DVD 1:
"I have been doing dozens of guitar workshops over the past year and by far the most requested subject has been my use of DADGAD tuning. I thought a video on this subject would satisfy the needs of players at all levels." -- Artie Traum

Here is an easy introduction to DADGAD for those who are new to alternate tunings and want to explore its unique sounds on the guitar. It brings beautiful progressions, unique chords, ringing open strings and rich tones to your playing.

In his "guided tour," guitarist Artie Traum shows you how to retune your guitar quickly and easily, form the important chords in the key of D (some using only one finger), improvise instrumentals, write songs, and get funky with country blues ideas. Using the folk classic "The Water Is Wide" as an example, Artie reveals how a song can be harmonized using basic chord positions in this tuning.

DADGAD will transform the way you play your guitar. It will help you improvise beautiful fingerstyle pieces with its unique tonality, and inspire you to go on to more advanced studies in alternate tunings.

What's DADGAD? A simple tool that many players utilize to bring new texture and color to the guitar's sound. It's widely used by songwriters, blues guitarists and contemporary fingerstyle players. Three of the strings are retuned to get into DADGAD: The two E strings (6th and 1st) are dropped a whole tone to D, and the B (2nd string) is dropped to A. The remaining strings, A (5th), D (4th) and G (3rd) are not retuned. Thus:

E becomes D; A remains A; D remains D; G remains G; B becomes A; E becomes D

Because there is no 3rd note of the scale, the resulting sound is neither major nor minor, giving it a ringing, open sound that fits a variety of styles, tonalities and genres.

Artie Traum helps bring your guitar to life by showing you DADGAD applications in traditional mountain ballads, fingerstyle blues and contemporary songs. He starts out at a basic level, with the well-known Appalachian song East Virginia Blues. DADGAD tuning gives it that mysterious “modal” sound – neither major nor minor – that characterizes so many wonderful songs in this genre.

The classic traditional tune KC Moan and a haunting Skip James blues move you firmly into “advanced beginner” territory with invaluable tips on fingerstyle technique and some exciting blues licks and progressions. Artie’s original songs, Niagara and Serpa, feature more complex fingerpicking techniques and chord changes. You’ll learn how you can use DADGAD to discover new musical ideas on your own through experimentation with chord shapes, harmonies and progressions. Artie’s guitar compositions Blue Hotel and Fourteen Turtles are chock full of great techniques and compelling sounds. Artie teaches chord positions and progressions up and down the neck, and shows you how to play melodies against interesting bass lines. On his song Yankee Swamp, you’ll learn how DADGAD creates ways to get bluesy and funky with your playing. Artie gets into “deeper” jazz positions, progressions and variations designed to expand your knowledge of the fingerboard as it applies to this tuning. This series of lessons will surely build your repertoire of songs and techniques, and will open up vast new ideas for creative expression.