Acoustic Slide

In this open D lesson Harrison Marsh looks at the approach used by some of slide guitar’s greatest acoustic exponents.

- Harrison Marsh

Open D tuning has been used by a variety of slide players to create some of the most memorable and emotive songs, including Blind Willie Johnson’s Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, famously included on the Voyager 1 and 2 probes in 1977. Just like open G it has its own flavour and phrasing and it takes a while to become familiar. Open E and open A are equivalent to open D and open G respectively, just a tone higher, whereas the interval relationships between open G and open D are different, giving the tunings their unique sound and making some phrases easier to play in one tuning or the other. The more time you spend in