The DADDAE tuning, famously used by The Staves for 'Winter Trees', is a captivating open tuning that creates a rich, resonant soundscape. This tuning immediately evokes an atmospheric, folk-inspired feel, perfect for intricate fingerstyle playing or creating expansive, layered textures.

Technically, the open strings form a Dadd9 (D-A-D-D-A-E) chord. This means that simply strumming all open strings produces a full, harmonious D major chord with an added 9th (E), giving it a sweet, suspended quality without needing to fret any notes. The repeated D and A notes provide a strong harmonic foundation and a natural drone effect, allowing for ringing open strings to sustain beautifully.

Due to the consistent D and A intervals, playing chords becomes intuitive. Simple one-finger barres across all six strings will yield various Add9 chords up the neck (e.g., barring at the 1st fret gives an Ebadd9, 2nd fret an Eadd9, 3rd fret an Fadd9, and so on). This makes it easy to explore melodic ideas over a strong harmonic base. The close proximity of the 3rd and 4th strings (both D) allows for interesting octave playing or drone effects, while the 5th and 2nd strings are both A, reinforcing the open tonality. The highest E string adds sparkle and tension, acting as the 9th of the D chord.

How to Tune

Here's how to adjust your guitar from standard EADGBe tuning to DADDAE. Please pay close attention to the string movements, especially for significant changes, as these can affect string tension and potentially require a different string gauge for optimal playability and safety.

• 6th String (Low E): Tune down 2 semitones from E to D2.
• 5th String (A): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). It remains at A2.
• 4th String (D): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). It remains at D3.
• 3rd String (G): Tune down 5 semitones from G to D3. This is a significant drop; exercise caution when tuning, and consider a heavier gauge string for this position if you plan to keep it in this tuning long-term, as a very loose string may not intonate well or stay in tune.
• 2nd String (B): Tune down 2 semitones from B to A3.
• 1st String (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). It remains at E4.

6th String: D2

5th String: A2

4th String: D3

3rd String: D3

2nd String: A3

1st String: E4