Transcripts
1. Intro Video: Hey everyone, In this course, it is all about Drop-D tuning. I will show you
all the basics you need to know to
understand entry, use The benefits of this Tuning. Starting with how to tune
your guitar to Drop-D, and how to make sure to keep your guitars Indonesian right? Then we will go through power chords, power
chord extensions, and also how to play different chord voicings
in this Tuning, like SAS to major and minor, playing guitar in Drop-D
tuning can be a lot of farm. And if you are into
rock and metal music, you should definitely
check out this course
2. The benefit of Drop-D tuning: What is Drop-D tuning
and what is the benefit? Well, Drop-D tuning is mostly used in rock and metal music. And the biggest benefit
is that you can play power chords very
easy and comfortably. To get your guitar
into Drop-D tuning, you have to tune
your lowest string, that low E string, or the sixth string, one full step down to a D, the other strings stay the same. So from the lowest to
the highest string, you now have D, a, D, G, B, E. As I said before, Drop-D tuning makes playing
power chords very easy. So here's a little example. I play the same Riff first and standard tuning and
then in Drop-D Tuning. So as you can see, you can
play power chords with only one finger instead
of two or three fingers. And standard tuning, this makes playing guitar
riffs much easier. And it is the main
benefit of Drop-D tuning
3. 3 Tips for playing in Drop-D: Alright, so in this video, I want to give you
some tips that can be helpful when you tune
your guitar to Drop-D. Tip number one, when you tune your low E
string down to D, then make sure to tune your string a little
bit lower than the T node and then increase the pitch up to the
D. This helps a lot. In terms of tuning stability, a string will always
stay better in tune if you increase the
tension of the string, whether then lower
wing attention. And of course, you
can apply this tip on all other strings as well
when you tune your guitar. Tip number two, the
best way to tune your guitar to
Drop-D is of course, using a tuna like this
clip onto unit that I use. But sometimes you don't have a tuna or you want to
tune down very quickly. And for this case, I have
a little tip for you. Instead of tuning the lowest
string down to D with tuna, you can take the D string or the fourth string as
a reference node. So you play the open D
string, let it ring. Right after that,
the low E string, which also led ring. And then you immediately tune it down until the notes
sound the same. Of course, you should also
apply the first step here so you tune it down a
little bit lower first, and then you increase
the pitch again. Of course, this method needs
a little bit of practice, but it also trains your ears. So I recommend you to do it
this way from time-to-time. Of course, you can check
the tuning afterwards with a tuner so it can be sure
that you are tuned right? Tip number three has to do
with your string gauge. The most common strain gauges
are nine to 42 or ten to 4,642.46 stands for the
thickness of the low E string. If your junior strings lower, you have less tension
on the string. So it's better to have thicker strings if you want
to play in Drop-D Tuning. If you have a 40 to gauge E string and tuning
down to Drop-D, your string can feel
a little bit loose, but it's still possible to play in Drop-D with that gauge. The only thing is you have to be a little bit careful with
your picking attack. If you pick the
strings too hard, it can happen that the node is winning a little
bit out of tune. So a little bit sharp. You can compensate
that if you use a softer picking attack
or what you also can do is tune the D a
little bit flat, that means a tiny bit
below the actual denote. That way the picking note
won't sound too sharp. If you use a 46
gauge low E string, this should be less a problem. And if you want to
be completely safe, you can use a hybrid string set. For example, in the string sets, the lowest three strings
are a bit thicker, and the higher three strings
are the usual gauge. I am using a ten to 42 sets
on one of my other guitars, which are always
tuned to Drop-D. I just don't use it
here in this course because it doesn't
have Fred markers. And this would be harder
for you to learn. The lowest string on
this guitar is 52. And with that, it has more than enough tension for
the Drop-D tuning. If you want to have a Guitar constantly tuned down to Drop-D, I can recommend you to use one of these hybrid string sets
4. How to play power chords in Drop-D tuning: Okay, So the main
thing that you have to learn for Drop-D
power chords, and that's what I
wanted to show you now. And you will see it is much easier to play power
chords with Drop-D. But on some parts you have to think a little bit different. And I will show you all that. But I will start now in
standard tuning just to give you the understanding how this Drop-D thing works. So this is an A5 power
chord in standard tuning. Plate with three fingers. You can also use two
fingers like this. And now when I tuned
down to Drop-D, this won't work anymore. So you have to keep in mind
that I down this string, the lowest string,
