Why DADGAD??

DADGAD is an open tuning: Dsus4. The open strings are root-4th-5th. This gives an ambiguous quality to the sound, as it's neither major nor minor (there's no 3rd interval.) And you can easily get a "power chord" by fretting the G string at the second fret - DADAAD, or D5. Need to be in key of G? Easy - capo at the 5th fret. Need to be in A? Capo at 7.

But the primary appeal for many is that it allows for a droning effect (think of bagpipes.) Here's a comment from the Celtic Guitar Talk forum on the same topic:
The constant drones of the pipes or the sustained bass notes on guitar make ... a very strong and hypnotic effect which pulls the ear in a certain direction and holds it there. I'd guess it's this irresistible quality that has made this style of playing so popular.

And some more comments I found on web forums:
using DADGAD would be for the same reasons you throw suspended chords into a composition - they are unresolved, restless. You can change the tonality of a piece from major to minor and back again more easily than in an open major or minor tuning.

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Every tuning has its affordances. DADGAD has a couple of easy "pretty chords" in first position, but more interesting is the number of different chords you can get with only two fretting fingers. This frees up the other fingers for ornamention and extensions (i.e. Martin Simpson). It's also easy to arrange banjo "mountain minor" tuned songs (i.e. Renbourn's Sugar Babe) because these tunings use the same interval structure.

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I love DADGAD; the whole premise for modal tunings is to avoid having to struggle with the major or minor quality of the tuning. DADGAD gives you that modal quality while still providing some of the advantages of open tunings. And because of the small intervals found between strings 2,3 and 4, it is easier to arrange fiddle or banjo tunes playing across strings as opposed to up and down strings (if that makes any sense...).

Cheers!

hey thanks, I shouldve thought more about that tuning as I just read the article on suspended chords today... I was just looking for an open major chord.. Anyhow, thanks a bunch.

I love the sound of DADGAD but i don't know any chords to work with, you mentioned 'a couple of easy "pretty chords" in first position', could you post the fingerings for these chords? Also i'm trying to learn blackwaterside by bert jansch in DADGAD, does anyone know this song and have any advice? saj

I don't see what's the advantage of DADGAD myself. You have the same bass drones in Open D or even Drop D, and barred sus chords get old in a big hurry. Everybody I've seen playing in it was fingerpicking and fretting. There must be some particularly advantageous easily fingered chords or melody figures in it that I don't know.

I love the sound of DADGAD but i don't know any chords to work with, you mentioned 'a couple of easy "pretty chords" in first position', could you post the fingerings for these chords? Also i'm trying to learn blackwaterside by bert jansch in DADGAD, does anyone know this song and have any advice? saj

From another site:
chords i use in dadgad are

050700 D *
000200 D
057000 D
550000 G *
55X400 G
707000 A
707600 A *
77X600 A
X02200 A
X02230 Am
77X500 Am
707500 Am *
222000 Em *
X79900 Em
99X700 Bm *
10.10.0000 C
X32030 C
X35500 C *
33X200 F *
000203 Dm *
880000 Bb

Ones marked * are used by lots of DADGAD players and are the most common type I've seen played

Most of these can be made more complex with a third or fourth finger thrown in. As Artie Traum says, if you've got room to use your pinky, then use it!

Blackwaterside is way beyond my ability; sorry I can't help.

Thanks for those chords, i'll give 'em a go. i'm still finding dadgad a bit hard to get to grips with.

Hey

A useful topic. dadgad is used on lots of cool songs from Zeppelin to Floyd, Bert Jansch to Davie Graham. Funnily enough it's not a tuning I use lots. I use a vriety of tunings (I like Delta blues) but for more modern open tuned songs I find the open D or D minor, and open G and G minor are more common.

Cheers

john

Hi michhill8
after reading this thread I decided to see what DADGAD sounded like. Here is a link to a song that I wrote for this weeks Sunday Songwiters Group assignment. The guitar is tuned to DADGAD and I think this gives the song quite a distinctive sound.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=328886&songID=5341587
Cheers
Paul

Cool P-Bee! I like it. 8)

Cool P-Bee! I like it.

Thanks SlickCat, and welcome to GuitarNoise.

Paul