Technique chapter

Alternate tunings

Not a second guitar language. The same neck with different gravity. Standard first. Drop D when the riff wants a lower root. Open tunings when the slide or the drone is the point.

Family	What changes	What you gain	What you lose
Down / half-step	Every string the same amount	Same shapes, lower pitch	Tension, tightness
Drop	Only the lowest string	One-finger power chords	Low-E scale map
Open	Open strings = a chord	Slide, drones, one-finger majors	Most memorized shapes
Modal / sus	Open strings = no 3rd	Folk / Celtic color	Instant major/minor

Tune down freely; tune up with caution. Heavier gauges for drops below D. Harmonics still live at 12 / 7 / 5 — the pitch they produce follows the new open string.

Drop D — the only required alternate on v1

D A D G B E — low E down a whole step. Strings 6–4 become D–A–D. One finger across one fret = a 5 chord.

D5 (open)          E5 (fret 2)         G5 (fret 5)
e|----x----        e|----x----         e|----x----
B|----x----        B|----x----         B|----x----
G|----x----        G|----x----         G|----x----
D|----0----        D|----2----         D|----5----
A|----0----        A|----2----         A|----5----
D|----0----        D|----2----         D|----5----

What stays true: open G, C, Em, A, D shapes on strings 1–5. What breaks: any shape that used the low E as E.

A minor pentatonic box 1 is unchanged on strings 1–5. On string 6, every scale degree sits two frets higher than in standard.

Drill: play G–C–D in standard, drop the sixth, play G5–C5–D5 with one finger.

Retune by ear: match string 6 to string 4 (both should be D, an octave apart).

Double Drop D

D A D G B D — both E strings down. Keep Drop D’s bass fifths and add a high D drone.

Open G and Open D — slide / drone family

Open G: D G D G B D. Lowest note is the fifth of G. Stones-style often ignores string 6. Barre fret 2 = A; fret 5 = C.

One-finger major in Open G
G     A     C
000000  222222  555555

Open D: D A D F# A D. True D major, root on the bottom. Same idea one step deeper.

Open E is Open D a whole step higher — several strings go up. Brighter, tighter, riskier.

Teach Open G or Open D, not both in week one. They are the same idea in two keys.

DADGAD

D A D G A D — Dsus4. No third, so it does not declare major or minor. Celtic / folk / atmosphere. Do not paste standard CAGED onto DADGAD.

Footnotes, not pillars

Eb / D standard: same shapes, capo in reverse. Drop C: Drop D after detuning the whole guitar a whole step. Nashville high-strung: restring, not retune. All-fourths: pedagogy toy.

Standard first. Drop D when the riff wants a lower root. Open tunings when the slide or the drone is the point.

Alternate tunings

Drop D — the only required alternate on v1

Double Drop D

Open G and Open D — slide / drone family

DADGAD

Footnotes, not pillars

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