GDAD tuning

[bsfloyd]

I've been seeing a good amount of GDAD tuning mentioned here and there, much related to irish playing. To those that currently use this tuning, are you using it more for backing rhythm or solo melody playing? I know a very large amount of my melody library of tunes includes the high B (1st string 7th fret), and having the first string tuned down a step from E to D would be more of a reach that it already is getting up to the 9th fret. Curious to know if GDAD tuning is more used for back up rhythm playing or not. Thanks.

[Lord of the Badgers]

A real mix. I sometimes feel standard tuning is less creative (for me, in my head only!!) when writing.
I play a lot of arpeggiated fingerstyle chords and linking melody lines. I actually prefer to fingerstyle than flatpick tenor. It's softer.

Quality is a bit arse and this is a very old song of mine, but I was playing around on the tenor and it sounded kinda sweet in my ears

[bsfloyd]

Thanks for the video, Rob! I enjoyed it very much. Very nice song!! I assume you were using GDAD in this tune? Everything sounded great.

When I mentioned this tuning in the first post, I was referring to melody playing as in trad Irish tunes and the like. I seen some videos of Paul Kimber playing a Nigel Forster tenor tuned in GDAD and really flying around the fretboard. It just seems that having the E tuned down to D would cause some havoc in the upper register, but he seemed to be just fine with it!

[Lord of the Badgers]

I know (correction....) Tom Kimber a bit. Lovely guy, plays a bunch of Davidson instruments He’s a bit good at anything he plays. You just adapt. What I love about GDAD is that it makes chords sound interesting - lots more sus2 modal-ly type voicings.
GDAE is great, and i use that for when I’m writing more jazzy stuff (kind of chord melody) which is a different style. But for folk i prefer the lose-myself-in-it ness of GDAD - or even... GDGD

Sorry, yeah this was in GDAD (albeit Capo on... IIRC)