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When the D shape from CAGED is discussed, it’s often mentioned that the shape is difficult. With first finger on the root on the 4th string, this leaves the middle, ring, and pinky to form the little D-shape triangle. Because of this difficulty, it’s not uncommon for the top E string to be left off the shape, thus taking the 3rd out of the chord and leaving that “hollow” sound of 5ths. All true.
What I wanted to mention here, because I haven’t heard it anywhere, is that one can grab the 3rd of the chord on the low 6th string with the middle finger. This puts the 3rd in the bass giving a first-inversion voicing. It can be very useful when creating a moving bassline in your chord progression. I’ve seen the D/F# open voicing at the 2nd fret in a lot of music, but this voicing can be done with any D-shaped chord up the neck too. A first-inversion voicing like this does tend to sound “weaker” harmonically due to the 5ths in the higher register and the 3rd in the lower, so it doesn’t ring out as strongly. But, in the right place its very useful. Food for thought…
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and if you mute the 1st and the 5th string you will have a fully strummable D-shaped chord! Not sure how useful that could be but hey, it may come in handy!
Love your little guitar discoveries, Michael! Thank you for sharing, keep them coming 😉
🎸JoLa
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I love that voicing and I use it very often!
Note that the first string is not normally part of the voicing; however, since this is a dominant 7th chord, the E note will very often be an available tension, adding interest to the chord (but it probably won’t sound good if strummed).
I use this voicing primarily when I want to soften the perfect cadence; instead of V7 – I (or i) I go V7/3 – I (or i). For example: E7/G# -> Am.
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