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The Dropped-D Visual Guide
How to Maximize Your Use of Dropped-D and Related Tunings
by Jason Aaron Wood
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Dropped D
Dropped D tuning opens a whole new world of possibilities on your guitar. It makes some things easier,
while it makes some things possible.
It also makes some things more difficult, like things you might normally play with “standard” tuning
(EADGBE and/or any other tuning tuned “4th-4th-4th-3rd-4th”).
Whether you’re tuned to Dropped D, Dropped C-sharp, Dropped-C or any other similar tuning, this ebook will give you several important visual tools to help you really get to know your way around with
any “dropped D” tuning configuration by making use of specific “D”-based scales as well as by getting to
know the layout of the natural harmonics in this tuning.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
4 Scales
This e-book will focus on 4 separate but related scales, all starting on open “D”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Natural Minor (aka, the Aeolian mode)
Harmonic Minor (Natural minor with a raised 7th)
Phrygian (aka, the Phrygian mode; 5th mode of Natural Minor)
Phrygian Dominant (Phrygian with a raised 3rd; 5th mode of Harmonic Minor)
Spend some time getting used to where the notes are within each scale pattern, and take note of the
different sound each scale’s interval pattern produces:
•
•
•
Take note how Natural Minor sounds different from Harmonic Minor: which note is different?
Note how Natural Minor sounds different from Phrygian: which note is different?
Note how Phrygian and Phrygian Dominant sound different; which note is different?
Pay close attention to how the location of each changed note within the scale affects the resulting
sound of the scale (e.g., how Phrygian’s flat-2nd sounds “darker” than Natural Minor’s 2nd).
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
What Gives Each Scale Its Own Distinctive Sound?
Each interval has its own unique sound, as does each combination of intervals.
The characteristic sound of each type of scale is a direct result of its interval pattern. The specific spacing
pattern of the notes is what makes it sound more exotic, more bluesy, more neoclassical, etc.
While a note may be “higher” in one scale than in another, what is really different is the spacing
between the notes, and the way that spacing difference alters the resulting sound of the scale and one’s
sense of the key center.
If one note “moves” to a new location, that is a different relative location from both of its surrounding
notes; one note change creates 2 interval changes. Every note in the scale takes on a different interval
relationship to the “moved” note.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
The First 5 Frets:
There’s a lot you can do with just the open strings and the first 5 frets. In this section you’ll get to know
the fretboard layout for all 4 of the above scale patterns.
Playing in D Natural Minor
Dropped D is obviously very well suited to playing in the key of D
minor (aka the Aeolian scale, or Aeolian mode).
One of the things that Dropped D allows us to see is the one
note in every octave that doesn’t have a perfect 5th (power
chord) - the note that has a flat 5th.
As you can see in the diagram to the left, note #6 is one fret too
low to form a power chord with note #2.
Notice also how this differs from the way that notes #1, #3, and #4 each line up with their 5ths on the 5th
string.
When playing with power chords, a lot of people either skip the “2” chord, or they go out of key and
play the power chord on that note anyway. You don’t have to do either of these things however, if you
just use note #7, which is ½ step higher than a perfect 5th. It’s the same note you’d use for #3’s power
chord.
Playing in D Harmonic Minor
Dropped D is even better suited to playing using the D Harmonic
Minor scale, since the root (D) and 5th (A) of the scale - the 2
strongest-resolving scale degrees - each have an open low string.
If you compare this scale to the Natural Minor scale above, you’ll
notice that the only difference is that the Harmonic Minor scale
has a raised 7th.
This places the 7th only a ½ step below the root, and 1½ steps
above the 6th, whereas the 7th of the Natural Minor scale is
located one whole step between the 6th and root. This specific interval change makes an enormous
difference in the sound.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Playing in D Phrygian
The Phrygian scale is similar to the Natural Minor scale, except
its 2nd scale degree is ½ step lower. Within the first 5 frets, this
causes notes 2 and 6 to line up as a perfect 5th, giving you 4 fulloctave power chords, based on the root, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of the
scale.
The flat 2nd of the Phrygian scale creates a “darker” type of
sound than the 2nd of the Aeolian (aka Natural Minor) scale.
The Phrygian scale (or mode) actually begins on the 5th note of
the Aeolian scale/mode. In other words, “D Phrygian” is the 5th mode of “G Aeolian” - it’s really in the
key of G minor (the note “G” is the number “4” in the above diagram). That places the “minor” (Aeolian)
root note at the 5th fret on your D strings.
