DADGAD Chord Primer 2.2

The DADGAD Chord Primer:

How to Build Chords in

DADGAD Tuning

Version 2.2

By: Mark Parnis

www.markparnis.com

[email protected]

Mark Parnis DADGAD Chord Primer 2013

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DADGAD is essentially a variant on open‐D tuning, DADF#AD. The subtle but

profound difference between the two lies in the fact that DADGAD lacks a “third”

from the D chord, whereas DADF#AD has an F#, which immediately reinforces the

key of D major. DADGAD lacks either an F# or F, the presence of which would

reinforce D major or D minor respectively. As a result, DADGAD is an ideal tuning

for accompanying instrumental tunes that move between D major and D minor,

or that are in other modes such as D Mixolydian (F#, C natural) or D Dorian (all

naturals) as found in some Celtic fiddle tunes. DADGAD is highly favoured for

guitar accompaniment in Celtic‐style music for this reason. In particular, chord‐

scales involving chord movement with ascending or descending sequences of

scale tones are very useful for filling in longer stretches of single chords with a

dynamic‐sounding alternative to relieve harmonic boredom.

DADGAD is also a versatile tuning for both finger‐style and rhythm chord‐based

accompaniment. My preferred strategy for chord construction with DADGAD is

similar to the approach I take with other “open” tunings. This is to use the treble

strings as drone or sustained notes while moving between chords to “glue” the

sound together. The top two treble strings in DADGAD play the tonic and

dominant tones of the D scale which are common to D major, D Mixolydian, D

Dorian and D natural minor keys. Their repeated sounding gives a sense of

groundedness to the song which is not unlike the drone notes of the bagpipes.

As well, their colour changes as the chord changes, so that more interesting

sounding chords emerge, often by chance.

It is useful to begin thinking about DADGAD for songs in some sort of D key, even

though DADGAD is also nearly as simple to use in other closely related keys such

as A or G. To begin, let me introduce my basic strategy for building chords in

DADGAD. The idea behind my approach is to retain as many open strings in the

upper tones of the chord as possible, to help “glue” the chords together.


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Here’s the basic approach for any chord you like:

1) Determine whether the root tone of the chord lies on the 6th or 5th string in the

area of the fret board in which you want to play the chord. If the root is on the

6th string, choose that note and the note on the fourth string at the same fret.

Exclude the open 5th sting if it’s not the fifth of the chord by damping it, or fret it

at a convenient place in the chord to make another root or fifth.

If the root is on the 5th string, choose that note, and leave the 6th string out since

any note lower than the intended root tone will generally sound like the actual

root. Turn the 4th sting into either the root, third or fifth tone of the chord if

convenient, or leave it out.

2) From the remaining three or four stings, leave open any of the strings that is

an acceptable tone for the chord in question. For any typical chord, it will for sure

be the root, third, or fifth. Other tones that might be nice sounding are the sixth

(major), seventh (minor or dominant), ninth (major, minor, or dominant) and

eleventh (minor or dominant). Let your ear be the guide. If it sounds good in the

song, it is good. Fret any strings that have unacceptable open tones, at a

convenient fret that produces an acceptable chord tone, usually a root, third or

fifth.

That’s it!


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Let’s give this a try with a standard “D” major chord:

1) The root of a D chord is the note D, and it lies on the open 6th string. Choose

the open 6th string and the open 4th string. The open 5th string is actually an A

note, which is the fifth of a D chord, and can be included.

2) The remaining three strings are G, A and D. A and D are chord tones (fifth and

root) and so the 1st and 2nd strings may be played open. Only the 3rd string

contains an 11th which sounds bad in a major chord. The simplest solution is to

fret the G string at the second fret to make an A, and now all your strings are

playing a nice clean D chord: DADAAD

In fact, this chord contains neither the major nor minor third of D, i.e. there is no

F# or F, it is equally useful for D major, minor, mixo, or any D chord with a perfect

fifth. I like to think of this as a D “power” chord.

0 0 0 2 0 0

D power chord


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If you want a true‐blue D chord, major third (F#) and all, you can fret the 4th string

at the 4th fret to get an F#, and obtain my second‐choice D major chord:

0 0 4 2 0 0

D major


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How about a standard “G” major chord:

1) The root of a G chord is the note G, and it lies on the 6th string at the fifth fret.

Fret the 6th and 4th strings at the fifth fret, or leave the 4th open to get the fifth

tone D. The open 5th string is an A note, which is not the fifth of G (i.e. not a D) so

we will damp it out with our fingers and not sound it.

