Quote:
Originally Posted by sstaylor58
I am a newbie to alternate tunings, though I’ve played for over 30 years (guess I’m lazy and never bothered to learn other tunings).
But I’ve been playing around with drop D, and I have a stupid question…when in drop d and playing a song, what do you do about other chords in the song, like G for instance? If I play a normal G chord, it doesn’t sound right…what are you supposed to do about the low E (now D) string? Just don’t use / mute it?
I know, stupid question, but inquiring minds want to know! Thanks in advance for your wisdom!
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[size=2]Hi sst58…
Dropped D is not just for strumming. Fingerstylers tend to love Dropped D.
Dropped D makes a great gateway to DADGAD. If you play in Dropped D for a week or two, then Double Dropped D for a couple weeks
(both bass and treble strings dropped to D). All you have left is dropping the 'B' string to A and you are in DADGAD.
And then if you drop the G to F (DADFAD) you are in Open D minor. Or if you drop the G to F#, you are in Open D (DADF#AD is a D chord).
Here are a few samples, and then a link to my Flickr album for Dropped D fingerings (read the descriptions under the pictures in the album). There are 26 pictures in total
(covering just over 20 chords in Dropped D)
Em7 (both bass strings pressed with one finger)…
Very full sounding D (treble e not played)…
D/F# (treble e not played)…
Very gutsy D playing only strings 6-5-4…
D5 (pinky on string 1 5th fret)…It's a D chord without the third…great chord for strumming that stands out in a group
GMaj7…Ring plays string 6, mutes string 5, and index plays String 4 fret 4 (leave out string 1). If you add string 1 then it's GM7 add 6
G barre
(or any other barre if you move it around)…Form the barre, then press frets in relation to the barre:
2-2-m-1-0-0 (m=mute)
F#m barre
(third finger floating…not pressing string)
In fact…here's my WHOLE album on Dropped D fingerings on Flickr with brief explanations under each title…
Dropped D album of pics…CliCk
Feel free to use them or share them (I'd appreciate credit me if you share them).
Hope this helps.