D major chord

But you do.

x02220.

Thanks for the reply,

I could not see any reason why not but a lot of tabs show it as XXO232 such as ...

http://www.guitarconsultant.com/chords-dmaj.html

Thanks again.

Keith

But you do.

x02220.

D major, not A. With the D major chord, couldn't you technically fret the 6th string at the second fret with your thumb and still have a D major chord? It doesn't sound bad, it just sounds a little different. I'm guessing it's because the chord sounds better when you start it on the root note, (open D string in this case) but you should probably wait until someone more knowledgeable comes along. :|

agreed with Noff pretty much - you can fret the 2nd fret 6th string and play all six strings and this would sound a lot better if you e.g. had a bass player playing the root note D.

With the D major chord, couldn't you technically fret the 6th string at the second fret with your thumb and still have a D major chord? It doesn't sound bad, it just sounds a little different. I'm guessing it's because the chord sounds better when you start it on the root note, (open D string in this case) but you should probably wait until someone more knowledgeable comes along. :|

But your ears already are making you knowledgeable! :wink: You certainly can play a chord with other notes than the root note in the bass (these are called inversions). Technically, playing a D chord from the open A string down is called "D/A."

Or think about C major. E is obviously a part of the C chord, since we hit the open high E (first) string as part of the chord. But strumming the low E (sixth) string, or "C/E" if you will, makes the chord sound very muddy.

The convention is to play chords (or at least to show them in diagrams) with the root notes as the lowest bass note. D (xx0232) and A (x02220) are perfect examples. Two reasons to teach them (or learn them) this way are: (1) to work on things like an alternating bass strum (such as in the Margaritaville and Folsum Prison / Your Cheatin' Heart lessons here at Guitar Noise), where you want to hear the root note alternating with the fifth (the open A string for the D chord and the open E for the A) and (2) to get used to strumming certain chords only from certain strings. If you're used to strumming the D chord from the A string down, then you're going to have to work harder to create the sound of a descending bass line if you want to go from D to D/C#, for instance.

But when you get caught up in some fast or fancy strumming, odds are likely that you are occasionally hitting that open A whether you want to or not. Unless, of course, you've spent time practicing playing your D from the D string down.

Does it make a difference? Yes, but it's not a difference you may hear or appreciate for some time yet.

Hope this helps.

Peace

Thanks David,
Makes sense now....
Keith

I misread the question - I thought it was why don't you play the open 5th when playing an A chord since you play the open D when playing a D chord. I'll drink more coffee next time.
David's answered it though -- the root note is the issue. Sorry to have made it confuisng.

Most of the time I play it:

2OO232

I just hook my thumb

Most of the time I play it:

2OO232

I just hook my thumb
But that's technically a D/F# -- a D with an altered bass note.

No, it's still a plain old D chord.

Slashes are needed in two situations:

1. When the bass note isn't a chord tone... so you'd need a slash for D/G, but not for D/F#

2. When you need to specify a specific inversion, as in a moving bass line, as in: G -> D/F# - Em (where the chord notations show you a stepwise bass movement.

Other than those two, slashes are optional when the "slash" note is a chord tone. Guitarists tend to overuse them, thinking they somehow give a fingering - but if I see D/F# in a chart, I'm just as likely to play x7555x or xxx-11-10-10. And if I think a song needs it, I'm just as likely to play a first inversion D when the chart just says "D".

Plain ole D to me.

I don't play it 100% of the time, but I gravitate towards it naturally when I strum all six strings.

I have a tendency to mute the high E more than the low E, because I hook my thumb occassionally.

Whatever I guess. How boring it would be if we all played it the same way.

It would sound like second grade violin class.

Is it fair to say that in the vast majority of cases guitar notation would then list that particular voicing as a D/F# so as to distinguish it from a typical voicing with D in the bass, as per this notation from the Grove Dictionary of Music?
The notation using a slash is also used to express inversions of simple chords: for example, a second inversion of the chord of C major could be indicated thus:

C/G (C/G bass)

That C/G bass is what I've always considered a full C chord.

It's like the 5 string C chord is for beginners or someone picking with pinky notes....

The C/G is what you graduate to. The full chord.

As a guitarist I rarely care what the bassnote should be. As a bassist or pianist it's a whole different story, but as a guitarist the top note seems more important in supporting the melody.