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Open D Tuning
This month, Richard Barrett grabs his acoustic and shows you another way to expand your chord vocabulary
Joni Mitchell exemplifies effective use of open tunings on acoustic guitar and has ventured into open D for some of her most memorable songs, including Big Yellow Taxi and Both Sides Now
PHOTO BY ROBERT KNIGHT ARCHIVE/REDFERNS
Open tunings are very popular with slide players as they offer the facility of playing triads with one finger (or slide), giving convenient groups of notes with which to build licks and patterns. In this way, open tunings differ from ‘alternate’ tunings, which don’t give us an open chord. Either way, open or alternative tunings provide the opportunity to create wide-ranging, piano-style chord voicings that aren’t available to us in regular tuning.