I’ve seen so many guitar players using this shape in the Key of D, seemingly going from a D to an A or in the midst of playing a “regular” D. Can anyone help me figure out what’s going on here? I’ve tried and can’t seem to get it to sound right. Thanks!
At the 1:09 mark here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZUwRuW_9TQ
I think it’s just a type of “G chord” fingered in “drop D” tuning
first two strings on third fret
3rd & 4th strings open
5th string “dulled” with third finger
sixth string tuned down to D and fretted with 3rd finger on G note (5th fret)
It has no other notes except I’s & V’s, or G’s & D’s, which gives it a distinct type of sound…not sure if there is another name for this type of chord or not. ===tony Rice type G chord.
That sounds much like D5, but I think fiddle_wood is more accurate.
With drop D tuning, the below could work as well.
D2 - 000230
D5- 000235
D2-000230
Cadd9 - 030030
Em7 - 020030
A - 002220
D2 - 000230
Yessir!
Hi @chelsea.kelly09 I am not a guitar player so I can’t really offer much advice on this chord shape except to say have you watched @BanjoBen 's lesson (see below) on defining a chord.
A chord is made up of three notes the Root Note, the third and the fifth tones of a scale. Often expressed in Roman Numerals I, III, V,
The fact that this tune is played in drop D tuning doesn’t change that rule. All you gotta do is find those notes close to the shape your looking and you should be able to work things out from there. A map of the fingerboard in Drop D tuning should help speed the process of finding the locations of these notes.
Check this out https://www.gtdb.org/dadgbe
And be sure to watch Ben’s lesson below. Good luck
https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/essential-chord-theory-guitar?from_track=beginner-guitar-checklist
Thanks…I’ve seen so many people do this and never could get it to sound right. That video I know was in Drop D but another one I saw never mentioned it and I may have gotten frustrated and given up… 
I appreciate your help!
Good points, Archie! I need to be a little more patient and diligent when figuring things like this out!