DADGAD chords, scales and fretboard notes
DADGAD chords are played in D A D G A D, lowest to highest: three strings a whole step below Standard, the lowest, the B string and the highest. Open, they sound Dsus4, neither major nor minor. Fret a few strings and the rest ring on: D is 0 0 0 2 0 4.
Major chords in DADGAD
The strings of DADGAD
Three strings move, each a whole step down: the lowest from E to D, the B string to A and the highest from E to D. Open, the six strings hold three notes, D, G and A, those of Dsus4.
This page is a chart, not a tuner. TabTunix has a tuner that names the note a string plays and lists DADGAD to tune to. All five tunings stand side by side under guitar tunings, and Drop D and Drop C have pages like this one.
| String | DADGAD | Standard | Half steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th (lowest) | D2 | E2 | −2 |
| 5th | A2 | A2 | 0 |
| 4th | D3 | D3 | 0 |
| 3rd | G3 | G3 | 0 |
| 2nd | A3 | B3 | −2 |
| 1st (highest) | D4 | E4 | −2 |
Which standard shapes work in DADGAD
Three strings are lower than in Standard, so none of the 24 chords above keeps its Standard shape: Am, X 0 2 2 1 0 in Standard, is X 0 2 2 3 2 here.
These shapes are worked out string by string, not taken from a teacher's chart: each is the lowest place on the neck where four fingers sound the chord, so a player may well hold it another way.
Every chord in DADGAD
Beyond the major and minor chords above, the chord library holds all 504, sevenths and sus chords among them, each with its shapes in DADGAD.
Show
0 0 0 2 0 4
Notes
Degrees: R 3 5. Notes: D F# A.
Inversions
Voicings
Major
Minor
Suspended
Power Chords
Medium adds the sixths, added ninths and sevenths. Pro shows every chord on the root.
DADGAD scales
A scale in DADGAD keeps its shape on the A, D and G strings and shifts on the other three: each note of the lowest string, the B string and the highest lies two frets higher. Here is D Dorian on the whole neck.
Three scales to start with, each with every position on its own page, which opens in Standard and can be set to DADGAD:
Every other scale is under guitar scales.
Degrees: R 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. Notes: D E F G A B C.
In the app
Play in DADGAD
Look up a chord or a scale in TabTunix and you see it and hear it in DADGAD, so your ear learns where the open strings fit along with your hand. Keep D Dorian in DADGAD as an exercise with a target tempo, and come back to it until it runs clean.
More on getting a scale under your fingers in how to practice scales.
Questions about DADGAD
Tune to DADGAD and let the open strings ring. Free, for Mac and Windows.