There is much to love about playing fingerstyle guitar in the Open G tuning (DGDGBD). Ever since the sheet music for Henry Worrall's Spanish Fandango - written specifically for Open G - found its way into the guitar cases of parlor guitars in the 19th century, the tuning has grown in popularity. Guitarists of virtually all types of music - country, blues, folk, rock and slack key, etc. - have been susceptible to its charms. Because the guitar is tuned
DBDGBD, simply playing all the strings without fretting, has a rich, appealing tone. The retuned bass strings in Open G bass enhances the guitarist's ability to play in the keys of G and D. Employing unique chord voicings adds interest to guitar arrangements in Open G.

Open G is perfect for playing tunes by the great 18th century blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan. I've included an arrangement of his Blind Mary. Two tunes from the 19th Century are included: Stephen Foster's Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair and Sebastian Yradier's La Paloma. Open G is perfect for giving La Paloma a tango feel. There are two tunes from the fiddle tradition: The Girl I Left Behind Me and Off to California.

My Romance by Rodgers and Hart is from the jazz canon and is likely to be a first of its kind arranged in Open G. Finally, Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years works well in Open G. The tuning enhances the gospel essence of that remarkable tune.

Each tune is performed and then taught phrase by phase. The arrangements are then played slowly on a split screen in order to see the movement of both hands. A tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD featuring each of the arrangements.

Titles include: Blind Mary, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, La Paloma, The Girl I Left Behind Me, Off to California, My Romance and Still Crazy After All These Years