DADGAD and Tune Accompaniment
A few years I became enchanted with Celtic fiddle music when, out of curiosity, I bought a Kevin Burke record; I was immediately hooked. Burke’s pure melodies and direct approach seemed so refreshing compared to the contest-style fiddling with which I grew up, and I also discovered an unforeseen bonus in the sparkling guitar accompaniment of Micheal O’Domhnaill. Although I loved Burke’s fiddling, my ears were magically drawn to O Domhnaill’s rich, fluid sound. I loved his open-string, ringing timbre but couldn’t figure out how to make this sound myself until one evening with Russ Barenberg on the phone played a cut a Pierre Bensusan recording for me and explained Bensusan’s tuning: DADGAD (from low to high). The light came on, and soon I was working out cord inversions and rhythm parts for the Southern fiddle tunes of my region. For certain kinds of diatonic melodies which benefit from a flowing, cascading type of accompaniment (as opposed to swing-oriented or bluegrass-style back up), I consider the DADGAD tuning as my first choice. Only listening and experience can help in your decision whether to employ this approach rather than standard tuning in any given situation, but the tunes themselves ultimately will let you know how to proceed.
If you are unfamiliar with this tuning, the first step is to learn some of the basic chords so you at least can play tunes; you can get fancy later. Below are a few common chords played in the keys of D, G, and A.
By the way, in order effectively to play out of DADGAD tuning, you will need a capo because the ringing, open strings which make DADGAD so good in some keys can be problematic in keys that do not use these open-string notes. The closed, barre-chord style sounds really lame in DADGAD; so, if you’re playing a tune in F major, for instance, then capo on the third fret and use the chord forms which you would use in D major. When you do need a closed chord form, the following major and minor triads have the root in the bass on the sixth string and can simply be moved up and down the neck as necessary to play any major or minor chord.
Once you look at the musical examples in this article, you will notice many none-chordtones, some of which might sound horribly dissonant if played out of context, but these ringing, open notes should not be views as part of the chord in the usual way by which we define tertian harmony. They produce a richness which many times needs ony to be enjoyed for itself and not scrutinized in light of what is “correct,” and they produce a model quality by implying chord changes without explicitly stating an entire chord. The utilization of pedal tones created a droning quality which supports all kinds of subtle, shifting textures and cadences by the addition of maybe only one note to a chord. Notice in the following example the impression of a D to A to D cadence only with the addition of the C# note to the middle chord.
Before we jump into the tunes themselves, I want to give a few examples of typical picking patterns for reels (and other related 2/4 tune types), jigs, and waltzes. You can practice these examples and the insert them into the tunes however you see fit. We’ll start with three examples in 2/4.
The next three examples are in 6/8.
The final three picking patterns are in ¾. The “P” stands for “pick,” the “3” is the middle finger, and “4” means use the ring finger. This method of finger picking with a flat pick and two fingers is common here in Nashville.
You can apply these picking techniques in “Whiskey Before Breakfast, “ a reel which I believe is of American origin (but I’m not sure), in “ Merrily the Quaker, “ a 6/8 Irish jig, and “Redeemed,” a 3/4 hymn which I learned out of the new Baptist hymnal (this obviously is a waltz even though you wouldn’t waltz to it.) I’ve indicated the chord forms of these progressions both by using the little grids above the staves and by writing out in standard notation and in tablature the notes of each successive chord (the melody is included in both formats, also). Experiment with the various picking and strumming patterns discussed above and add rhythm to the chords however you like. I prefer to mix things up quite a bit.
I have found that a typical medium gauge set works well with the lower string tension; light gauge strings usually splat and buzz or at best sound weak. When I’m playing single string passages, I use something along the lines of a Fender heavy pick, but I go really thin picks for most rhythm playing in DADGAD. This seems to clarify the individual notes of the chords and brighten the sound in a way that sounds satisfying only in this tuning.
I hope you have as much fun with DADGAD as I do. Jump right in, and you’ll be knocking yourself out in no time at all. By the way, here is a list of some of my favorite guitarists who routinely use the DAGAD set up. All the records listed below are on the Green Linnet label.
Micheal O Domhnaill
“Portland” with Kevin Burke
“Promenade” with Kevin Burke
All Bothy Band recordings
Paul Brady
“Molloy/Brady/Peoples”
“Andy Irvine/ Paul Brady”
“Welcome Here Kind Stranger”
Arty McGlynn
“Contentment Is Wealth” with Matt Molloy and Sean Keane
Most Patrick Street recordings
“Stony Steps” with Matt Molloy
Mark Kelly/ Daithe Sproule All Altan recordings