The pitfalls of DADGAD and other tunings...

[TBman]

One of the things I like about dadgad, cgdgad and cgcgcd is the ease play. It doesn't take a handful of fret positions to get a nice full sound and the lower string tension is a plus.

One of the drawbacks to these tunings is because they are easier to play in, going back to standard to play some Woody Mann or Toby Walker blues is going to be a rough road for a few nights.

There are so many songs that require only 2 finger chords with just a transition 3rd finger that my hand isn't getting it's proper workout.

To those of you who use these tunings frequently do you leave standard in the dust and not look back? Do you re-arrange standard arrangements into the tunings of your choice or set aside "standard" practice sessions to keep your skills sharp?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

One of the things I like about dadgad, cgdgad and cgcgcd is the ease play. It doesn't take a handful of fret positions to get a nice full sound and the lower string tension is a plus.

One of the drawbacks to these tunings is because they are easier to play in, going back to standard to play some Woody Mann or Toby Walker blues is going to be a rough road for a few nights.

There are so many songs that require only 2 finger chords with just a transition 3rd finger that my hand isn't getting it's proper workout.

To those of you who use these tunings frequently do you leave standard in the dust and not look back? Do you re-arrange standard arrangements into the tunings of your choice or set aside "standard" practice sessions to keep your skills sharp?

Hi TBman

You've obviously not learned any of Al Petteway's arrangements…

Just like strumming chords can become boring after a while, so can playing simple things in an alternate tuning. The answer is to write/arrange harder pieces, or learn other's arrangements which are not one and two finger wonders.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi TBman

You've obviously not learned any of Al Petteway's arrangements…

Just like strumming chords can become boring after a while, so can playing simple things in an alternate tuning. The answer is to write/arrange harder pieces, or learn other's arrangements which are not one and two finger wonders.

Actually I play quite a few of his.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

Actually I play quite a few of his.

Hi Barry

And you find them overly simple?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Barry

And you find them overly simple?

At the time I was writing the post, I was thinking along the lines of Celtic and other related tunes.

Al's tunes are fun. I especially like his Sheep at the Door and Dogue Creek from his Mountain Guitar CD. Come to think of it his Elk Mountain Rag on that CD is a tough player, good idea Larry!

[Gobo]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Barry

And you find them overly simple?

I remember an interview with Al Petteway where he said he deliberately keeps things as simple as possible so they are easier to play live. I'm pretty sure it was Al anyway. I suppose what's difficult to one is easy to another so ho hum.

[Doug Young]

There is an element of "easier" fingering in alternate tunings, especially if you choose the tuning to make fingerings easier (circular reasoning, I know).

I recall attending a workshop with Martin Simpson a while back. No one can accuse Martin of not having solid technique, but he said he chose alternate tunings so that he could apply his efforts toward musicality, not toward something like playing barre chords. He said he had a certain amount of physical and mental effort he could bring to bear, and he wanted to focus that on musical aspects, tone, phrasing, vibratro, etc, not holding down awkward fingerings. Always made sense to me, but the key here is that he chooses the tuning to accomplish this. As soon as you pick a specific tuning, whether that's standard or DADGAD, there are going to be things that are hard to play in that tuning.

Al's tunes, especially those in DADGAD seem quite easy to me, and in fact I think part of Al's genius is that he is able to create things that sound great and that lay well under the fingers (i.e. are easy to play, or at least finger - maybe not so easy to make it sound like Al). It's easy to create stuff that sounds bad and is hard to play :-) not so easy to do the opposite like Al does. But it's not DADGAD, per se. Although Al uses DADGAD a lot, he also chooses other tunings when he needs to.

If you want something that will stretch your technique while staying in DADGAD, try some Pierre Bensusan tunes, for example. Pierre doesn't choose the tuning to accommodate easy fingering - he's decided he'll stick to one tuning, and work hard to play any musical idea he wants, which means sometimes it's quite difficult.

