D-G-D-G-C-D

• OVERVIEW •

Resembles a Standard-tuned ‘0-0-2-2-3-0’ Asus4 chord shape in terms of interval structure, giving an open, balanced sound (a sus4 is essentially ‘a root + the perfect 5ths above & below it’). Note the narrow maj 2nd interval at the top (2>1str) – useful for dropping open-string ‘cluster tones’ into your melodising.

 

Nicknamed ‘Sawmill’ after the ‘g-D-G-C-D’ tuning of old-time banjo, although the precise means by which it may have crossed over to the guitar repertoire remain unclear. Revived in recent years by steel-string master Martin Simpson and others in associated acoustic folk zones.

Pattern: 5>7>5>5>2

Harmony: Gsus4 | 5-1-5-1-4-5

• TUNING TONES •

• SOUNDS •

The tuning’s most prominent modern exponent is undoubtedly Martin Simpson, ever a true student of the folksy detail. Check out his crisp, tight fingerpicking on tracks such as The Coo Coo Bird, Bachelor’s Hall, and Betsy the Serving Maid (sometimes capoed at higher frets), which interpolate transatlantic ideas for a unique resonance.

 

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• Betsy the Serving Maid – Martin Simpson (1997):

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“People used to tell me that I was a ‘late developer’ years ago, when I was in England, and I used to say ‘Get away, I’m a prodigy. On yer bike.’ But actually I feel like I am – I’m just hitting my stride now, at 41. It’s great to be able to say to myself that I feel that life does begin at 40. I feel like I’m really hitting it.” (Martin Simpson in a 1995 Folk Roots interview)

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As argued in in a top-quality discussion on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum, DGDGCD “is adopted from a common banjo tuning, and can be used to play old mountain banjo tunes on guitar” (I’ve also seen the equivalent ‘gDGCD’ banjo layout referred to as “Mountain Minor” and “Shady Grove”). One poster quotes an account they received from luthier Paul Hostetter on the tuning’s use in the banjo-based ‘Sawmill’ tradition:

 

“[DGDGCD] is intended to facilitate playing a certain small sequence of notes in a particular tune. The tunes themselves are extremely simple…The ‘beauty’ part is making them work rhythmically, which is what that style of banjo-guitar is all about…[Chase] down recordings of Hobart Smith…and others who play the old repertoire and tunings, and try to absorb the actual music at the source. This way you can take the technique outside the known recordings, and not just mimic the few. I assure you – this is a lot more fun!”

 

With a learning philosophy like that, how could I not take heed? So, here’s some Hobart Smith (1897-1965), the old-time guitar-banjo wizard of Virginia. He sure got some chops…

 

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• Railroad Bill – Hobart Smith (1959):

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“Hobart was recalling music from the 19th century: pieces that musicians he had known, both black and white, played before the advent of recorded sound…He said, ‘I play the banjo for everything that’s in it’…” (Stephen Wade)

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Other artists use DGDGCD to explore different acoustic folk traditions – such as Gilad Weiss’ sombre, oud-like improvisation on a fretless nylon-string. All hail to experimental settings like this, which combine novel guitar setup (‘remove the frets, change the tuning’) and global musical detail into a remarkably natural-sounding style!

 

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• Fretless DGDGCD improv – Gilad Weiss (2020):

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“I was exposed to Turkish folk music about 4-5 years ago, and was hooked. I bought a saz and tried to learn it…after a while, hearing Erkan Oğur changed everything completely: I took up the fretless guitar and kopuz…I often travel to Turkey to interact with more people and musicians…” (Gilad Weiss)

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• NUMBERS •

	6str	5str	4str	3str	2str	1str
Note	D	G	D	G	C	D
Alteration	-2	-2	0	0	+1	-2
Tension (%)	-21	-21	0	0	+12	-21
Freq. (Hz)	73	98	147	196	262	294
Pattern (>)	5	7	5	5	2	–
Semitones	0	5	12	17	22	24
Intervals	5	1	5	1	4	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 G (this with 2str -1): slide-friendly Gmaj
• Orkney (this with 6str -2): folksy modal layout
• Hejira: another ‘slack-at-the-sides’ suspension

• MORE INFO •

—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…

• Sawmill guitar: for more on fitting the quirks of this banjo tradition onto the fretboard, see the aforementioned UMGC thread, watch a banjoist in action in gDGCD ‘Shady Grove’ tuning, and check out Julie Henigan’s book on DADGAD & DGDGCD Tunings – and to get deeper into these old-time styles, read her Ozark’s Alive overview (“when I first found out about Max Hunter’s traditional Ozarks song collection…I spent many hours listening…Dad encouraged my interest by buying what records and books he could…That explains my misspent youth”)
• Hobart Smith: recommended by Paul Hostetter above, the virtuosic multi-instrumentalist remains a real hidden gem: here he is playing banjo – and you can read more about his style and career path in a great multimedia NPR feature from 2005, also featuring some amazing audio clips (“A few months before these tapes came to be made, Bill Monroe remarked, ‘Hobart Smith was a first-class musician and showman, all right. Played by himself. Didn’t carry a band. Played all the string instruments, too, and was a mighty fine buckdancer. He was a good guitar bluesman, a great old-time fiddler, and I’d have to say, he was the best old-time banjo picker I ever heard…'”)

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Header image: Martin Simpson in action (2008)