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 •
Raag Jog: exploring different ways the electric guitar can support a Dhrupad-ang nomtom (syllabic improvisation)…
Jun 28
Raag Kafi: Electric guitar improv around the adha bandish ‘Aaj Khel Shaam Sang Hori’
Jun 22
Raag Jog: some sawal-jawab (‘question-answer’) fun with Marc Clayton on tabla
Jun 15
Some tintal improv around a wonderful Durga bandish I’ll be playing at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
Jun 10
Come see me play some bendy raga-guitar at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
Jun 5
tomato can jungle/DnB (distracted while cooking)
May 23
A great Jaunpuri gat from Senia-Shahjahanpur sarod legend Pt Buddhadev DasGupta, full of fast bends and slides (originally released for Joep Bor’s 1997 Raga Guide, in many ways a precursor to my own raga index)
May 6
just for fun…I had to defend the honour of my main instrument against my second instrument (many thanks to @mountainhead for the original video, as well as some tasty bends) – still no match for the surbahar’s meend range though!
May 4
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(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#dhrupad #raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc)
#indianmusic #raga #icm #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc) – including this piece, a famous Bhairavi bhajan by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada)
#bhajan #raga #indianmusic #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
#drumming #percussion #dnb #jungle
Raag Jaunpuri: a late morning raga, likely originating in the Sultanate-era music of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh (as per Subodh Agrawal: “The rulers of Jaunpur were keen patrons of the arts, and the last one – Sultan Hussain Sharqi – was himself a distinguished musician; it is probable that the Jaunpuri flavor of Asavari was developed by him, or under his patronage“). Rajan Parrikar elaborates on its “Asavariant” status, noting that some (including Omkarnath Thakur) see it as essentially indistinguishable from Shuddha Re Asavari, while others consider Jaunpuri to follow more ‘rounded’ melodic motions…
#sarod #ragaguitar #stratocaster #worldmusic #jaunpur
#sitar #guitar #raga #bends #ragaguitar
• 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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