Guitar tuning

DADGAD Tuning (D-A-D-G-A-D)

DADGAD is D-A-D-G-A-D. Three strings come down a full step from standard: the sixth from E to D, the second from B to A, and the first from E to D. The open strings do not form a major or a minor chord but a Dsus4 — which is exactly why the tuning sounds open and unresolved rather than happy or sad.

🎸 Open the tuner in this tuning

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Strings and frequencies

String Note Hz
String 1 D4 293.66 Hz
String 2 A3 220.00 Hz
String 3 G3 196.00 Hz
String 4 D3 146.83 Hz
String 5 A2 110.00 Hz
String 6 D2 73.42 Hz

Is DADGAD the same as Drop D or Open D?

All three tunings start by dropping the sixth string to D, and that is where the resemblance ends.

Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E) changes only that string. The other five stay exactly as they are in standard tuning, so everything you already know how to play still works. It is a shortcut to power chords.

DADGAD (D-A-D-G-A-D) changes three. Open, it rings a Dsus4 — a chord with no third, so neither major nor minor. That missing third is precisely what gives the tuning its floating, modal character.

Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D) changes four, but it puts an F# in place that does define a chord: open, it rings a full D major. Open D is an open-chord tuning; DADGAD is not.

Put briefly: Drop D is standard tuning with a shortcut, Open D is a finished chord, and DADGAD sits deliberately in between. Nothing about it sounds resolved, and that is exactly what the people who use it are after.

How to tune an acoustic guitar to DADGAD

Three strings, all going down, all by a whole step.

Start with the sixth: slacken it until it matches the open fourth string an octave below. It is the same move as Drop D, and the ear reads it well — the two notes stop beating against each other and merge.

Then the first: slacken it until it matches the open fourth string an octave above. It is the thinnest string, so the change in tension is very noticeable; go slowly.

Finish with the second: bring it down until it matches the open fifth string an octave above.

With all three done, strum the open strings. It should sound suspended, unresolved. If you hear a clear D major, you have moved the third string by mistake: in DADGAD the G stays exactly where it was.

If you would rather not trust your ear, the tuner on this page hears each string and tells you when it reaches its note.

Why is DADGAD called Celtic tuning?

The name comes from how the tuning is used, not from where it came from — and where it came from is a good deal less Celtic than it sounds. The British guitarist Davey Graham worked DADGAD out in the early 1960s after hearing an oud player in Morocco: he was chasing something of that instrument's sound on a guitar. What happened next is that he applied it to traditional British and Irish material, it took hold there, and the name stuck to that use.1

So "Celtic tuning" describes what the tuning is good for, not where it is from. Its inspiration is Moroccan before it is Celtic.

There is a musical reason as well as a historical one. The open strings give D and A — the root and the fifth — repeated across three octaves, which is exactly what a bagpipe drone does. Play a melody over them and the strings you are not fretting keep ringing underneath, holding the low note in place. You get the effect of a traditional drone instrument without doing anything special.

And because the open chord has no third, the same shapes serve melodies in major and in minor modes alike. In modal music, where that distinction is blurred on purpose, this is an advantage rather than a gap.

Is DADGAD easier to play?

For some things yes and for others no, and it is worth knowing which is which.

Easier: the open strings already sound good together, so you can play something that sounds complete within a minute. A straight one-finger barre at any fret gives you a usable chord. And for accompanying melodies over drones, few tunings are as rewarding.

Harder: everything you knew by heart stops working on three strings out of six. Standard chord shapes do not transfer and scale patterns change shape. If you are coming from years of standard tuning, the first sessions are disorienting.

The honest answer is that DADGAD is not an easier tuning but a different one, and it rewards a different way of playing: fewer closed chords, more open strings ringing.

How it sounds

It is the definitive tuning of Celtic folk and much modern acoustic guitar. The open strings act as drones ringing under the melody, which gives that recognisable suspended, atmospheric character.

The modern reference point is the French guitarist Pierre Bensusan, who plays virtually his entire repertoire in DADGAD and has made a language of it. If you want to hear how far the tuning goes beyond folk, that is the ceiling.1

Styles and genres

Celtic folk Folk Acoustic fingerstyle World

Example songs

Recommended string gauges

Dropping three strings a whole step lowers the total tension on the neck. It is not a drastic change — three strings out of six, one step each — but you feel it under the fingers: the strings sit a little softer.

A 0.012-0.053 acoustic set handles it well. If the low strings feel loose for hard picking, go up half a gauge on the three bass strings.

On a nylon-string classical guitar the change is gentler still, because nylon starts from lower tension. In exchange it takes longer to settle: expect to retune two or three times over the first half hour.

Tuning tip

Make the most of the open strings: in DADGAD you can let the fifth (A) and both D strings ring while you move up the neck, and almost any position sounds consonant. It is ideal for building drone-based soundscapes.

Frequently asked questions

Is DADGAD the same as Drop D?

No. Drop D lowers only the sixth string (D-A-D-G-B-E). DADGAD lowers three. They share the low D, but they sound very different: Drop D is still standard tuning with a shortcut, and DADGAD is not.

Is DADGAD open D?

No. Open D is D-A-D-F#-A-D and its open strings ring a D major chord. DADGAD is D-A-D-G-A-D and rings a Dsus4, which has no third and so is neither major nor minor. They share the low D-A-D and nothing above it.

Is DADGAD an open tuning?

Not in the strict sense. An open tuning rings a complete major or minor chord on the open strings; DADGAD rings a suspended chord instead. It is usually called a modal tuning for exactly that reason.

Is DADGAD easier?

It depends what you play. It is easier to make something sound good straight away, because the open strings already ring together. It is harder if you come from standard tuning, because the chord shapes you know stop working on three of the six strings.

Why is DADGAD called Celtic tuning?

Because of the repertoire it took hold in, not because of where it came from. The British guitarist Davey Graham worked it out in the early 1960s, inspired by the Moroccan oud, and applying it to British and Irish folk is what tied the name to it. The sound helped: the open strings give D and A across several octaves, which act as drones and recall traditional drone instruments.

Is DADGAD good for slide?

You can play slide in it, but it is not the best choice. Since the open strings do not form a major chord, barring across them with the slide gives suspended chords rather than major ones. Open D and Open G are the usual slide tunings.

How do you tune an acoustic guitar to DADGAD?

Lower three strings by a whole step: the sixth from E to D, the second from B to A and the first from E to D. You can do it by ear against the strings that do not change, or with the tuner on this page.

Is DADGAD bad for your guitar?

No. Three strings come down a whole step, so tension on the neck decreases rather than increases. If you leave the guitar in DADGAD permanently, just check the string action from time to time.

Related tunings

Sources

  1. Pierre Bensusan, DADGAD Music: Compositions from Spices and Wu Wei, Mel Bay, 1996, p. 8. The source for the origin of the tuning: Davey Graham and the Moroccan oud.
  2. Martin Popoff, Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs, 2018, p. 155, for Kashmir in D-A-D-G-A-D.
  3. Dave Lewis, The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, for Black Mountain Side and White Summer in the same tuning.
  4. Keith Shadwick, Led Zeppelin: The Story of a Band and Their Music 1968-1980, Backbeat Books, 2005, pp. 18 and 214, for Davy Graham's "She Moved Through the Fair" in D-A-D-G-A-D. Jimmy Page spells out the same tuning string by string in his interview with Steven Rosen for Guitar Player, July 1977, and credits it to Graham.
  5. Our own confirmation by ear against the recordings, September 2026, for "She Moved Through the Fair" and for "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", the latter played in DADGAD with a capo on the third fret.

Updated