Guitar tuning

Open D Minor Tuning

D·A·D·F·A·D

Tonal centre D minor Also called Cross-note, Bentonia tuning, DADFAD Difficulty Easy shapes, haunting by default

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open D minor is Open D with one note changed: the F# comes down to F, turning the open major chord into a minor one. Strum the open strings and you get D minor with nothing fretted — three D’s, two A’s and the minor third holding the whole thing in a dark, unresolved place.

It is the tuning of the Bentonia blues. Skip James learned it in Bentonia, Mississippi, from Henry Stuckey, and cut “Devil Got My Woman,” “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” and “I’m So Glad” in it. Players call it “cross-note” because you cross a finger over the strings to reach the major third when you want it. Bukka White used it too, hammering from the minor third up to the major for a brighter feel.

How to tune to Open D Minor

From standard tuning:

6th (lowest) E → D (down a whole step)
5th A — unchanged
4th D — unchanged
3rd G → F (down a whole step)
2nd B → A (down a whole step)
1st (highest) E → D (down a whole step)

Open—Shape’s tuner listens for one string at a time and tells you which string it is and how far off — including in alternate tunings like this one.

What Open D Minor does well

A minor chord with no fingers. The open strings are D minor — the darkest starting point of any common tuning.
The cross-note move. Fret the minor third up a semitone and the chord turns major; slide between them for the signature Bentonia bend.
Drone and dread. Like DADGAD or Open D, the low D holds a pedal tone — but here it sits under a minor third.
Straight-barre minors. Barre any fret for another minor chord — the mirror of Open D’s major barres.

Common chords in Open D Minor

Open D minor is Open D with the major third lowered to a minor third. The shapes below are the easiest voicing the engine finds for each chord; tap to browse the rest.

Dm 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 of 806 → Dm7 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 of 622 → Gm 5 5 0 5 5 0 1 of 303 → Am 7 0 7 7 7 7 1 of 234 → A7 x 0 2 2 4 2 1 of 272 → F 3 0 3 0 3 3 1 of 393 → C x 3 2 2 3 2 1 of 144 → Bb x 1 0 0 1 0 1 of 547 →

Numbers read low string to high; 0 is open, × is muted.

A progression to try

A Dm–Gm–Am loop, the minor-key mirror of an Open D progression:

Dm→Gm→Am→Dm

Songs in Open D Minor

Devil Got My Woman — Skip James
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues — Skip James
I’m So Glad — Skip James
Cross-note recordings by Bukka White

Players who use Open D minor

Skip James, Bukka White, Jack White (who cites Skip James as an influence), and blues and fingerstyle players after the Bentonia sound. A niche tuning with an unmistakable character.

Open a Open D Minor canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open D Minor tuning FAQ

What are the notes in Open D minor tuning?

From lowest to highest: D, A, D, F, A, D. It is Open D (D, A, D, F#, A, D) with the 3rd string lowered from F# to F, which turns the open chord from D major to D minor. Four strings change from standard: the 6th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st.

Why is it called cross-note tuning?

Because the open strings give you a minor chord, and to play the major third you cross a finger over the strings at the 1st fret of the 3rd string. Sliding or hammering between the two is the signature Bentonia-blues sound.

Is Open D minor the same as the Skip James tuning?

Yes. Skip James, and the wider Bentonia, Mississippi tradition, used exactly this tuning — it is why “Devil Got My Woman” sounds the way it does.

How is it different from Open D?

One note. Open D is a major chord open; Open D minor lowers the third a semitone so the open chord is minor. Every other shape shifts to match — barre chords become minor, not major.

Can I use a capo in Open D minor?

Yes — a capo raises the whole minor tuning to a higher key while keeping the shapes. Open—Shape recalculates every voicing for the capo position.

Related tunings

Open E Minor Open A Minor Open G Minor Open C Minor Open E Minor 7 Open A Minor 7 Open E7 Open G Major 7