D A D G A D, or Celtic tuning, is an alternative guitar tuning most associated with Celtic music, though it has also found use in rock, folk, metal and several other genres. Instead of the standard tuning (E2A2D3G3B3E4) the six guitar strings are tuned, from low to high, D2A2D3G3A3D4 .
Tuning to D A D G A D from standard is accomplished by tuning the first,[a] second,[a] and sixth[a] strings down a whole tone (two frets). The result is an open D, suspended fourth chord. Being suspended, the open tuning is neither intrinsically major nor minor.
D A D G A D was popularized by British folk guitarist Davey Graham.[1]
Inspired by hearing an oud player in Morocco, Graham experimented with detuning some of the guitar's strings from standard tuning (E2A2D3G3B3E4), arriving at D2A2D3G3A3D4orD A D G A D . He employed the tuning to great effect in his treatments of Celtic music, but also the folk musicofIndia and Morocco.[1] The first guitarists in Irish traditional music to use the tuning were Mícheál Ó Domhnaill and Dáithí Sproule; it has become a very common tuning in the genre.[citation needed]
The suitability of D A D G A DtoCeltic music stems from the fact that it facilitates the use of a number of moveable chords, which retain open strings.[6] These act as a drone on either the bass or treble strings, approximating the voicings used in traditional Scottish and Irish pipe music.