2) The remaining three strings are again G, A and D. G and D are chord tones

(root and fifth) and so the 1st and 3rd strings may be played open. Only the 2nd

string is a questionable tone. The 2nd string tone is a ninth (A) and often sounds

ok. So, if we leave it, we have two possible G chords: GXDGAD and GXGGAD

5 X 5 0 0 0

G major 9

5 X 0 0 0 0


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The A and G sounding together is a bit touchy, and as well we have no third,

which may or may not be an issue for you. A cleaner and clearer G chord has the

third tone (B) on the 3rd string, to a clean G chord, which we will see is a

“moveable chord form”:

The G chord can actually be played a bit differently, since the open 4th string is the

fifth of G, i.e. D, and therefore would have also been an acceptable chord tone in

the bass. So we could also play this chord, which uses all six strings, including a D

on the 5th string at the 5th fret, to get my favorite G chord:

5 X 5 4 0 0

5 5 0 4 0 0

Moveable G major

G major


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Here is another “one‐finger wonder” chord, like the D power chord, great for

really rapid chord changes in fiddle tunes. I use this chord a lot, especially when

bass tones move through a B tone on a G chord.

We can also use the open 6th string as a D bass tone, and get a really simple useful

G‐type chord, which is really G/D, since the bass stresses D. This one is also great

for rapid changes where subtlety is abandoned for speed:

X 2 0 0 0 0

G/B

0 2 0 0 0 0

G/D


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The three main chords in the key of D major are D, G and A major, so let’s look at

A major next:

1) The root tone A lies on the open 5th string. Choose the open 5th string and

dampen the 6th string (D is the 4th of A and not a good bass tone).

2) The remaining tones are DGAD. D is the 11th of A and sounds ok if the A is

acting as a dominant chord, which is the function of an A chord in the key of D

(the dominant chord). G is the dominant seventh of A and could be left as well, so

that our simplest chord would be just to play all the strings except the 6th open.

However, this doesn’t sound so good. The 4th string D still sounds like a bass note

and muddies up the chord. Better to make it an E, and get a perfect fifth tone in

the chord:

This is the simplest A chord, and another “one‐finger wonder”. It allows us to use

a sequence of one –finger chords to play tunes in D, namely:

D power chord G/B chord A dom 11 chord D power chord

Try this sequence strumming, trying to stress the D, B and A tones respectively in

the bass of the chords. Voila! Serviceable chord progression with one finger!

X 0 2 0 0 0

A dom 11


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You might want a more straightforward A major chord, in which case you’ll want

to get rid of the G and the D. Let’s start again and make a very clean A major

chord by building a chord on a higher fret root. This will give us another use of

the “moveable” G chord:

1) Use the A root on the 6th string at the 7th fret. Double it on the 4th string. Leave

the 5th string open since it’s an A as well.

2) The remaining tones are GAD. Make the C# by fretting the 4th string at the 6th

fret. Leave the A and D open, to get an A major 11. This has the same form as the

moveable G major chord. Fret the 1st string at the seventh fret and get a pure A

chord, but with a high tone on the top:

7 0 7 6 0 0 7 0 7 6 0 7

5 5

A major 11 chord A major A major 11


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Now, you will of course want to make other chords than these three, and their

variants. Let’s make some of the other chords commonly used in D. The first is

Em:

1) The root tone E is the second fret of the 6th string. Start building by including

the 6th and 4th strings fretted at the second fret. Damp out the 5th string, since it

is an A which is not a root or fifth in the bass.

2) The remaining tones are G, A and D. G is the minor third of E, so it’s really

needed to give a minor sound. A is the eleventh, and is not a bad tone for a minor

chord. You could leave it, or turn it into a B, the fifth of E minor, by fretting the 2nd

string at the 2nd fret. The 1st string is D, the minor 7th of Em, so that’s a fine tone

for an Em7 chord. Let’s look at these choices.

E min 7

2 X 2 0 0 0 2 X 2 0 2 0

E min 11


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The next diatonic chord in D major (chord built in thirds on a scale tone) would be

F#m. However, in most Celtic‐style and folk/pop music, the more common choice

for an F# bass tone is D/F#, that is, a D chord with it’s third, F#, in the bass. Let’s

build that chord:

1) F# is found on the 6th string at the 4th fret. Double it on the 4th string at the 4th

fret. The 5th string open gives an A, which is the fifth of D major, so we can leave

that too.

2) The remaining tones are G,A, and D. A and D are from the D chord, so they are

good as is. G is the fourth of D major, and is not acceptable. So, let’s raise it to

another A by fretting at the second fret.

