The first tune you’ll learn to play in an alternate tuning is the Irish song “Blind Mary.” It’s in the key of D and uses the basic chord shapes you’ll need to play in the key of D: D, G, A, Bm. Like many traditional tunes, it has two parts, each one eight measures long, and each part repeated for an AABB form. Doug starts by showing you the D, G, and A chord shapes: D and A are played as you would in standard tuning, but you have to modify the G chord since the G bass note is now at the fifth fret of the lowest string. Then Doug walks you through the A part of “Blind Mary” phrase by phrase.
