Open-D and Open-G tuning - what's the difference?

0:00 Introduction
2:50 Ry Cooder's take on open-D vs open-G
3:59 Getting your guitar into open-D tuning
6:00 Using a slide in open-D
9:00 Bob Dylan song examples
13:39 Getting your guitar into open-G tuning
14:45 Finding your way around in open-G
17:20 Using open-G to play in D (?!?!)
17:49 "Romeo and Juliet"
19:48 Conclusion
If open tunings are new to you, I'd recommend these books for further study:
'Fingerstyle & Slide Guitar in Open Tunings' (John Fahey) • amzn.to/3PnYEzb
'The Complete Book of Alternate Tunings' (Mark Hanson) • amzn.to/3L3DQKF
'Alternate Tunings Guitar Essentials' (Acoustic Guitar Magazine) • amzn.to/3Z1Z7u7
The difference between open-D and open-G | Guitar Tip #101 | by Adam Levy
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[@kev19kev91]

Thank you for the video!! Really helped me in learning slide guitar!! Great video, great examples, and excellent breakdown of the two tunings! Keep up the good work!!

[@bobamysdad]

Thanks for this - fascinating and useful. I wanted to learn slide, so went to Open G and got nowhere. About to give up, I tried Open D and it immediately made sense, [I don't know why but the double stops came alive]. Now my go to tuning for everything. You have inspired me to try G again. Favorite Open D 'Isa Lei' a la Ry and V.M.Bhatt. Favorite G yet to be discovered. More please.

[@faunoram]

wow !! this is a really informative and interesting video !! thanks for taking the time to do these kind of videos !! cheers from South America Bolivia !!

[@andersisbergdemos]

I remember that Ry Cooder interview. It's in the november issue of Guitar Player from 1992. I still have a copy of that for some reason. I've played a lot in open tunings over the years. It's a great way to get out of a rut and come up with new sounds and ways of playing. I've always liked open D and I often use CGCGCD for acoustic fingerstyle.

[@jenamu6]

Great info on the open tunings. Please do more.

[@musicalmitch]

Good primer on open D and G. Thanks!

[@Bru65]

Great lesson Man. It's a pleasure to listen your explanations. You have style. Deep things with a simple languages

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thanks so much, Bru.

[@arnoldmmbb]

You nail simple twist of fate!!!

[@patszer8314]

Thanks for the lesson. I really enjoyed it!

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Right on - I'm glad!

[@kevincraine4135]

Love the discussion on open timings...more open G please

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Check out Guitar Tip #102 - more on open--G.

[@Blue_3rd]

Interesting, thanks! I am quite well versed in open G, and thinking about starting open E as I play a lot of blues/rock and it’s apparently a good tuning for that. Your video is very useful, I’ll be looking at more 👍

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thanks - I'm glad you found it useful.

[@ulfsvensson9710]

My two favorite open tunings! I have two acoustics and two electric guitars in those tunings. I think open tunings let one play more with instinct. Of course after some time you know what you are doing so try a new one. Ex D,A,D,F",B,D and you're of to Hawaii.

[@dawnkirkbride6466]

someone who tunes by ear.good stuff

[@TheSonnylily]

Thanks so much for these valuable tips, they open my horizon on open D and G tuning, Cheers Adam!!!!

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thank you, Sonnylily!

[@jurgenblick5491]

Thanx

[@fennarios]

one semitone up on the g string in open D an youve got DADGAD! that does it for me, and with a capo on the fifth its banjo sawmill tuning

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Indeed!

[@aladinin]

Hi Adam. I`ve got that magazine article with Ry where he speaks about D vs G tuning. G is Triad tuning, sounds a bit like Banjo. Easy to use for country blues and picking style along with slide style. G is sprite. D tuning is moody and modal. They are similar yet a lot different. I can always hear the instantly recognizable sound of G tuning. I think G tuning is also a bit easy to learn and get started with. Both are good and usable.

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thanks so much. Yeah -- G is more triadic. D can be pretty too but is naturally moodier/bluesier.

[@rev.jimjonesandthekool-aid4488]

Agree 100%. Open D can sound serious and or sad. Open G is for blues and love music.

[@jtelevenoyd1571]

I've messed around some with that version of open-G tuning. The 4 high strings being in common with standard banjo tuning suggests a few possibilities (Scruggs by way of Travis?) and it also shows up a lot in Hawaiian slack-key guitar as 'taro patch' tuning.