To answer your basic question, for myself, I use lots of tunings, and use them as a tool, to accomplish what I want. That includes standard. I work on lots of standard tuning material, from classical tunes to my own compositions. Besides playing tunes, I do scales and exercises that use all fingers, both in standard and DADGAD (not so much in other tunings). I'd say I also use all 4 fingers in DADGAD or other tunings, so I don't really experience what you're describing. Oh, BTW, I use strings that adjust for the tension in DADGAD - very common, I don't know if Al does this or not, but he probably does - so that DADGAD isn't easier to play due to tension for me. I use heavier 6th, 1st, and 2nd strings, and the tension ends up being the same as lights would be in standard. Lately, I've been liking heavier on some guitars, I've been using 14 and 18s on the 1st and 2nd strings, which sounds fatter. So again, DADGAD isn't easier to play from a tension standpoint, which keeps me from getting lazy/weak fingers from the lighter tension.

[rick-slo]

Reminds me of the thread I started a few years ago:
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=408884

The advantage of DADGAD, open tunings, and the like is that you can sound pretty good playing really simple things and
the guitar often sounds good with lots of harmoniously ringing open notes. That can be disadvantage though in the sense
of lots of pieces sounding like clones of other pieces and in the sense of the temptation of not pushing yourself to play to
a higher level.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Reminds me of the thread I started a few years ago:
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=408884

The advantage of DADGAD, open tunings, and the like is that you can sound pretty good playing really simple things and
the guitar often sounds good with lots of harmoniously ringing open notes. That can be disadvantage though in the sense
of lots of pieces sounding like clones of other pieces and in the sense of the temptation of not pushing yourself to play to
a higher level.

That thread is a good read, I'll read it at length later. I think Larry hit the nail on the head. I have a lot of Al's music including his master class book and some video lessons.

[DukeX]

This thread is making me consider tuning my Webber OM to DADGAD and traveling down that road a bit.

But I just purchased a Martin 000-15sm to accompany me down the acoustic blues road.

Looks like I might have to start practicing again instead of just playing.

[muscmp]

i set up one guitar for dadgad and the others in standard so no problem.

play music!

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by DukeX

This thread is making me consider tuning my Webber OM to DADGAD and traveling down that road a bit.

But I just purchased a Martin 000-15sm to accompany me down the acoustic blues road.

Looks like I might have to start practicing again instead of just playing.

Originally Posted by muscmp

i set up one guitar for dadgad and the others in standard so no problem.

play music!

Got it. That is what I plan to do. But learning two new styles when I have just been playing my own stuff for the past few years will be a challenge requiring effort and practice.
I'm sure it will be rewarding, though.

[vindibona1]

My pitfall with DADGAD is that it is hard to think musically (as in which notes/chords are happening) when I get out of standard tuning. With standard tuning the layout on the fingerboard is almost linear but as soon as you change to DADGAD all that goes out the window and it becomes strictly fingerings provided by tab rather than having having a connection that I can relate to in standard notation.

[islandguitar]

Good thread, Barry!!
Well, I keep guitars in different tunings as a way to stay in focus, including standard. That includes, DADGAD, CGCGCD, and DGDGBE tunings mostly. I know there are so many more opening tunings, but I've not yet ventured beyond that. Seems I've always played in alternate tunings along with standard.....the first song in DADGAD I learned was "Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues", Bob Dylan and that was 50+ years ago!! Since then I've been captured by the sound DADGAD creates.
I should mention that my own compositions in these tunings often have barre and partial barre chords going on, so feel like my fingering strength is maintained. also, some 5 fret stretches which are also healthy!
While I don't play in standard a ton, some of my favorites are in standard and that keeps me coming back......fortunately!!!
Fred

[rick-slo]

About eighty percent of what I have played and composed is in standard tuning. I have ventured out pretty far in
alternate tunings for some compositions but standard tuning is definitely home base. I really like the spacing of its
arrangement of string intervals for jazz type chords and for key changes.