4 0 4 2 0 0

D/F#


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Carrying on up the D major scale, we have our D, EM, D/F#, G, and A chords.

Remaining are Bm and C#dim. Usually Bm is not used, but instead G/B is used for

a cleaner sound. C#dim is rarely used, but more likely to be A7/C#. Let’s have a

look at G/B:

1) The B tone is found on the 5th string , 2nd fret. The open 6th string is a D, which

is the fifth of G major, so we can leave that open, as well as the open 4th string.

However, better not to play the very lowest D on the 6th string, as it will make the

chord sound like G/D

2) The remaining tones are G, A and D. the G is the root of G major, and D is the

fifth, so both can be left open. A is the ninth, and a bit unusual although not

unusable. More likely it would be turned into the third of G major, B by fretting

this string at the 2nd fret:

G/B

X 2 0 0 2 0


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Now and then we will actually need B min instead of G/B. To get this we need the

F# tone to reinforce the B minor chord and also reduce the number of G tones in

the chord. This is easily done by fretting the 4th string at the 4th fret to get F#. We

also can eliminate the 3rd string G by making it a B at the 4th fret. The open 2nd

string gives us a nice minor seventh of B to make a Bm7 sound to get:

For speed, you can leave the 4th string open (and 6th) to have a simpler Bm7, albeit

with more “D” sound in the bass, like a Bm7/D:

X 2 4 4 0 0

B min 7

0 2 0 4 0 0

B min 7/D


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The last D major chord, A7/C#:

1) C# is the 4th tone of the 5th string. The open 6th and 4th the eleventh of A, so no

good for the bass. Leave the 6th string out, and make the 4th into an E.

2) For the remaining three tones, G is the dominant seventh of A, and is ok as a

tone on a dominant chord. The A is of course fine. The D is interesting since it is a

a suspended third. This would not be acceptable except for a dominant‐type

chord, which A7 happens to be in the key of D. In that case, it can sound rather

interesting and pleasant:

A7sus4/C#

X 4 2 0 0 0


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Playing in other keys or other modes than D major requires other chords, and

there are certainly lots of them! For example, D minor generally requires G

minor, and D Mixolydian needs a C major to reinforce the flat seventh. In general,

chords built on the tones of the D minor pentatonic scale, i.e., D, F, G, A and C are

going to crop up in any music in D that has a bluesy feel, since these tones

reinforce the D blues scale: D F G Ab A C D.

Here’s a selection of these “other” chords used in D modes:

C major:

1) The root is on the 5th string at the 3rd fret. Leave the 6th string out, and bring

the 4th up to an E at the 2dn fret or G at the 5th. The G is better, since this is a

borderline bass tone and the fifth is always cleaner than the third.

2) Remaining tones G, A and D are all good tones in C major, as the fifth, sixth and

ninth. The fifth and sixth right next to each other is perhaps a bit jarring, so why

not make that a C at the third fret as well. Our simplest chord is:

X 3 2 0 2 0

C major 9


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A minor:

1) The open 5th string has the root, so that’s easy. Leave out the 6th string, and

make the 4th string the fifth of A (an E) at the second fret.

2) Of the remaining G, A and D tones, G is the minor seventh, and is a very nice

tone, but could also be an A at the second fret. A is the root, so it’s good too, but

could be a C at the third fret. The D is ok as an eleventh in a minor chord, but

might be cleaner as an E at the second fret, giving several choices. All the chords

without a “C” have no third and if they have a “D” they sound like sus4 chords,

neither major, minor nor dominant:

X 0 2 0 0 0 X 0 2 0 3 0 X 0 2 0 0 2

A sus 4 A min 11 A sus 4

X 0 2 2 0 0

A sus 4


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F major:

1) The root is on the 6th string at the 3rd fret. The open 5th string is an A, which

would be ok in an F chord, but too low in the chord tonality to really sound good.

So, damp it instead. There is no other useful tone on the 4th string except the F

octave, so double the F in the bass on the 4th string at the 3rd fret.

2) From the remaining tones G, A and D: G is the ninth of F, so could sound ok,

but it would be cleaner if we turn it into an A at the second fret, which reinforces

the major sound of the chord. The 2nd string may be left open as A also. The D on

the 1st string is ok as a major sixth, which is a common addition to a major chord.

This gives us a form that is also the same as the “moveable” G major chord form:

F major 6

3 X 3 2 0 0

DADGAD Chord Primer 2.2

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