[@margarethouse404]

Top 4 strings also are Dobro tuning

[@kroekadoke8212]

Just the tip!

[@mombof]

came here to say, guitar tip...s

[@buffalorick5598]

Thanks. I know you are into different music than me, but who doesn’t love Dylan. So in open D using G instead of F#, Zeppelin plays Kashmir. Works great, just Tab it

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Very cool -- thanks, Rick.

[@J.J.Murphy]

Hey Adam, do you ever do much improvising in an open tuning? I've been spending a lot of time in vestapol tuning lately (open E/open D) playing slide and I've been transferring my jazz vocabulary over to the new tuning- both chords and lines. I actually prefer how some stuff sits and feels. It's been giving me a totally fresh approach to guitar.

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

I do like improvising in open-D, but more for simple songs. I haven't played much jazz in open tunings. I'm sure there's lots of beauty there! Have you checked out Dylan Day? Mostly a bottleneck player-which makes sense for open tuning-but his harmonic vocabulary is really deep. (He plays in open-Eb: Eb, Bb, Eb, G, Bb, Eb, low to high.) kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSyaKKYhN2hp8U

[@J.J.Murphy]

Thanks Adam I'll check him out!

[@stephkirwin1898]

I'm working on a gretsch reso these days but im trying to play the blues more. I heard one fellow say he liked open d more cause it gave access to a minor chord easier...I don't know love the Dylan examples thanks. cool thanks

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

If minor chords are an important part of your sound, try open D minor: D A D F A D, low to high.

[@smileswrappedingauze]

aka open-E (tuning to a 022100 chord) & open-A (tuning to a 002220 chord) if you're already in d-standard.

[@mickmulvaney3462]

Hi Adam. Regarding open G. When playing a chord it is helpful to sound the root note first but with open G that top root note is D. In that sense would you find open D more useful?

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Good question, Mick. It really depends on your preferred technique. For fingerstyle, it's easy enough to keep your root on the low G (5th) string. If you are more of a strummer, it's trickier. That's why Keith Richards plays a 5-string version of open-G tuning - without the low D (6th) string). There's a way of using open-G a tuning for songs in D, which you may find interesting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGrUhJWJhc-Xos0

[@LeviSiccard]

That was a great lesson! Now, I think I’m gonna hug a tree now 😀

[@davidpsimon4257]

Seamless integration of a rake metaphor… it’s hard to hide a creative mind.

[@mufasaIRL]

Open G - Black Mountain Rag played by Chet or Robbie McIntosh Open D - Sittin On Top Of The World played by Doc Watson

[@boarini2003]

Can "Simple Twist of Fate" be played the same in Open G? In other words, is Open D simply Open G a Fifth higher?

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

No, not exactly. The chord shapes are different in the two tunings-but there is a correlation. For example, in open-D tuning, you can go to a IV chord (G) by making what would look like E7 (020100) in standard tuning; in open-G tuning, you can go to a IV chord (C) by making what would look like Am7 (x02010) in standard tuning. The physical shapes used for the IV chord in each tuning are the same, just shifted over one string-set.

[@boarini2003]

Adam Levy Guitar Tips You are right. The song can be played in Open G, but with adjustments. Thanks again.

[@IsuiGtz]

Is there any way I can find "standard shapes" for different tunings? When I see tutorials on open tunings it seems like the person behind the guitar always knows where to play because they know theory, they know how it will work. But, without that knowledge, what can I do? Just play around on the fretboard until I discover something new?. There is a funny and weird case with Chris Martin from Coldplay. He always uses different tunings for his guitar, and either he is lying, or he actually has a lot of free time, because he has always noted that he doesn't really know music theory, (Brian Eno taught him a little bit in 2008) but somehow, since the begining in their debut album Parachutes, he seems to be a master of open tunings for his acoustic rhythm guitar. He even said to camera while holding a guitar: "I was just playing around for hours until I came to this". I mean, I know is possible but, come on, is such a waste of time, or... is it? What do you think?

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

There aren't "standard shapes," per se. Learn a cover song (or two) in one tuning, then try writing your own song using some shapes from the cover song(s). Repeat as desired.

[@filianablanxart8305]

Yes , there is a * Standard Shape * for all Open Tunings ; One Finger Bar Chord ! Moveable all up and down the neck . And I'm not entirely joking . One of the guys at my local Sat Nite jam session has been playing for decades, Open D , one finger bars . Strums rythm for traditional country, gospel, and bluegrass several times per week .

