Adventures in Dropped-D

To get into Dropped-D tuning, you need to lower the sixth string two half-steps, from E to D (hence the name).

6th string=D
5th string=A
4th string=D
3rd string=G
2nd string=B
1st string=E

One advantage this tuning provides is an octave bass between the 6th and 4th strings. John Miller notes that it's a tuning one encounters more in the rediscovery era of 1960s country blues than in prewar recordings but is still used by a number of the earlier artists. Lonnie Johnson used the tuning frequently, and members of the Chatmon family circle like Sam Chatmon, Bo Carter and Walter Vinson seemed fond of it as well. Mance Lipscomb sometimes played in the key of A out of Dropped-D tuning, which provides for a nice IV chord, a D chord with a low D in the bass.

Babe Stovall
Big Road Blues/Careless Love
Dirty Mistreater

Blind Blake
Bad Feeling Blues
Chump Man Blues

Blind Willie McTell
I Keep On Drinking (accompanying Curly Weaver, pitched at G)
Murderer's Home Blues (pitched at G)
Statesboro Blues (pitched at C#)
Stole Rider Blues (pitched at C)
Soon This Morning (pitched at F)

Bo Carter
Boot It
I Keep On Spending My Change
Policy Blues
Twist It, Baby
She's Gonna Crawl Back Home to You

Buddy Moss
New Lovin' Blues

Carolina Slim
Black Cat Trail
Blues Knocking At My Door
Come Back Baby (played in A)
Georgia Woman (played in A)
Jivin' Woman
Money Blues (played in A)
Mother Dear Mother (played in A)
One More Time (played in A)
Slo-Freight Blues
Sugaree
Worrying Blues (played in A)
Your Picture Done Faded

Edward Thompson
West Virginia Blues

Frank Hovington
90 Going North

Frankie Lee Sims
Lucy Mae Blues

Gabriel Brown
I Get Evil When My Love Comes Down
You Ain't No Good
Going My Way
Down In The Bottom
Bad Love
I've Got To Stop Drinkin'
Not Now, I'll Tell You When
That's Alright
I've Done Stopped Gamblin'
Baby, Boy, Baby
Mean Old Blues
Hold Me Baby
Youngster's Blues
I Am Playing The Game

J.W. Warren
Hoboing into Hollywood

John Jackson
Rappahannock Blues

Lightnin' Hopkins
Ain't It A Shame (played in A)
All I Got Is Gone (played in A)
Crawlin' Blacksnake
Loretta Blues
Seems Funny Baby (played in A)
Tim Moore's Farm
Walking Blues (played in A)

Lonnie Johnson
Blues for Murder Only
Deep Blues Sea Blues
I'm Nuts About That Gal
Mean Old Bedbug Blues
Racketeer's Blues
She's Making Whoopee in Hell Tonight

Mance Lipscomb
Boogie in A (played in A)
'Bout a Spoonful (played in A)
Goin' Down Slow (played in A)
Shake, Shake, Mama (played in A)
Tell Me Where You Stay Last Night

Mississippi Bracey
You Scolded Me And Drove Me

Mississippi Sheiks
Stop and Listen Blues
Church Bell Blues
She's Crazy 'bout Her Lovin'
Kitty Cat Blues
Somebody's Got to Help Me
Good Morning Blues
Lonesome Grave Took My Baby
Pop Skull Blues

Mose Andrews
Ten Pound Hammer

Poor Bill
A Hundred Women
Way Up On the Mountain

Robert Johnson
Malted Milk
Drunken Hearted Man

Robert Pete Williams
Hot Springs Blues
Some Got 6 Months

Roosevelt Holts
Big Road Blues
Prison Bound Blues

Sonny Jones
Dough Roller

Sam Chatmon
Big Road Blues

Texas Alexander accompanied by Willie Reed and Carl Davis
Deceitful Blues

Walter Vinson
Overtime Blues

William Moore
One Way Gal
Old Country Rock

Willie Lofton
Dark Road Blues
Dirty Mistreater



Have a song to add to the list? Go to original forum thread