DADGAD tuning on the classical guitar: my Sonatina Oriental

The tuning everyone knows as DADGAD I call DAGDAD, because I read it from the first string. It is not an affectation: it reflects how I think about the guitar and its harmonic possibilities. In this tuning I wrote the Sonatina Oriental, a three-movement suite exploring its deep Middle Eastern colours.

What DADGAD tuning is

From the sixth string to the first the notes are D, A, D, G, A, D. Compared with standard tuning, three strings go down a whole tone: the sixth from E to D, the second from B to A and the first from E to D.

Played open, the strings give a D chord without the third, neither major nor minor: an open, suspended sound that suits modal scales and early, Celtic and Middle Eastern atmospheres. That is why, beyond the acoustic guitar, it works beautifully on the classical guitar too.

The Sonatina Oriental

The Sonatina Oriental tells a journey in three moments: dawn, desert, oasis. The tuning opens up new colours and expressive options, with an evocative sound that joins archaic melodies and modern harmonies.

I. Sunrise

Sunrise captures the magic moment of dawn, when light breaks through the dark and everything comes to life.

II. Desert

Desert sums up my musical path and my research on open tunings. It brings together influences from early music to progressive rock, with echoes of flamenco, down to the Middle Eastern sound of DAGDAD: a journey across eras and landscapes, poised between the mystical and the contemporary.

The piece unfolds on open, dynamic themes that leave room for interpretation and improvisation: every performance is different, just as the desert changes shape with the wind.

III. Oasis

The closing movement: after the dawn and the vast desert comes the oasis, clear water, green palms, serenity. Here the open tuning gives fresh, renewing sounds, right for a moment of rest.

The guitar and the recording

I play the Sonatina Oriental on a guitar by Silvia Zanchi, luthier in Bergamo: its build gives the deep resonance and dynamic sensitivity that the tonal richness of DAGDAD needs. The three movements were recorded in the old parish church of Longuelo, Bergamo: my thanks to Don Luigi Manenti for welcoming us and to Maestro Donato Giupponi for making it possible. Filmed and edited by Daniele Ponzoni, Direzione Digitale.

The sheet music

The score of Desert, in standard notation and tablature for DADGAD tuning, is already available in my Gumroad shop; Sunrise and Oasis are coming soon. You can hear the complete suite in the YouTube playlist or on the Sonatina Oriental page; I write about the other tunings I use in Prepared and open tunings on the classical guitar.