two half-steps. And to compensate that
on the fret board, I have to grab the low E string, two half-steps higher,
so that means 12. So instead of the fifth fret, I have to grab on
the seventh wet. And This makes no sense
to record like this. So make sure to use one finger. And now you have a
power chord again. You can grab the E
and a string only. So you would have
like this shape. And you can also
include the D string. So the fourth
string to have like this two fingers shape
with the octave in. So the only thing
that you did is moving the index finger
from the fifth fret, two frets higher to
the seventh wet. So just this note changes. Of course, you can now move this chord all around
the fretboard, just as with power chords. Also with the open strings,
it's now possible. But what you now
have to keep in mind is that the note names are now different since
this is now a denote, the naming of the power chords
is sit now also different. So in a power chord is not
based on the fifth fret now, it is now based on
the seventh wet. Same within G power chord. It's not based on the
third fret, low E string. It is now based on the
fifth fret low D string. And this is now an F. This is an E. And open strings are D. Okay, so you have to
think a little bit different when you're
naming power chords. But besides that, it is actually very easy to play with
Swift power chords. I will show you an example with, in the next video which you can learn and have FUN with IT
6. Drop-D power chord extension: Okay, so a really cool thing
that you can now do with these power chords is playing
a power chord extension. And what that means is just adding two more nodes
to the power chord. But these nodes
aren't any new nodes. These are just another root
node and another fifth. So as you know, a power chord contains a root
node and the fifth. So if you take this
shape, you have, if we would be incented tuning, we have, this is the root
node, this is the fifth. And here you have the actors. And now we are in Drop-D Tuning, so we have this shape. So root fifth octave. And now we can add
another route and another fifth by adding the wing finger, in this case, on the
ninth fret G string, if we're doing an,
a power chord. And then you can also add the pinky on the 10th
fret of the B string. So this is just another inode, and this is just another a node. So we have root, fifth, root, fifth root. And then you have a
really big power chord which goes over five strings. Make sure to mute the
high E string with your index finger so that
this node isn't ringing. And you can move this
shape all around the fret board as you do it
with usual power chords. And the cool thing is with
the open D power chord. You can just use the
D power chord shape, which you already know from
standard power chords. Just at the lowest
string and the a string. And now you have this
huge open D power chord. So this is a great way if you want certain power chord sound, very big and huge. And it's really cool
to have this option. In some cases, it
really makes sense
8. Drop-D chord voicings: Of course, you can also play other chord voicings in Drop-D. Some of them are a little bit easier than in
standard tuning, and some of them are little
bit more complicated. But in general, it
is all possible. I wanted to show you
the most common chords that you can use
with Drop-D tuning, which are used in
WACC and metal music. And the first one
is SAS to chord, which goes like this. So a SAS to chord voicing
is great if you want. Really like floating sound
in your power chord, and it is very simple. So let's take a power chord. In this case, you just have
to put your wing finger on the ninth fret of the
D string of the high, these trig in this case. Instead playing D
active on the D string. Yeah, playing the second, you will get a SAS to chord. And of course you can move this cart around the
fretboard as well. For the open D chord, you have to put your finger on the second fret
of the D string. Yeah, these are cis to
chords in Drop-D. Now, you can also play minor
chords, for example. And to play minor chord, you simply go to
the SAS to shape, but you move your ring
finger one fret higher. Or you can also use the
pinky in this case. And then you have a minor chord. Okay, so now we have
to route the faith and the minor third here
on the 10th fret D string. And if you know a little
bit of music theory, then you know that
a major chord has a major third and
target a major third, you have to move the note which you are playing
with the pinky, which causes the minor
chord one fret higher. And then you have
the major card. And you see this is a
pretty big stretch. So it's not the
best shape to play. So if you're play the card
down here, it is pretty hard. But if you're play to
your on the higher frets, it is a little bit easier. So as you can see,
if you combine these three chord voicings, you can get some really
cool like melodic riffs. And of course you can also add the power chord extension to
spice it up a little bit. And in the next video, I will give you a
little width example with all these chord voicings. That sounds pretty
cool and which you can learn and play
and have FUN with it.
Sascha Rebbe
