From Hal LeonardGuitar Method:Acoustic Guitar

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Droning StringsChad JohnsonMay 20, 2009Theres nothing quite like the tone of open strings on an acoustic guitar. While barre chordsstill sound great in their own way, an acoustic guitar really gets to strut its stuff when someopen strings are allowed to ring out. Here were going to take a look at riffs that make openstrings, both low and high, an integral part of their sound.

Lets start out with a simple exercise to help illustrate the concept a bit. An easy way to getyour feet wet with drones is to simply take an open-position chord and move the fret-handshape up to the respective IV and V chords of that key while allowing the open strings tocontinue to ring. If we were in D for example, the I chord would be D, the IV chord wouldbe G, and the V would be A.

Heres what this would look like:

If we try the same thing in C, the chord shapes would be C, F, and G. Check out the interestingharmonies created here with the open E and G strings ringing.

Heres the same idea in the key of E. The shapes are built off the E, A, and B chords, but the resultingharmonies are much more interesting than the typical IIVV variety.

Now if we apply some different technical treatments to these chords, such as strumming, Travis Picking, andarpeggiation, we end up with some unique riffs. Maybe something like these:

Strumming

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Travis Picking

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Arpeggiation

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This type of approach can be used with all the diatonic chords of a keynot just the I, IV, and V. Here wellmove up diatonically through the keys of D, A, and E. Pay special attention to the colorful harmonies that arecreated by the open-string drones.

Key of D:

Key of A:

Key of E:

By including an expressive device, such as slides, things can get even more interesting. Try the examplesbelow to hear this approach.

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Even something as simple as a power chord can sound fresh when combined with droning strings.

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