Altered Tunings
It is helpful to reserve the name ''altered tuning" for any tuning that does not make a simple major or minor chord.
Some are seventh chords or are derived from the open majors. They are sometimes called "modal tunings". They are
not as easy to work with as straight open tunings and are less suitable for slide guitar. It takes a little patience to get
the best from these. Here are some examples:
- D A D G A D can be thought of as Dsus4 and has been used by Pierre Bensusan and Jimmy Page.
- "Double Dropped D" – D A D G B D – was famously used by Neil Young for 'Cinnamon Girl'.
- D A D F# B D is Dmaj6.
- D G D G C D is Gsus4.
Players have also tuned to a fifth chord: two possibilities are D A D A A D and E B E E B E. The Indigo Girls used
D A D G B D for 'Chicken Man', D A D G B C for 'Galileo', and 'Virginia Woolf', and D A D G A D for 'Love Will
Come To You'.
Alternative bands such as Sonic Youth have pioneered the use of altered tunings (some of them almost atonal) in
rock. If you happen to have a doubleneck guitar, you could write a song that is played with one of the necks in