the chorus brings this section to a close.
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After the first chorus, we then go to the second verse and repeat the chorus again. When we come to the Bb on the second chorus, we stay on the arpeggio for an extra measure (or however long you’d like) and then move on to the bridge, which is simply a build-up of the Bb and C arpeggios used at the end of the chorus. This leads into the turnaround again and then a final chorus. Here’s a “cheat sheet” of sorts to help you out:
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Whew! That was a bit of a workout, eh? I hope that you’ve had some fun with this lesson. As mentioned in the first part of this introduction to open tunings, we’ve a number of song lessons that use them. You should try to make it a point to fool around in one a bit sometime, if for no other reason than it will make you think a bit about chords, how they’re formed and what notes go into them.
And don’t forget to write things down!
Until our next lesson…
Peace
