Open tunings are common in blues, folk, country, rock and slide guitar styles. This Open D Tuning (DADF#AD) is one of the most common open tunings.

The great thing about open tunings is that chords are easy to play - just strum across the open strings to get a full D major chord, or bar using 1 finger to get any other major chord.

Here we show a simple chord progression to illustrate this, then play a simple lead ditty for a bit of fun. Listen to the normal speed audio to hear it all in full swing.

Progression:

D major - F major - G major - A major (Repeat)

Ditty - This little ditty comes in 3rd time round and repeats once.

Of course, changing the tuning changes note locations for scales. This is a good and a bad thing. Some scales become easier, but then you need to work out the new places of notes if you are set on creating specific solos. This does give you new options as a guitarist, and can really get those creative juices flowing, but does take a little getting used to. Don't worry too much about that side of things yet. Generally, open tunings are used for chord work and rhythm playing. If you want to experiment with any open tuning, get the hang of rhythm playing with it before unlocking your scales.