Open G vs Open C tuning

Davoravo

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Hi all and aloha

I am experimenting with some open tuning and wondering if one is “best”?

I am primarily a singer and accompany myself with the ukulele. I play tenor with a low g. I became interested in open g tuning after watching some 4 string guitar and a slide blues player commenting that the open g meant the root note was always on the g string.

I am trying open g tuning with GBDG linear tuning.

There seems to be more resources for open c tuning and I am not sure if it is best to have the root note on the g string (open g tuning) or have the lower V below the root note on the low g string (c tuning) and the root on the c string.

Love to hear your experiences about what works best. I generally strum while I sing Rather than melody pick so want to make my picking “easy”.

Thanks
David
 
I don not think there is a "better" tuning. All tunings have their own voice. As for resources, unless you are wanting tab specific for an open g tuning, an A chord is an A chord regardless of fingering and open tunings lend themselves to barres.
 
Good luck with your open tuning. You can make great music with it too for sure.

Ukulele is not a slide guitar and that is what those open tunings are used best.
Every time I tuned my guitar to an open tuning, I felt limited.

The regular fourth, major third, fourth tuning is what gives ukulele its chording abilities. Guitar depends on it too as a backbone.
 
I gravitate toward open G and open D, but I like open A because it has root notes on the 1st and 4th strings, making it easy to resolve up or down. And the good thing about open C is that only the first string is altered so that you can still use the chords that use the last three strings. And even the first string is playable if you realize that everything on that string has been downtuned a whole step.
 
Pick the open tuning that you are most confortable singing in. The one that suits your voice best.
 
Thanks everyone, hasn’t even thought of open a, definitely finding the fingered chords (I think they are called open string chords) much more of a challeng with open tuning. Got to get that pinkie working in almost every chord, but the barre chords are much easier and sound better than the equivalent with standard tuning.
 
Here's another thing to think about. Whenever I see someone talking about open tunings, it always refers to an open major triad. However, there are other chords. You could tune to an open minor triad or something else. For example, the the longest time, I had one of my instruments tuned to an open D7 and I mapped out what the new fretboard would look like with a D-Gb-A-C tuning. I think the problem with chords other than the major triad is that there are limited applications.
 
Google search "Guitar Alternate Tunings" and realize that EVERY one of those 1-4 interval combinations fits on Uke.

The reason to use an alternate tuning is because it inspires you in a way that normal tuning doesn't.

If there's a tuning you like best, ala Pierre Bensusan, then that's your "best tuning."

If on the other hand, you like LOTS of tunings? Then they're all good for you.

None of us can answer that question for you
 
I like open C (GCEG) with a low G string. Besides the obvious barre chords, F-2012 G7-0210 Am-2002 Bb-3213 G-0234 or 4234 to make it a moveable chord shape. By raising the first string two frets, any C6 tuning chord shape will work in open C. That's what I've done in all shapes except G7.
I like to play blues in E using this tuning and a slide.
Wake Up Little Susie is a good one to play in any open tuning that suits your voice.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, finding GBDG a little muddy especially with my voice which seems to be the same pitch so competing rather than complementing as one might expect. Gravitating to GCEG so I don’t have to relearn my minors and 6 and 7 scales. I won’t stray further than that in terms of experimentatin.

Think I might need to record playing the same song in each tuning as I am aware that what the player hears is not quite what the audience hears.
 
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