Open G, open D and DADGAD

Three tunings where the open strings form a chord or a drone. Exact pitches for each, what they are used for, and which strings you actually have to move.

July 29, 2026

An open tuning is one where strumming the strings without fretting anything produces a chord. That one change moves the whole instrument: a barre across any fret becomes a full chord, which is why slide players live in these tunings.

DADGAD is the odd one out below. It is not quite a chord, and that is the point.

Open G

Three strings move from standard: the sixth and first both drop a whole step to D, and the fifth drops a whole step to G. The fourth, third and second stay put.

Open strings give you a G major chord. This is the tuning of a great deal of slide blues, and famously of a lot of Keith Richards’ rhythm playing, usually with the sixth string taken off entirely so the lowest note is the root.

Open D

Also three strings, but different ones: the sixth drops to D, the third drops a semitone to F#, and the second drops a whole step to A. Open strings give you D major.

Open D and open G do similar jobs, and which one a player prefers is mostly habit. Open D puts the root on the lowest string without removing anything, which some people find tidier.

DADGAD

Only three strings move, and only the second one is a surprise: sixth down to D, second down to A, first down to D. The third string stays at G, which is what stops this being open D.

Because it keeps that G, DADGAD is neither major nor minor. It is a D suspended fourth, so it sits there sounding unresolved and modal, which is exactly why Celtic and folk fingerstyle players took to it. You can play in D, in G, or in a minor key without the tuning committing to any of them.

Getting back

Every one of these leaves at least half the guitar alone, so returning to standard is a matter of raising the strings you dropped. Do it in the same low-to-high order as normal, and check everything twice, because moving three strings at once changes the neck tension enough that the ones you did not touch will have drifted.

All three of these are bundled in TuneHaven and free, alongside drop D and drop C and standard tuning. If yours is not in the list, custom tunings are free too.