Playing in D Phrygian Dominant
Phrygian Dominant is the 5th mode of Harmonic minor, the
same way that Phrygian is the 5th mode of Natural minor.
Phrygian Dominant’s 3rd scale degree is ½ step higher than the
3rd of Phrygian (the same note that is the “raised 7th” in the
harmonic minor scale).
Phrygian Dominant is a very “epic,” “Arabian” sounding scale.
The word “dominant” indicates the type of 7th chord or
arpeggio associated to the root note of the scale. A “dominant
th
rd
7 ” is formed from a root note, major 3 , perfect 5th, and minor 7th, all of which are contained within
the Phrygian Dominant scale.
By having a raised 3rd, this once again throws off the perfect 5th intervals required to play power chords.
For a replacement tone when playing the “3” chord, add note #1 (the “power chord note” of note #4).
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Further Up the Neck
While there are tons of things you can do with the first 5 frets, taking a full-octave view of the “DAD”
strings will open the door for countless additional possibilities.
Here are those same 4 scales, from the open strings to the 12th fret. Take note of which notes have their
power chords “line up” across all 3 strings, and which notes don’t, in each scale.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Additional Dropped-D Voicings
In addition to knowing the 4 scales up and down the neck on the “DAD” strings, you’ll still want to be
able to use the rest of your strings to make full use of this tuning.
In this section you’ll learn several note combinations that you can use to get additional sound textures
when playing in Dropped-D tuning.
Power Chord Voicings (Root-Fifth Combinations)
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Major and Minor Chord Voicings
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Smaller Major & Minor Chord Voicings:
(Power-Chord-Based)
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
Using Harmonics (in-Key)
It’s one thing to simply play harmonics and get that “squeal” sound - playing harmonics that are IN KEY
with the rest of what you’re playing is another matter, requiring a much greater degree of attention.
To fully know the harmonics - their layout on the fretboard, how they are related to the fretted or openstring note, and how and where they fit into the key in which you’re playing - you need to start with the
NATURAL HARMONICS on each open string.
String Fractions
Each string, when divided into simple fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8, etc) of its length, will
produce a higher tone that is harmonically related (that is, related by harmony) to the open-string note
(hence the name, “harmonics”).
The easiest harmonic to play is directly above the 12th fret on any open string. This is the exact center of
the string.
Sounding the 12th fret harmonic divides the string perfectly into two halves, each of which vibrates at
twice the speed (one octave higher than the open string). That last part is very important - half the
length = twice the speed of vibration = one octave higher. That means that if you touch the string at
exactly 1/4 of the way up the fretboard (at the 5th or 24th fret), you’d be dividing the string into equal
1/4ths, which produce a harmonic 2 octaves higher than the open string (1 octave higher than the 12th
fret harmonic). This means that at the 1/8 point of the string (roughly the middle of the 3rd fret space;
fret “2.4”) will give you a harmonic 3 octaves higher than the open string.
Divisions smaller than 1/8 of a string are extremely difficult to produce clearly, so this lesson will only be
concerned with harmonics between 1/2 and 1/8 of the string.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
The red dots in the diagrams below show a close-up of the locations of each harmonic along the string:
Here is a view of the natural harmonics along the entire string up to the 12th fret:
Now, keep in mind that these intervals are all in relation to the “root note” - the note of which ever
open string you’re playing. It will be a different note, depending on what the note of the open string is.
In the next section, we’ll look at the harmonics that actually fall within the scales of D natural minor, D
harmonic minor, D phrygian, and D phrygian dominant.
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
“D-Friendly” Natural Harmonics in Dropped-D Tuning
Root-5th Harmonics:
These work with all 4 scales: Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Phrygian, & Phrygian Dominant. These
are the “safest” harmonic notes to use when playing in any of these scales.
D Natural Minor Harmonics:
These work when playing within the D Natural Minor scale:
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
D Harmonic Minor Harmonics:
These work when playing within the D Harmonic Minor scale:
D Phrygian Harmonics:
These work when playing within the D Phrygian scale (the 5th mode of G Natural Minor; D=”1”):
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.
D Phrygian Dominant Harmonics:
These work when playing within the D Phrygian Dominant scale (the 5th mode of G Harmonic Minor;
D=”1”):
© 2011 by Jason Aaron Wood & ShredMentor Rock Guitar Academy, All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication &
distribution of any part of this work is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the author.