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INTRODUCTION TO DROP D TUNING Have you ever been playing a D major chord in standard tuning and wished that you could somehow get a bigger fuller sound, with a gutsier bass? Well, that's precisely what Drop D tuning will help you accomplish. If you are comfortable playing chords in standard tuning (EADGBE), you'll have no problem with Drop D, since virtually every chord that doesn't involve the sixth string is played exactly the same in both standard and Drop D. The sixth string (and chords using the sixth string) is the only string affected. Drop D doesn't sound like much of an altered tuning, right? Well, yes and no. True, it certainly doesn't provide the radically different sounding chords achievable in Open D or DADGAD. On the other hand, it offers a quick way to get a big sounding D major simply by lowering the sixth string (E) one full step to D. And for finger pickers, the effect is tremendous, allowing you to use an alternating bass line on the D major chord, involving two Ds an octave apart and a fifth (the open A or fifth string) and on a G major chord, enabling you to place a low D underneath the G. This is simply not achievable in standard tuning and is extremely useful, particularly for guitarists involved in performing and/or transcribing ragtime pieces (and songs that have a ragtime feel). But, more about that later. Also, Drop D is one of the few altered tunings fully accepted by virtually the entire guitar establishment. Even classical guitarists use it and play pieces composed for it. So while it's not the most interesting or the most demanding of altered tunings, you should be familiar with it and use it to your advantage, particularly with songs in the key of D, where you can give the root chord a tremendous boost in power without altering the familiar chord structures of standard tuning. TUNING YOUR GUITARIf your guitar is already in standard tuning, tuning to Drop D is a snap. Simply loosen your sixth string (E) until it sounds exactly like your fourth string (D), except one octave lower. CHORDSFirst, form a D major chord as you would in standard tuning. (See diagram below. If you don't understand the diagram, read more about it on my Open D tuning page.) But instead of strumming just the first four strings, strum all six. Isn't that a rich sounding chord? It ought to be! It contains three root tones (Ds) in three different octaves; two fifths (A's) also in different octaves, and a beautiful third (F#) on top. It's the presence of the full D major triad (D-F#-A) along with the tonal repetitions in different octaves that give the chord its depth and its spaciousness. 1||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- 2||---|---|-R-|---|---|-- 3||---|-I-|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|---|---|---|-- 5||---|---|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|---|---|---|-- By the way, because of the lowered sixth string, and the opportunity to use all six strings, Open D still sounds rich and full, even if you capo up a few frets. Try it, and see for yourself! OK. The chord above represents the "one" (I) chord of the I IV V chord pattern in the key of D. (Since Drop D in effect "beefs up" the D chord, it's natural that the key of D would be the focus of this tuning.) The following diagram will give you the G major, or IV chord. However, since the G major in standard tuning involves the sixth string, it cannot be played exactly the same way in Drop D. Remember: We have lowered the sixth string a full tone. Therefore, the G major can be played as follows: 1||---|---|-I-|---|---|-- It's instructive, I think, to compare this to the G major in standard tuning to see how the alterted tuning (even though it involves only one string) alters the fingering and voicing of the chord: 1||---|---|-R-|---|---|-- 2||---|---|---|---|---|-- 3||---|---|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|---|---|---|-- 5||---|-I-|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|-M-|---|---|-- Notice that in Drop D to get the G tone on the bottom of the chord, we have to go up two frets (one full tone) to compensate for the lowered E string. This makes it impossible to grab the B (or third) on the fifth string, forcing us to substitute the B with a D (or fifth). This works, since any note in the chord's triad (in this case, G-B-D) can pretty much substitute for any other note. The effect, however, is that the sound of the chord is changed significantly. The two Ds (the fingered one on the fifth string, and the open fourth string) give the chord a slightly droning effect and a powerful bass effect not evident in the standard tuning fingering. Finger pickers benefit here, since the the D, which would be part of a standard alternating bass line using the G major chord and which is available in standard tuning (the open fourth string) can be played either there and/or an octave lower (by lifting the ring finger) in Drop D. In short, Drop D tuning offers fingerstyle guitarists more options with certain chords than standard tuning. Now, to complete the pattern, let's do the "V" or A major chord. It's the same as in standard tuning, but don't play the sixth string. Remember: The D tone is not part of the A major triad (A-C#-E) and, if included, will produce an unwanted dissonance: 1||---|---|---|---|---|-- 2||---|-R-|---|---|---|-- 3||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- 4||---|-I-|---|---|---|-- 5||---|---|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|---|---|---|-- For practice (ear and hand) alternate these chords a few times, strumming each four times. APPLYING THE I, IV, V CYCLE TO SONGS As with the other tunings discussed at this site, you can play many songs using just these three chords. If you've worked out songs based on the I IV V pattern in open D and DADGAD, try the same songs using this pattern in Drop D. They sound quite different, don't they? DROP D--THE FINGER PICKER'S ADVANTAGE I mentioned further up on this page Drop D's advantages over standard tuning for fingerstyle guitarists who wish to add more depth and more variety to their bass lines in general, and to their alternating bass lines in particular. The following exercises will begin to help you exploit those advantages. Exercise--Alternating Bass Line This exercise will help you develop a facility in playing an alternating bass line with your thumb. For support, anchor the tip of your right hand pinky to the pick guard area of your guitar. Start slowly and evenly, and gradually build up speed. Practice this until you don't even have to think about it--until it's as automatic as breathing! It gets pretty tricky when you begin to insert notes on top of the pattern! 