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DADGAD tuning
DADGAD tuner online: D A D G A D, the Celtic tuning of Davey Graham and “Kashmir”. Tune from standard with your phone's mic, hear each string, play Dsus4.
Three strings move for DADGAD. Mika checks the two As against each other.The microphone closes when you stop, when all is in tune, or after half a minute of quiet. Nothing is recorded.
D2✓
Tap start. Play any string and let it ring. Without the microphone, tap a note above to hear it.
DADGAD: the strings and their notes
| String | Standard | DADGAD | Change | Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st string | E4 | D4 | a whole step down | 293.7 |
| 2nd string | B3 | A3 | a whole step down | 220.0 |
| 3rd string | G3 | G3 | same | 196.0 |
| 4th string | D3 | D3 | same | 146.8 |
| 5th string | A2 | A2 | same | 110.0 |
| 6th string | E2 | D2 | a whole step down | 73.4 |
DADGAD from standard
What DADGAD is
DADGAD names its own notes: D A D G A D, low to high. From standard three strings go down a whole step, the 6th (E to D), the 2nd (B to A) and the 1st (E to D); the 5th, 4th and 3rd stay. The open chord is Dsus4: root, fourth and fifth, with no third, so it is neither major nor minor and works under both, which is why it carries modal melodies so well.
Davey Graham made it known in the early 1960s, after hearing oud players in Morocco; from him it went into Irish and Scottish guitar, to Pierre Bensusan and the Celtic accompanists who play it to this day. Jimmy Page used it for Led Zeppelin's “Kashmir”.
How to tune to DADGAD from standard
With the tuner above: tap Start, play each string the table changes and turn until the needle sits in the middle. By ear, without the tuner:
- 6th string: E2 to D2. Its 7th fret should sound like the open 5th string (A2).
- 2nd string: B3 to A3. The 4th string at its 7th fret (A3) should sound like this string open.
- 1st string: E4 to D4. The 3rd string at its 7th fret (D4) should sound like this string open.
Then check the whole tuning once more with the tuner: retuning one string moves the neck, and the others drift a few cents.
On the same strings, tension follows the square of the pitch: the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings keep 79 % of their pull. Slacker strings buzz and read flat at the attack; for more than a whole step down, a heavier set (or at least a heavier low string) keeps the feel.
Playing in DADGAD
- The open chord rings D, G and A at once. Fret the 3rd string at the 2nd fret for D major (D A D A A D, with F♯), or at the 1st for D minor.
- The 2nd and 3rd strings are a whole step apart (G and A): the close interval that gives DADGAD its shimmer, and the place for cascading scales across strings.
- Its family: open D (F♯ on the 3rd) and open D minor (F) share the outer strings.
All six strings in standard and the other tunings: the guitar tuner. Any note at all: the chromatic tuner.
Then play something
The notes you tuned can go into Brumm as a short melody over a beat. Hum a line on top and it becomes an instrument.
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