00:09Hi everybody I'm Stuart Ryan and in this lesson I'm going to show you how to use one of my
00:14favorite alto tunings open G major this one's most famously used by Keith Richards so if you've
00:20heard Brown Sugar from the Rolling Stones you've heard open G but it's also used by everybody from
00:25blues pioneer Charlie Patton to Rich Robinson of the Black Crows and many more let's start off by
00:30seeing how you actually get into the tuning so we take the low E string down a tone to become
00:36a D
00:38the fifth string is down from A to a G strings four three and two stay the same D G
00:45B and then
00:48finally the high E string is tuned down a tone to a D and then we get this big open
00:56G major chord
00:56from all the strings one of my favorite aspects of open G major tuning is that the fourth third
01:05and second strings the D G and B stay the same so if you know what your triads are on
01:12those strings
01:12you can use those to create chords and then you can use the open strings around them to create color
01:17so in this next example I'm going to play a simple G major to C major progression so I'm playing
01:24a G major
01:24here using this G triad and a G on the top and I'm going to go to a C major
01:33chord but it sounds great
01:36because I've got the addition of the open D string on the top which is the nine so I get
01:41a C add nine chord
01:43with the fifth G in the bass so this is going to give us a real kind of country Americana
01:51sound
02:06a.
02:44Next, I'm going to play a folk fingerpicking inspired example, a kind of Bob Dylan sound.
02:49It's a simple chord progression, G, C, D, so a 1, 4, 5 in G major, but the open strings
02:55are again doing so much of the work.
02:56We have an open G major chord, the open C again, and we go to this really gorgeous D add
03:064.
03:09And everything's played with this steady open G bass line all the way through.
03:20So that gives us this really nice consistent sound. Here's the example.
03:24. . . . .
04:46Open G is also amazing for Americana and especially bluegrass.
04:50A lot of bluegrass music is played in the key of G so this tuning is almost tailor-made for
04:55it and again we can let the open strings do lots of the work.
04:58In this next example I'm going to play a rhythm idea based around this big open G5 chord.
05:06Which has a really kind of neutral quality until we add the F sharp in it.
05:13And then I'm going to play licks down in the open position and again it's the open strings that are
05:18doing so much of the work here meaning I only have to use one or two fingers on the fretboard.
05:24And then I'm going to play.
05:24I'm going to play.
05:47So,
05:52Piano Piano Piano Piano
06:19When you leave the open position, you'll start to find some really unique and colorful chords
06:24where you combine a couple of fretted notes against the open strings in the tuning. It's
06:29a really easy way to add things like 9ths, 11ths, sharp 11ths to your playing and you can almost do
06:34this on a trial and error basis. Just play around, see what works and then analyze the chord voicing
06:40afterwards. So next I'm going to play three interesting sound chord voicings with plenty
06:45of color attached and then I'll turn them into a simple arpeggiated piece.
07:19of the
07:22Yes.
07:25No.
07:27No.
07:35No.
07:39No.
07:40No.
07:41No.
07:42No.
07:44piano plays softly
08:19I've written a short instrumental piece to conclude
08:22and this one's really inspired by Rich Robinson of the Black Crows and Jimmy Page
08:26and we're going to sort of hear how we get that Americana root sound from licks like this
08:36and again the open strings are doing so much work there
08:38but we can also get these kind of really dramatic 70s chords like this C minor
08:46again just two fingers and open strings doing the work
08:49one thing about open tunings is they can drag you into the key of the tuning
08:54so you'll get stuck playing combinations of G, C and D
08:57so when you've played through these examples
08:59try finding some different chords in different keys
09:02using threaded notes and open strings to really take advantage of the tuning
09:06here we go
09:07piano plays softly
10:57Thanks for watching everybody.
10:58I hope you've enjoyed that lesson and got something out of it.
11:00I love this tuning.
11:02It's my go-to for Americana roots and certain styles of blues.
11:06So let me know how you get on, leave any questions below and don't forget to subscribe to Guitar World.
11:11I'll see you soon. Take care.
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