[@philoumars3168]

Open D or G = whatever the method is adopted it is the same principle. It helps of course because technically it is much easier to play on a guitar tuned in open D or G. But one looses a great part of a guitar tuned "normally". One song played in open D or G = great it sounds so nice. A second song played in open D or G = it is nice yes but it sounds the same as for the first song. A third song played in open D or G : i look my watch and I yawn.

[@sunzoomspark313]

Rolling Stones - Prodigal son Bob Dylan - Meet me in the morning Joni Mitchell - Big yellow taxi

[@myrlewulf6256]

This video is fine, people just do not have patience

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thanks so much. I know I ramble a bit, but the whole lesson here is just over 20 minutes long. I'm not into short cuts or quick fixes.

[@electricj5]

Brown Sugar, Start Me Up

[@ronaskew]

I'm like your prior self. Only so many hours in a day. I want to maximize progress on the guitar. So the argument is to learn how to play the guitar first, before learning guitar-2, guitar-3, guitar-4, guitar-5, guitar-6, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, violin, etc..

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Ron-I hear that. I first got interested in alternate tunings (and fingerstyle acoustic guitar) as a matter of job security when I was with Norah Jones. I had to play things live that other guitarists (Jesse Harris, Kevin Breit, Tony Scherr) had originally played on records. Once I could do what I *had* to do, I got curious about what else I *could* do. If not for Norah, I'd still be in standard tuning, might not own a steel-string guitar, would use capos only as a last resort.

[@ronaskew]

+Adam Levy Guitar Tips - Glad it worked out for you. Otherwise no guitar tips! I have stored a hazy version of the info in the downstairs storage facility, focus on Jazz and return to these distractions when I am satisfied with the priorities. I call this process "dismissing with an open mind".

[@inUR2teeth]

Adam Levy Guitar Tips I think that I've found that interview: Excerpt from Jas Obrecht Music Archive, (Blues Origins: Spanish Fandango and Sebastopol): Many early blues and country musicians employed these tunings and almost invariably used the words “Spanish” and “Vastopol” to describe them. To this day, open D and open G remain the most popular open tunings. “These two tuning are the starting gate for most guitarists,” Ry Cooder explains. “They cover most of the territory. You can do most anything you want. One has the timbre and color, of course, and the other has entirely different vibrant points, tighter strings. The D is the blues. The G is melodic, and it’s all triads. The D suggests the modal world of, say, Blind Willie Johnson - it’s his tuning. The melody is on the top strings, so it’s very handy. And the G is almost hillbilly tuning. It’s banjo tuning. If you look at it that way, then obviously it’s a different world. I started in G tuning before I knew D. Probably the best song to start with is Lead Belly’s ‘C.C. Rider’ - the thing he played flat [lap style]. He chose a beautiful chord at the ninth fret to start the song on. It’s perfect. He didn’t move around. He played the chord and used the notes he had in that position. It’s all right there. But, man, to start the song on that chord! It jumped off the record player at me. It’s like looking over the edge of some cliff. And then where do we go now? The tonic. Whoo! I used to get chicken skin listening to that. I used to think, ‘Go where it’s dangerous and say yes!’ as the yogis like to say. And once I figured out how to put the banjo G on the guitar, all of a sudden there were all of John Lee Hooker’s chords, although he doesn’t play slide. There was the whole thing. Wow.”

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Incredible. Thank you so much!

[@masterofzero7105]

You didn’t like the stones or Dolly Parton they both played open tuning

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

To be clear: I absolutely like the Stones and Dolly Parton!

[@GretschProf]

It's difficult to watch this. I suggest organizing what you want to say, then get to it.

[@jurgenblick5491]

Rumbling and tumbling

[@cosmicforce741]

tried to watch but the seemingly endless talking at the beginning is a big turn off. maybe try making tip videos instead of vlogs

[@kroekadoke8212]

Why the long winded nonsense? Just play

[@kroekadoke8212]

Lose viewers dude. We wanna learn guitar not the stories

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

If I could give you back those 21 minutes and 33 seconds, I would.

[@ashutoshbains5967]

@@AdamLevyGuitarTips Well my fella here is making a good point. Anyways, I learnt a lot from this video, but yeah maybe jump into the lesson a bit faster in future videos. Worth a sub. Cheers!

[@stevecavinder9951]

WAAY too much talking

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Thanks for your feedback.

[@madmanelsd123]

Keith Richards plays open tuning

[@AdamLevyGuitarTips]

Indeed he does.