1|---------------------|---------------------| 2|---------------------|---------------------| 3|---------------------|---------------------| 4|----0--------0-------|-----0-------0-------| 5|--------0------------|---------0-----------| 6|-0-------------------|-0-------------------| Now, using your right hand thumb and index finger, try adding one note between each note of the bass line. Remember: Keep everything slow and even: 1|---------------------|---------------------| 2|----3-----3-----3----|----3-----3-----3----| 3|---------------------|---------------------| 4|-------0-----------0-|-------0-----------0-| 5|-------------0-------|-------------0-------| 6|-0-------------------|-0-------------------| Next, using your right hand thumb, index finger, and middle finger, try adding yet another note: 1|----------2----------2|----------2-----------2| 2|----3-----------3-----|----3-----------3------| 3|----------------------|-----------------------| 4|-------0-----------0--|-------0-----------0---| 5|-------------0--------|-------------0---------| 6|-0--------------------|-0---------------------| Finally, if you are really courageous, try this one. Note that this pattern involves some syncopation (notes occurring on the UP rather than the DOWN beat). I've only included one measure, so play it several times. The timing is kind of tricky on this one, so I've included a timing bar above the tab to indicate where in the four beats of the measure each note falls. If you're using the timing bar, count it out very evenly--one and two and three and four and--and place each note as indicated on a downbeat (a number) or an upbeat (an "and"). And remember, each note of the alternating base line falls on a downbeat. If you find this difficult, DON'T GET FRUSTRATED. This REALLY TAKES A LOT OF PRACTICE!!! ----1--&--2--&--3--&--4--& 1|--2--------------3------------------------| 2|-----3-----3------------------------------| 3|--------2-----------2---------------------| 4|--------0-----------0---------------------| 5|--------------0---------------------------| 6|--0---------------------------------------| By the way, these alternating bass patterns work in many tunings, as long as the chord allows you to play the root and the fifth (two root tones an octave apart are even better.) Once you get the feel of them and the sound of them into your head, try applying the patterns to chords in Open D, DADGAD, and even standard tuning. For more about Open D and DADGAD, visit my pages on these tunings by clicking the appropiate links MORE CHORDS Basically, chords in Drop D tuning are the same as those in standard tuning, with the exception of those chords which involve the sixth string. The fingering and, in some cases, the voicings of those chords need to be adjusted to compensate for the lowered sixth string (see discussion of the G major chord above). Movable Major chords. Because it is so close to standard tuning, Drop D, like standard, lends itself to the formation of movable chords. Movable chords are so named because they can be moved to differed positions on the guitar neck to produce different chords without changing your fingering. In standard tuning, the most common movable major chord formation is based on the first position E major chord: 1||---|---|---|---|---|-- 2||---|---|---|---|---|-- 3||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 4||---|-R-|---|---|---|-- 5||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|---|---|---|-- If we move this chord up one fret, to form an F major chord, we need to compensate for the open strings (which don't move) by fingering them up one fret as well: 1||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 2||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 3||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|-P-|---|---|-- 5||---|---|-R-|---|---|-- 6||-T-|---|---|---|---|-- In order to reproduce this chord in Drop D tuning, we have to adjust for the lowered sixth string, by moving the note on the sixth string up two frets: 1||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 2||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 3||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|-P-|---|---|-- 5||---|---|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|-R-|---|---|-- Notice how we have dropped the note from the fifth string to make the chord playable. We can do this without seriously compromising the sound of the chord because that note was a C (the fifth tone of the F scale upon which the chord is built) and we have another C (though an octave higher) on the second string. However, you need to mute the fifth string with the fleshy part of the tip of your ring finger. The diagram above illustrates a movable major chord position in Drop D tuning. If you are able to play this one, move it to various positions to play various major chords. The name of the chord you are playing can be determined by the note you are playing on the first string (one of several root tone locations in this chord position.) If you don't know the names of the notes on the first string (E,) here they are: 0=E Movable Minor Chords All of the above applies to the following, except that this position (based on Em in standard tuning) will produce minor chords: 1||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 2||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 3||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|-P-|---|---|-- 5||---|---|---|---|---|-- 6||---|---|-R-|---|---|-- Movable Dominant Seventh Chords are considerably more difficult to execute in Drop D tuning, and will not be covered here. I will, however, illustrate an E7 chord: 1||---|---|---|---|---|-- 2||---|---|---|---|---|-- 3||-I-|---|---|---|---|-- 4||---|---|---|---|---|-- 5||---|-R-|---|---|---|-- 6||---|-M-|---|---|---|-- If you're adventurous, see if you can figure out how to adapt this chord to a movable position! FINGERPICKINGDrop D tuning is great for fingerpicking, both for solo work and accompaniment. Check out my new finger picking page by clicking on the link below. YOUR FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT Please let me know what you thought of this lesson and of this site in general by sending an email to (see home page). Or maybe you'd just like to say hi, or have a question. I will be responsive to your comments! MORE TO COMELook for additional pages on other alternate tunings to come soon. Thanks for visiting Strummer1's Acoustic Guitar Page.
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