Here is an alternate take of my fingerstyle arrangement of Harvest Moon, the titular song from the great early 90’s Neil Young album. In era when some of his peers were merely coasting along, Neil was doing some of his best work. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 9/7/15.
This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Drop D tuning, which from low to high (in pitch) is D-A-D-G-B-E. Drop D is the most common alternate tuning – any tuning other than Standard tuning – and differs from standard only on the sixth string, which is tuned down (or dropped) to D. Open D is great for playing songs in the keys of D, A, and G. The tuning has been used by all types of players in all genres for all types of songs, but folkies and hard rock/metal people probably use it the most. You also see Drop D used in a decent number of guitar arrangements in classical music.
This lesson shows you how to play some chords in Drop D tuning, including how to adapt shapes you already know from standard tuning. Basically, notes you see on the sixth string in standard tuning are moved up two frets when you’re tuned to Drop D. This can mean slightly revoicing the chord – for example, leaving the 5th string out of some common chord voicings.
From the uber psychedelically titled Surrealistic Pillow album, Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s solo fingerpicking tour de force Embryonic Journey highlights his country blues influences and provides a rootsy counterpoint to far out songs like White Rabbit. Though I don’t listen much to the rest of the album, Embryonic Journey stayed on rotation in my car for a number of years – sometimes when I was in the mood I would listen on repeat four or five times in a row. It seems like this song was often playing when I was cutting over from Waialae to cruise on down Kapahulu, stopping for groceries at Kokua Co-op or Down To Earth Moiliili, or hanging out at Kapi’olani Park. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and an Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina microphone.
This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Double Drop D tuning (DADGBD), how to check Double Drop D tuning with harmonics, how to approach playing some “CAGED” style chords in the tuning, similarities with other tunings such as Open G and Drop D, and talks about when you might want to use Double Drop D tuning.