Chords for Open G Tuning Made Easy | Guitar Tricks

[N] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ Hey there [G] and welcome to the Guitar [Bb] Tricks channel.
My name is Anders [D] and I'll be your host today.
Before we get started, do yourself a favor and hit the subscribe button so you don't
miss any of our future lessons.
[Bb] First let me start you off with the tip of [B] the week.
_ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ My tip this week is to use [Eb] a headstock tuner.
Headstock tuners [Ab] come in all brands, shapes and [G] sizes and they're highly affordable.
I [B] don't fully recommend [C] them for live use but they're [Ab] perfect for any guitar that you
keep in your [D] home since they [Eb] can just live on your headstock.
[D] _
_ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [D]
In [G] today's lesson we're going to continue to demystify the concept of open [B] tunings.
Because once again the concept is to figure out what's easy [Bb] to play in each of these open
tunings and that's what they were made for, not to adapt everything you already know in standard tuning. _
And this applies [B] to any open tuning but in this lesson we're going to explore how it
works with the open [G] G [D] tuning.
And [A] the open G tuning [Ab] is the same as [C] the open A tuning [Eb] only down a whole step.
[C] So first let's go [D] from standard [Gb] to the open G tuning.
[Eb] And the first thing you want to do is tune [Bb] your low E string down a whole step.
And [B] the best thing is to use a [C] chromatic tuner but you [Am] can also use the 12th fret [D] harmonic
_ _ and the open D string for reference. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Next [Bb] thing you tune your A string [Eb] down a whole step and again you can use your tuner or you
[Bb] can use the 12th [A] fret harmonic of the A string [G] and match [Em] that to the open G [G] string.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ The D, G and B [A] strings stay where they are so that's a really good thing [F] to remember
if you ever have to take a [A] solo in this tuning.
_ _ [Ab] The high E string goes down a whole step as well [Bb] and you can use the [D] 12th fret harmonic,
the D string _ [E] and [Eb] match the open string to [G] that. _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ So now our tuning is D, [G] G, D, G, D and D.
And the open strings spell out the G major chord. _ _
_ _ Now once again [C] trying to [Bb] use any of the things you already know [A] in standard tuning would
be very difficult and [Eb] completely beside the point.
So let's instead try and [Bb] figure out what's easy [Eb] to do in this tuning.
[F] Once [A] again we know that we [Ab] can play our major [E] chord with just [G] one finger.
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [Eb] _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
And once again that also means [Gb] this is the reason [F] that open tunings [D] are popular for playing
slide guitar but that's not where we're going to go today.
So let's [F] instead keep looking at our one finger chords.
[A] And this of course works anywhere on the neck but let's just [Bb] grab our D chord here [D] in the 7th fret.
_ _ _ And now you have your [Bb] two great notes right under your 3rd [Eb] finger on the D and [D] the G string. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ On the B string the good note is on your 2nd finger. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ And if you combine [Eb] that 3rd finger on the [B] _ D string with your [Em] 2nd finger on the B string
you get [D] your 4 chord. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Which of [E] course you can use as the actual [F] 4 chord instead of [D] moving your 1st [G] finger.
_ _ _ Or you can just use it as [D] a riff idea. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ And [B] notice that this is exactly the same as you saw it in the open D tuning only _ it's
up a string set [F] meaning down towards the floor.
[B] _ You also notice that I'm [D] muting the low E string throughout it all [Cm] because our root
note is [D] on the A string.
Now since we happen to be in D we could actually use it but if [C] you were in C it wouldn't work as well. _ _
And this is why one [Gm] of my all time [G] favorite guitar players Keith [Ab] Richards sometimes just
removes the low E string.
_ [B] But it's also okay just to mute it because it can come in handy. _ _
[Eb] Another fun trick you can do is to use this double stop right [D] here _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] for some bluesy tension.
[B] That's just the 3rd finger on the D string that we already had and then the bluesy note
[F] is with your pinky [B] up 4 frets from the [D] bar on the G string. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Cm] Now the idea is once again that you [A] think of the open G tuning [Eb] as an option or as a
tool that's available to you whenever you have a song where these chords might work.
A song [Gm] that doesn't have many more complicated chords [Eb] or melody lines that you [Bb] have to play. _
Fortunately as I [Am] mentioned before there's no shortage of cool rock and blues songs [E] with
just basic major chords and that's why the [D] open tunings are so useful [Ab] and popular.
[B] Not for playing all [D] the stuff you already know in standard tuning.
And of course there are a million more things to do in this tuning but [C] this is a really
good place to start.
And finally [B] remember once [A] again that the open G [Ab] tuning is the same as the open [F] A tuning
only down a whole step.
[Gb] So now you know how to [G] use 2 more open tunings.
[D] And that's it for this week's channel episode.
I hope [A] you're excited to go explore the open [Gb] G and A tuning some more on your own.
And if you haven't [D] already please [Gb] make sure to hit the subscribe button for more great
videos and feel free to like or share [C] this lesson with all your friends.
Have fun with it.
I'll see you next [B] time. _ _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _