Livening up Drop tunings

Drew_TNBD

I feel it's more common to fall into the same old patterns when you're in a drop tuning than when you're in a standard tuning. Maybe I'm wrong, but the whole 'power chords with one finger' thing can become a bit of a prison. Post tips here on how to liven up drop-tunings.

Here are mine, which admittedly are probably really commonly know. But maybe someone will get something from them:

- Add minor notes to your power chords with a simple additional fingering on the 4th string, two frets up from the main fret. So something like:

D -10--
A -7---
D -7---

- You can even take this a step further and create melodies within the chord. For example, one of my bands songs called Fractal World does this:

C --8-----8--8--8--8--7-----7--7--7--7----|
G --5-----5--5--5--5--5-----5--5--5--5----|
C --5-----5--5--5--5--5-----5--5--5--5----|


C --------------------5-----5--5--5--5----|
G --8-----8--8--8--8--5-----5--5--5--5----|
C --5-----5--5--5--5--5-----5--5--5--5----|


C --10----10-10-10-10-8-----8--8--8--8----|
G --8-----8--8--8--8--8-----8--8--8--8----|
C --8-----8--8--8--8--8-----8--8--8--8----|


C --13----13-13-13-13-12----12-12-12-12---|
G --10----10-10-10-10-10----10-10-10-10---|
C --10----10-10-10-10-10----10-10-10-10---|

So you can see that with my pinkie finger, I'm creating this additional melody within the main chord progression. It's a neat trick and can liven up a drop tuning no end.

randomhandclaps

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this particular thing. A couple of years back I was in a band and started writing feverishly in drop D, or C#. I'm now revisiting that stuff to record final versions for a project and I realised how much more adventurous I was to start with when I was actually conscially thinking about note structure (like it was a slide tuning) rather than trudging out riffs like it was a gear demo.

Drew_TNBD

Another cool thing to do is drop into drop-d or drop-c or whatever.. but use fret 2 as you're pedal note. So you're essentially still in standard mode, but you can always pedal from an open d chord back to the 2nd fret. Good for making huge jumps across the neck.

Deijavoo

The whole drop tuning trap is one I've argued with friends about for what feels like a lifetime The open chord ends up so obvious in so many songs but then again, doesn't standard E in standard tuning?

Good thread idea and sharing dude.

PolarityMan

I quite like playing whole tone intervals too, I think it sounds a bit like a seventh chord played at the same time and creates an ambigous root note that you can strengthen to hear either on the A string or the D string via the other guitar / bass. Like this moveable pattern from one of our tunes called Jedidiah:

|--777-7p5-5-7-|

|--333-3-3--3-3-|

|--333-3-3--3-3-|