Loved by the likes of Davey Graham, Roy Harper and Jimmy Page, DADGAD remains a great place to start when exploring alternate tunings, especially on acoustic guitar.
It’s harmonically somewhat ‘ambiguous’ because it contains stable-sounding perfect 4ths (G), perfect 5ths (A) and the root note (D) – but no 3rds to make it major or minor.
Strummed all at once, the open strings are a big, bold Dsus4 chord. It’s a de facto standard alternative to traditional E standard (EADGBE) tuning amongst fingerpickers and percussive players alike.
1. D5
(Image credit: Future)
This chord only requires one finger, but creates a huge-sounding D5 powerchord.
2. Bm7
(Image credit: Future)
This fingering sounds great as it uses the first and second strings as a drone.
3. Aadd11
(Image credit: Future)
This shape also uses a drone. Try swapping between the previous shape and this one.
4. Cadd9
(Image credit: Future)
This one can be heard in action by Jimmy Page in his fingerstyle classic, Black Mountain Side.
5. Em11
(Image credit: Future)
This final chord provides a huge, resonant Em11 sound thanks to those ringing open strings.
The acoustic guitar remains one of the most popular instruments among singer-songwriters, as well as solo instrumentalists. Admittedly, this is probably in part due to it…
Chords for DADGAD tuning: 5 shapes you need to know
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