D-G-D-G-Bb-D
• OVERVIEW •
Resembles a Standard-tuned Amin shape (‘0-0-2-2-1-0’) in terms of interval structure. Thus qualifies as a ‘cross-note’ layout: as you can easily ‘cross over’ to a Gmaj voicing with just one finger, as ‘0-0-0-0-1-0’ (something much less straightforward in the other direction, i.e. making Gmin voicings in Open Gmaj). Note the 5th in the bass.
Tuning guru Bill Sethares cites it as having descended from Gmin-tuned banjo traditions (D-G-Bb-D), with the lowest two strings doubled up on the guitar an octave lower (6-5str & 3-4str) – although I guess plenty of guitarists may have found it ‘organically’ too, given its physical and conceptual proximity to the globally-popular Open G.
Pattern: 5>7>5>3>4
Harmony: Gmin | 5-1-5-1-b3-5
• TUNING TONES •
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• SOUNDS •
Despite the widespread fame of Open G and Open Dm, use of Open Gm remains rare. However, it has been explored to superb effect by a scattering of steel-string fingerpickers: e.g. Mist-Covered Mountains of Home (John Renbourn), Chester County (John Miller), Where Do My Bluebird Fly? (Tallest Man on Earth, cp.8), and Sparkling on the Wind (Stefan Grossman: replete with deliberately messy microtonal tweaks).
- Where Do My Bluebird Fly? – The Tallest Man On Earth (2008):
“I started listening to Nick Drake and Skip James, and figured out you could just retune your guitar by running up and down the neck. If you put it to this tuning, then your left hand doesn’t have to do much, and the right hand becomes a songwriting machine…” (Kristian Matsson)
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• NUMBERS •
| 6str | 5str | 4str | 3str | 2str | 1str | |
| Note | D | G | D | G | Bb | D |
| Alteration | -2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -2 |
| Tension (%) | -21 | -21 | 0 | 0 | -11 | -21 |
| Freq. (Hz) | 73 | 98 | 147 | 196 | 233 | 294 |
| Pattern (>) | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | – |
| Semitones | 0 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 20 | 24 |
| Intervals | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | b3 | 5 |
- 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…
- Open Fm (this -2): a lower, looser transposition
- Open Gsus (this with 2str +3): a ‘modal’ G
- Fuji: a different approach to slackened Gm
• MORE INFO •
—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…
- Gm banjo tunings: on guitar, see Gmin video lessons from LeftoverVISUALS and Corey Hunter, as well as a chord blog from CreativeGuitarStudio, and a scale booklet by Alessandro De Sanctis – and to see the tuning at work on a banjo, check out a Banjo Hangout thread, and clawhammer demos from Steve Harrison and Ryan Spearman (plus a broader banjo tuning list from Deering: “GDAE…Irish Tenor Tuning”, “DGBE…Chicago…same as the top four strings of a guitar…”)
- Five-string luthiery: aside from the banjo, the world has many other penta-strung instruments…although not as many as I might expect given the global popularity of 4- and 6-string designs. And, for reasons I’m yet to deduce, the vast majority of the 5-string instruments I can trace come from either Portugal or South America (actually, most are 10-stringed, paired as 5 ‘courses’) – check out the charango, chillador, jarana jarocha, huapanguera, mejoranera, and walaycho, as well as the Portuguese-derived ‘fretted viola’ family: viola amarantina, viola braguesa, viola caipira, viola campaniça, viola de arame, viola de mano, and viola toeira – and, from elsewhere, the European cittern, Canarian timple, and North German waldzither…
Header image: Kristian Matsson (a.k.a. The Tallest Man on Earth)
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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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