As mentioned in previous posts, open tunings offer up all manner of possibilities for the guitarist to “escape” from the bounds of standard tuning.
Breaking from a system we are so familiar with can also be a wonderful way to uncover new ideas and possibilities, because the standard fingerings we associate with regular tuning will either not work at all, or if they do, offer up something different. How different depends on the new tuning and the chord shape in question, but it could be as simple as adding in say a 9th or making it a sus chord of some description, to being something quite unique, unusual, or very “jazzy”. Jazzy is a term I personally detest when describing extend and altered chords, but it is very common to do so, so will go with this for now.
The example video on offer in this post is one way we might use Csus2 or Orkney tuning. The tuning is CGDGCD from low to high strings.
It can be a challenge to keep the guitar in tune as we change the pitch of the strings radically. Sometimes a heavier gauge than normal can be used effectively to keep the strings at the desired new pitch. I often use a 13-56 gauge set for this sort of tuning. When taking this much tension out of the 6th string it can be quite “floppy” and depressing the notes with your regular touch may see them go out of tune, so keep an attentive ear open for that, and adjust your finger pressure accordingly.
So you have a new tuning, now what? Why not set yourself a time limit and see if you can create a short piece of music with this new tuning? I will often give myself between 15 and 30 minutes when exploring an unusual tuning and see if I can come up with 15 to 30 seconds of music with it.
It might be simply a chord progression that features new voicings to play cliched chordal movements, or it might be something completely new and inspiring and/or intriguing.
Once you have an idea, film it and then have a listen a little later and see how it sounds to you then. Having some distance, even if only hot, between writing and recording and then listening can help with keeping objectivity.
If you love it, well done. If you don’t, that’s okay too! Just try again.