My alternative guitar tunings

Some people guard their special guitar tunings like they were freaking state secrets. Jimmy Page is notorious for this, as an example. Let's be real here: I want people to be able to play my songs, if they can figure them out. No, I'm not going to write tablature for my stuff... if you really want to learn it, the process of figuring out how to play it will be good for you. But I can at least give you a fighting chance, which you probably won't have unless you at least know how to tune the guitar appropriately.

Therefore, I'm happy to tell you, song by song, what tunings were used in the making of my album. Song sample links below are to the USA iTunes store, but you can find the samples in plenty of other places.

TRACK 1: "Lines on your Eyes"
TUNING: D-A-E-G-C-E
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: I borrowed this tuning from Joni Mitchell, who is one of the undisputed world leaders of alternative tunings. Joni had no choice, since a childhood bout with polio left her unable to play certain chords in a standard manner, and even if she could, some of her tunings allow for clusters and inversions and suspensions that would be really hard to do otherwise, if not impossible. She uses similar tunings on songs like "Edith and the Kingpin", "Furry Sings the Blues", and other tunes.

TRACK 2: "Come Around"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard), with capo on 2nd fret
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: You can play this without the capo if absolutely necessary. I just like playing it with.

TRACK 3: "Falling Down"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard)
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: Not much to say here. To play some of my songs, you'll need to learn to fret an Fsus9 chord using your thumb on the low string, allowing you to keep the open 3rd string ringing. This is one of those cases.

TRACK 4: "This Afternoon"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard)
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: Again, no tricks up my sleeve. It's standard tuning, and a simple song. A few nuances: you'll need some practice to play the main Em11 to Gsus9 pattern, but you'll get it.

TRACK 5: "Thanks Anyway"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard), with capo on 4th fret
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: Again, I feel this song is very straightforward. Be prepared to use the same thumb-based fretting as you did on the F chord above (now becoming an Asus9 with the use of the capo).

TRACK 6: "The Sands of Redondo"
TUNING: D-G-C-G-C-D
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: I referenced jimmy Page above, and perhaps there's a good reason for that: this song is one of my personal favs on the album, and it uses a tuning I took straight from Zeppelin's "The Rain Song". It's in a different key for the most part, and has its own vibe, but I did indeed get inspired to write this after picking up my acoustic guitar one day after I'd been playing some Zeppelin, and let my hands wander around the fretboard a bit on their own.

TRACK 7: "Fade Away"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard)
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: This is the second most simple song on the album (see below for the even simpler one). What you hear is what you get. Be sure to do both of the suspensions... sus2 and sus4... on the G chord. Play them on the 2nd and 3rd strings simultaneously.

TRACK 8: "Always Tomorrow"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard)
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: And here's the easiest song on the album. Standard tuning, and everything you hear is what it is. The song is simple and honest and I didn't want to get into any trickery with the way it's played. The only thing that borders complexity is the harmonic progression of the solo, which are just varieties of D, Bb and C played on the top three strings, with the D string droning a pedal tone underneath.

TRACK 9: "You're Like a Cloud"
TUNING: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard)
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: Deceptively easy. I mean, it's easy, but there are some details you don't want to blow off.

TRACK 10: "Waxing Gibbous"
TUNING: D-A-D-G-A-D
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: DADGAD is one of the most famous alternative tunings... possibly the most famous. Again, this is something that Page would use in Zeppelin pretty often. You can hear it on songs like "Black Mountain Side" and "Kashmir". I've long had a fascination with the Lydian mode, and you can hear the #4 tritone happening from the very first strum here.

TRACK 11: "Waiting for This"
TUNING: D-A-D-G-B-D (aka "D Modal" or "Double Drop D")
HEAR IT NOW: iTunes Link
NOTE: Ah, my love for Neil Young shines through here. Neil used his "D Modal" tuning on a huge range of great songs, including "Cinnamon Girl", "The Loner", "Ohio", "When You Dance" and many more. All you do is take your standard tuning, and move both the high E and the low E string down a full step to a D. Then, start playing around, forming chord shapes as usual. You will find some different depth and dimension to the sounds, and some things will work well and others won't. But it's a fun tuning to screw around in, and it might inspire you. In "Waiting for This", most of the stuff is pretty simple once you get in tune.

So, there it is! My guitar tunings, straight from the horse's ass- er, mouth, preserved for posterity. If you have questions about this stuff, or more specific queries about playing my songs, just ask. I promise not to bite.