Subject: Gimme Dropped D!
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, First off, I am truly grateful for all the emails I received after last week's tragedy. Your kind words and thoughts have helped us carry on and better deal with the pain we've been experiencing. Thank you again.If you're in the States, those annoying TV ads and phone calls have finally stopped, thank goodness! And if you have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, my heart goes out to you. Anyone wanting to help Hurricane Sandy victims can go to Indiegogo to contribute to Red Cross and other organizations to help with the relief and rebuilding. Can't believe we're almost half way though November already! Thanks to some extra windy days, all of the leaves from our trees are blown down, so they've been collected up to be removed by the city. Fortunately we only have two big trees, so leaf pick-up isn't too bad. That leaves (ha ha) more time for guitar! Back to our regularly scheduled program… Alex writes, "I want drop-d tuning, but am I supposed to tune E to be as high pitched as D, or am I supposed to tune it even lower? Which if that's the case, why is it considered drop-d? I tune it lower, not higher, right? But D is higher than E." Dropped D tuning is very simple to set up. You start with standard tuning, from the low E string (the fattest) to high e (the thinnest) the strings are tuned to the following: String # 6 5 4 3 2 1 Note Pitch E A D G B e From a tab perspective, the Standard open tuning looks like this:  Now tune down (LOWER) the Low E string one full tone (two frets of pitch) to the pitch of D. Your tuning will now look like this: String # 6 5 4 3 2 1 Note Pitch D A D G B e And in tabs:  The Low D is now one octave lower that the fourth string, which is tuned to D also. You have now "dropped" the pitch of the string from E down to D. That's why it is called Dropped-D. Think of it like this - if you look at the keys on a piano, there is a repeating pattern of black keys between the white keys. Starting from the left side of the keyboard, you have two black keys, then three black keys, and then it repeats - two, then three, two, then three - until you end up all the way to the right side of the keyboard. Looks like this:  If you start with the white key to the immediate left of the first set of two black keys, this is a C note. If you then count to the right eight white keys (starting with the first white key) and play that key, this is also a C note, just one octave in pitch above the first key you played. Here is a virtual keyboard that illustrates what I'm talking about visually and sonically. The same concept works for guitar. As you play notes starting from the low E string (string number 6) and work your way up in pitch, you will come to the E note at the second fret on the D string (string number 4).  You might be familiar with the fact that there are seven and eight string guitars. These are built by adding low strings for a deeper tonal range. This means you will have even thicker strings below the Low E string. A seven string guitar adds a Low B string (string 7) to the equation. If you were to have an eight string guitar, the tuning would typically be to F# (string 8). However, some manufacturers will add a single low string and string above high e. There don't really seem to be any set standard approaches with respect to the additional strings. Carvin has a nice representation of seven and eight string guitars here. Ibanez also offers 7 and 8 string guitars. They aren't the only manufacturers, but will give you a good picture of how the guitars are set up. Personally, I have enough of a challenge improving on a six string guitar, let alone a seven or eight! Now that you have re-tuned the E string down to D, the octave pitch falls on the open D string as you say in the illustration above. Now you are able to play all the major power chords by simply barring the lower three strings. For example, if you barre strings 4,5 and 6 at the third fret, you are playing the G power chord (notated as G5 because a power chord is made up of the root note G and the fifth note D of the scale).  Thanks for the question, Alex. I hope that clarifies things for you. Let me now if you have any questions. Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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