Hi -
I understand how to capo up two frets to get A tuning from open G... but I can't completely understand why we need to do what we need to do to get to D tuning. I want to understand not just how to get there, but why, if that's not too tall an order! ;) I think part of the problem is that I keep assuming that if capoing up two frets results in a whole step from G to A, that I'll have to go way up high on the fret board to capo to D. So obviously there are other ways of getting the D - it just requires more thinking and I'm still enough of a beginner theory-wise that I'm still struggling to remember the acronym I've assigned to gDGBD (good dogs get babies dressed!) just in order to remember the names of the strings! So re. this D tuning, right now I'm equating it with trying to remember chess moves in my head or something complicated like that - lol.
My banjo teacher briefly explained in an email but I think I'm missing a piece or two that would help me understand it better. That said, I've always sucked at theory, so I may be a hopeless cause! I went over to my piano and was able to tell that for an D chord I'd need an F# in order for it to sound right so I understand the why of needing an F# but the rest is all a bit confusing. I guess from having done that on the piano, I now also understand that you're not going to get a "proper" piano's D chord out of the banjo (hence the aDADF#). You just want those notes in whatever order you can get them in, yes? And I'd never gotten the whole tunings and capoing thing completely 100% understood in the first place otherwise I'd probably understand this better I think. I also don't understand why it's called double C tuning? On another note (no pun - or yes pun?) I understand the general concept that if I'm taking the open D and lowering it a whole step to C and then capoing it afterwards, two frets up, that it's now a going to be an E. But I'm still confused or don't yet see the whole picture and just need a little help if you're able to help. It may just be due to the way it was explained to me...can anyone try explaining it in a different way from the way my teacher did? Or maybe I do get it but I'm over-complicating it and it's just a matter of memorizing the proecedure rather than analyzing it to death?
My teacher wrote this to me:
"As for D tuning, the notes are aDADE. Try this: from G tuning (gDGBD), drop the low D down a whole step to C, raise the B string up a half step to C, then put the capo on the 2nd fret. It's double C tuning (gCGCD), capo on the 2nd fret. Now you have almost all the notes for a D chord. Put your finger on the 2nd fret of the highest string (the E string) to make the F# note that completes the D chord. Hope that helps!"
Is she saying that no matter what chords I play, that I always have to be pressing down on that E string (not sure why she called it the highest string, by the way?) in order to play this chord? That seems odd but again, I'm probably missing something obvious.
Thanks and I hope some of this makes sense!