Blues Guitar Lesson: Open D Tuning

Open D tuning's popularity can be traced back to the 19th century when it was famously used in Henry Worrall's piece "Sebastopol" which earned it the name the "Vestapol tuning." The tuning has made appearances in a multitude of songs throughout the years and has even headlined entire albums such as with Bob Dylan's 1975 album Blood On The Tracks which is entirely in this tuning. Open D tuning can have its advantages and disadvantages but it has left its mark in music today

Open tunings are many but open D tuning has made a case for itself because of the tendency of musicians to play songs in the key of D. Religious tunes, war-cries, holiday music, marches, and symphonies are often in the key of D which has earned it the name the "key of triumph." There is a level of simplicity and candor in this key that allows for a lot of feeling which is why blues guitarist also prefer it as it allows for powerful expressions. Open D tuning allows for this key to be prominent and even for keys like D minor and D7 to be played with relative ease which adds to its range of emotions.

Some things that make open D tuning great are also what holds it back. For example, it is difficult to play songs in any other key than D when using the open D tuning and yet, as we said, playing music in the key of D major is easy and often is a go-to key for many musicians. Once you're tuned to open D, you find that all the chords and scales have changed and therefore you must familiarize yourself with new fret positions. This is a major drawback. There is a simplicity however to this tuning, and it is likely what makes it so attractive.

Originating from the islands of Hawaii, playing with a steel object against the strings arrived onto the mainland and made its way into the Mississippi Delta, where early blues players used the style and quickly shaped it into the powerful sound we know today. The slide must be pressed lightly against the strings to avoid hitting the frets. They are simply used as markers for the player who must continue to play in tune without them—a skill indeed. The slide must remain parallel with the strings while the other fingers still have access to the frets and can embellish the sound.

Slide guitar can be played in both standard and open tunings but it lends itself to open tunings because chords can be played by barring a single fret across all strings with the slide. Having the ability to play chords adds versatility for the slide players. They can play melodies in one string and harmonies on open strings, there is a lot of room to experiment with open tunings. It is easy to see how slide players can take advantage of open tunings and why the technique continues to expand beyond the blues.

One of the great advantages of open D tuning is that you can embellish barred chords with the remaining fingers at your disposal and also use the droning of open strings to fill your sound. When you allow the open strings to ring out you will be surprised at what a difference they can make. Droning can help establish a tonality that allows for the rest of the piece to build and can make it seem as if you had an additional player in the room. These full sounds are used by fingerstyle players often.

Fingerstyle was known mostly as the action of plucking the guitar with the fingers instead of a pick but today it is better known as an entirely different animal. In fingerstyle, a guitarist plays chords, melody notes, basslines, and percussion all on his or her own. By playing melodic notes and their accompanying chords the guitarist creates a rich sound that fills the room. On top of this, he or she will use the body of the guitar to play percussive rhythms that accompany the music. Singular bass notes are also employed to fill out the low end. This style lends itself to open chords.

Chord shapes change when you tune to open D but they are not difficult at all. You already know the open strings will give you a D chord but you can play a D minor chord by simply fretting the third fret of both the third and fourth strings or a D7 by fretting the third fret of the second string. By barring the four highest strings you can play several chords depending on which fret you are laying your finger on. at the second fret is an E chord, and the third fret is F and so on. There is a lot of room for you to explore and once you have it all down, you will craft your very own style.

As a tip, we say take your time because this is truly a wonderful tuning that requires close attention. Practice the different styles and look for variations of this tuning such as the open D minor tuning, which can produce some melancholic sounds that offer a lot of benefits for slide players as well. There is much to learn and if you take the time to do so and practice there is no limit to the heights you can reach and that we can assure.