Acoustic songs tuned full step down.

[FoxHound4690]

Hey agf,

I've absolutely fallen in love recently with full step down tuning DGFGAD. It's such a dark and ominous pitch that sounds awesome and I just want to explore it more.

I'm looking for some song recommendations that are in this tuning.

I've looked at some lists online but most of them seem to be for songs played by actual rock bands so majority of them are played on electric guitar as all you need to do is drop the 6th string down to C and you have Drop C tuning as well.

I've come across a couple good acoustic ones so far like Arrow Flight by Boy and Bear and Hey Hey, My My by Neil Young but struggling to really find a decent list of acoustic in this particular tuning.

Thanks in advance.

[Ralph124C41]

Wouldn't full-step down tuning result in D,G,C,F,A,D not what you are showing?

Is this some kind of hybrid tuning as I don't know anything about it?

Btw, have you tried D-A-D-D-A-D tuning, such as in CSNY's "4+20"?

[Tico]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

Wouldn't full-step down tuning result in D,G,C,F,A,D not what you are showing? ...

Yes.
Good catch.

[egordon99]

Any song can be played tuned down a step.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by egordon99

Any song can be played tuned down a step.

Natch - you beat me to it.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by egordon99

Any song can be played tuned down a step.

True of course, but I think what the OP means is songs that sound good (opinion of course) when played on a guitar tuned a full step lower in pitch (IOW 2 frets).
Not just because it's a lower key, but perhaps owing to the very-different tone of guitar strings at lower tension.

[ribsareyummy]

Most Old 97s songs are played tuned down a full step, and you can usually find many examples of Rhett Miller playing them solo acoustic on YouTube.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Pardon My Heart - Neil Young

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Elliott Smith tuned a full step down quite often for his solo work. Haunting songs in, as you say, a dark and ominous pitch. Also suited his vocals perfectly.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

Elliott Smith tuned a full step down quite often for his solo work. Haunting songs in, as you say, a dark and ominous pitch. Also suited his vocals perfectly.

I'd argue it's not the guitar's pitch itself that feels more dark and ominous, it's the guitar's much-lower string tension.
Try this with a guitar.
The difference in tone is dramatic.

If the same song was accompanied by only a piano, and it was played one full step lower in pitch, it would not feel any different, just lower in pitch.

Also when the song is sung at a lower pitch the singer's voice is likely to sound different, perhaps a better fit for the feeling of the song.

[FoxHound4690]

D,G,C,F,A,D is what I meant, my bad I got my letters mixed around -_-

Thanks guys.

[Doug Young]

Just do it with any song. One of the best-known examples is McCartney's Yesterday. He plays it in "G", but it sounds in F because he was tuned down a whole step.

[JerrysGuitarBar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Just do it with any song. One of the best-known examples is McCartney's Yesterday. He plays it in "G", but it sounds in F because he was tuned down a whole step.

Also Bluebird and Heart of the Country.

John Fogerty downtunes by a full step a lot. Bad Moon Rising and Lodi for example.

[JonPR]

Here's one:

Key of D major, played with "E" shapes.

But remember: you don't have to find songs that were actually played in this tuning. You don't have to do any song in the original key!

Paul McCartney didn't tune down for Yesterday because he liked the sound of the guitar in DGCFAD - otherwise you'd find a lot of his songs downtuned, and you don't. He downtuned because he wanted to play those chord shapes, but the key of G was too high for his voice. He'd written the song on piano, and found the melody he wanted (that he could sing) in key of F. But F is not a nice key for guitar.

So - just pick any song you like. Play the same chords, they will just sound lower (exploiting that rich sound you like). You will be singing a whole tone lower too of course. So you just need to avoid any songs whose vocals reach down to the bottom of your range. And if you still want to do those in the original key, of course you can use a capo on 2!

[Rumblefish]

Can't Find My Way Home sounds pretty cool down low.