Tunings - About OpenD - String Gauges - How to tune - List of Tunings

About "Open-D" tuning...

This site was initially aimed at addressing the lack of available online TABs & instructional material for Open-D tuning, which is (low to high, DADF#AD) ( Also known as "Vestapol" )

It's a nice tuning if you've ever played a regular guitar before because it's basically the familiar open-E chord shape, shifted down some.

Open E chord on regular guitar

The intervals of strings from low to high in this chord go:
root, fifth, root, third, fifth, root. (1,5,1,3,5,1)

So when you strum the open strings you get a lovely D Major chord.
This is a popular tuning for regular guitarists who want to experiment with "Lap-Style" because it's easy to tune to on a regular guitar with a nut-raiser, using your regular strings without stressing the neck.

This "shape" of tuning can be very versatile and is nice for solo players who want a nice full sound.
Unlike the standard "Dobro" tuning it covers a full 2 octaves with the root appearing on the 6th, 4th & 1st strings, and the fifth always easy to get to.
This makes it easier to fake minor chords, play "powerchords" on strings 4,5 & 6 which are neither major or minor ( as they contain only the root, fifth & octave. )
Also, having the root, fifth & octave on the bottom 3 strings makes open-D/E ideal for tunes with a constant bassline played with the thumb, the remaining fingers free to provide fills & melody over the top.

From open-D(Major) you can also easily tune to open-D minor(DADFAD) and open-Dsus(DADGAD) without having to change any strings.
Just raise or lower your 3rd string by a semitone.

If you become familiar with open D major (Vestapol), and then try Open G,
you will find that strings 1,2,3,4,5 in the G tuning have the same intervals relative to each other as strings 2,3,4,5,6 from Open D or E tuning, so many of your patterns & licks will be easily transferable.

If you play dobro then many licks that work on the top 4 strings on regular dobro tuning (GBDGBD) will work on the middle 4 strings in open D or open E tuning.
This is because the intervals between the dobro-tuning strings 1 to 4 are the same as those between strings 2 to 5 in open D, like this:
Dobro tuning GBDGBD = 135135
OpenD tuning DADF#AD = 151351
For this reason, instructional material for dobro can be useful not just for picking tip & rolls but also for melodic licks, fills and phrases.

Tunings and String Gauges

When changing tunings it's best to check that your string gauges can handle it.

There's a bit of leeway here, but too far out and you can run into problems, either with strings being too slack & sounding "dead" with no sustain & unstable pitch, or too tight which risks snapping the string or potentially damaging the guitar!

Here's a really useful String Gauge Chart with suggested gauges for each pitch.

The ranges on this chart are for guitars with a scale-length of 22" to 24.5"...
( The usual scale-length for most standard "Weissenborn-Style" guitars is 25" )
The longer the string, the tighter it will be for a given pitch,
so it's recommended to go for lighter gauges in this case.
Too heavy a gauge will result in "bellying" of the soundboard
and/or lifting of the bridge... not good!

Source: John Ely's Hawaiian Steel Guitar Web

You'll probably settle on a gauge ( & Brand/Manufacturer ) that you prefer after some experimentation, but for Open-D on a regular-scale-length Hollowneck, you can't really go wrong with these:

Newtone "Aloha" Hawaiian Guitar Strings
Gauges are ( high to low ) 15, 17, 26w, 36, 46, 56
If you're tuning to Open-E then you'll need to go lighter.

How to tune

It's good to get a proper tuner, a "chromatic" one is best.
Chromatic tuners don't restrict you to any particular tuning, they "autodetect" the note & tell you if it's sharp or flat.
If you know the tuning ( ie, DADF#AD or EBEG#BE, then you're away! )

I got one of these basic Korg tuners,
cheap & good enough!

Relative tuning ("by ear") can be a very useful thing to master, ( personally I'd consider it essential .)
It means you can swiftly get in tune with a recording or video track ( just find the root and off you go! )
This skill is essential for those times when you don't have access to an electronic tuner.

If you have a pitch-pipe for regular guitar you can use the 4th string pipe for your D referance tone & tune your 4th string to match.
Tune your 6th string an octave lower and your 1st string an octave higher.
Then tune your 3rd string ( the F# ) by ear, but use the note from fret 4 of your 4th string as a guide.
You can get your 5th & 2nd strings in tune by using fret 7 on a D string as a referance.

You can use the "tuning" dialog in PowerTab for referance tones too.

It's good to also have a pitch-pipe stashed in your gigbag or guitar case as an emergency referance tone to tune to.
In fact a chromatic pitch-pipe can be a handy tool for any musician or vocalist.

A Chromatic Pitch-Pipe is very handy
for Steel Guitar

Download tuner software here
Basic online referance-tone here

DADF#AD = Open D Major "Vestapol"

DADFAD = Open D minor

DADDAD = Open D unison

DADGAD = D-sus 'DADGAD'

DADFAC = Dm7

BDF#ABD = D6

DGCFAD = a Ben Harper tuning, apparently!

G tunings

DGDGBD = Open G major (1) "Spanish", "Taro Patch" or "Low-Bass G"

DBGDGD = Open G(2)

DGDGBbD = Open Gminor(1)

GBbDGBbD = Open Gminor(2)

DGDGCD = G-sus

DGDGGD = Open G unison

GBDGBD = Open G, classic Bluegrass 'Dobro' tuning

E tunings

EBEG#BE = Open E(1)

EBEGBE = Open Em

EBEEBE = Open E unison

EAEG#BE = Open E(2)

EBEG#C#E = Open E6(1)

EBEG#BC# = Open E6(2)

G#EC#BG#E = Open E6(3)

DEG#BC#E = Open E13

A tunings

EAC#EAE = Open A(1)

EAEAC#E = Open A(2) "Low -Bass A" Hawaiian

EAEACE = Open Am(1)

EACEAE = Open Am(2)

C#EF#AC#E = Open A6

C tunings

CGCGCE = Open C

GCGCEG = Open C variant

CGCGCEb = C minor

CEGACE = Open c6

A John Fahey favourite: C#F#C#F#A#C#