B-A-D-G-A-D
• OVERVIEW •
‘BADGAD’ – essentially ‘drop B DADGAD’ – was showcased by steel-string colossus Michael Hedges on The Funky Avocado, a near-disturbingly groovy duet with fretless bass virtuoso Michael Manring. According to Hedges, “it starts out with a medium R&B tempo, slows down into some heavy rock, and finishes up in a fit of disco fury”.
The ‘slack thwack’ of the super-low 6str adds wild sparks to your improv – try it out with this 6str B as your root, then switch to feeling the parallel D tones as home (i.e. ‘DADGAD with a maj. 6th in the bass’).
Pattern: 10>5>5>2>5
Harmony: Bmin7(#5) | 1-b7-b3-#5-b7-b3
• TUNING TONES •
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• SOUNDS •
First released on his 1981 debut album Breakfast in the Field, the original Funky Avocado track mixes Hedges’ acoustic strumming with Manring’s sliding electric basslines. He also cut numerous solo guitar versions, even sprinkled with a little singing at times (e.g. on Strings of Steel). Hedges recounted the track’s origin tale at a 1987 concert:
“I lived above a health food store just down the street from a gay disco called The Pink Hippopotamus. I used to be trying to write music…and The Pink Hippo was always sending me back ‘boom boom boom’…so rather than trying to compete with it, I decided to try to incorporate some of the elements. So that’s how The Funky Avocado came about…”
BADGAD has also been used by John Martyn (Head and Heart), Don Alder (Paint Here), Amarionette (Riff Jam), and Lee Anthony Jones (Not That it Helps) – and doubtless many more drop-DADGADders too. And, as per the tuning list sent in by Jon Gomm, he uses it on Swallow You Whole (albeit with a 2fr capo covering all strings except 6str, thus producing BBEABE: equivalent to ‘BADGAD +2 drop 6str’).
- Funky Avocado – Michael Hedges & Michael Manring (~1982):
“You can’t ‘make’ your music good. You can’t try to be good. You can try to be present – and…to remain open, so what is going to speak to you can speak through you…” (Michael Hedges)
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• NUMBERS •
| 6str | 5str | 4str | 3str | 2str | 1str | |
| Note | B | A | D | G | A | D |
| Alteration | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | -2 |
| Tension (%) | -44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -21 | -21 |
| Freq. (Hz) | 62 | 110 | 147 | 196 | 220 | 294 |
| Pattern (>) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | – |
| Semitones | 0 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 27 |
| Intervals | 1 | b7 | b3 | #5 | b7 | b3 |
- See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!
• RELATED •
—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…
- Drop A (‘Slack Thwack’): buzzing realms of the super-loose
- Mesopotamian: same notes, but the middle two swapped
- Magic Farmer: …explains why Hedges’ avocadoes are so funky?
• MORE INFO •
—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…
- Michael Hedges: more on the Avocado‘s origins from Windham Hill, and John Stropes’ acclaimed transcription work Rhythm, Sonority, Silence – also see my Hedges section in Altered-Tuned Artists (“Probably the closest thing to a ‘Hendrix of the acoustic’, Hedges revolutionised the world of solo steel-string…like Jimi, you can pretty much divide his instrument’s history into the ‘pre-‘ and ‘post-‘ eras. His energetic style relied on highly individualised tunings, with most tracks having their very own…”)
- BADGAD tuning: stringing chat on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum – also briefly discussed in Lee Anthony Jones’ 2018 PhD (Unorthodox Tunings and Muscle Memory Practice for the Electric Guitar: “Guitar 1 introduces a natural harmonic riff quite forcibly. Guitar 2 plays higher harmonics with delay over the top. Guitar 3 can be heard quietly playing open strings…”)
Header image: Breakfast in the Field album art (1981)
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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Home & Writings, and hit me up for Online Lessons!
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