Chord Name

[willsie01]

Watched a YT video of someone playing a song in the key of D and using the technique of strumming open strings during chord changes. In the key of D, which I’m assuming gives the context for analysing it, what is the name of the chord given by the open strings? In scale order the notes are D E G A B.

[DarrellW]

The order played in makes a difference!
For example if played using E as the bass note Emin11 or using A as the bass note A9 sus 4

[DavidP]

Quite a puzzle that has me scratching my head, both the question and the answer. An opportunity for a theory lesson in chord construction.

To confirm, I assume the open strings played are A-e, that the low E is skipped?  My thinking being that playing a bass note out of the chord would not sound good.

If that is true then I expected the chord to be a slash chord D something/A

The G would be a sus 4; right?

The B would be the 6; right?

The e is normally part of a Dsus2 but assume it is the 9 being in the next octave

Fascinating stuff

[adi_mrok]

Bloody hell a chord without a 3rd if starting on D?! Neither minor or major?

To me looks like Em11 with a D in bass note so Em11/D.

Keep on rockin' my friends

[RC23]

I’m sure I heard Justin mention this in one of his videos, but I can’t remember which one.

Em7add11 for all the open strings.

Which seems about right to me based on my rudimentary analysis. I must go back to the theory course!

Rod.

[tobyjenner]

Well a quick check on SmartChord app as my brain is full of other nonsense at the moment

DGBe     D6susadd9
ADGBe   A9sus/A7sus9/A9sus4/A11sus2
EADGBe Em11

I frequently use all 6 open strings between changes or for a different tone staying on the same chord (Turn The Page intro for example). I also recall Justin covering this somewhere, certainly in the old BC but never worried about a label, as it just works and sounds good to me, as do the open 5 4 or 3 thinner strings. And that's good enough for me.

Cheers

Toby
 

[DavidP]

DGBe     D6susadd9
ADGBe   A9sus/A7sus9/A9sus4/A11sus2

Thanks Toby.

How does one determine when the lowest note is the root of the chord vs a slash chord, in this case D/A?

As you said, not that naming the chord is necessary from a practical point of view.

[Matt125]

I'm definitely no expert in naming chords but here are some things to keep in mind.

If you're given a three note chord like EGC or CEG or GCE, without context, it is a C major triad. How can you tell which is the root note? You find the note among the three, such that the other two are in a 3-5 relationship.

So for GCE:
If G was the root then C and E would be the 4 and the 6
If E was the root then G and C would be the 3 and the 6
If C was the root then E and G would be the 3 and the 5. So the root note is C and the chord is a C major triad.
Even if it's an inversion C/G or C/E it is still a C major triad.


You could also interpret it depending on its function.

So if EADGBe in the Key of D is acting as:
the  i chord with D as the root it would be   D6/9sus4/E    R-2-4-5-6
the ii chord with E as the root it would be   Em11             R-m3-4-5-m7
the IV chord with G as the root it would be  G6/9/E          R-2-3-5-6
the  V chord with A as the root it would be  A9/11sus2/E   R-2-4-5-m7
the vi chord with B as the root it would be  Bm11#5/E      R-m3-4-#5-m7
the names I got from following website. The rationale for the names is given.
https://www.scales-chords.com/chord-namer/guitar?notes=E;A;D;G;B;E&key=&bass=E&frets=0;0;0;0;0;0


In the context of your song it's just a transition chord to the next functional chord. So its best to think of it as an Em11 chord. Em11 because it has  R-b3-5, E is the bass note and it's not functioning as a I, IV V or vi chord.

[DavidP]

Thanks Matt, good vibes for that explanation and reference. Shone a little more light for me.

Now I need to check into all the uses/conventions of using "/" in chord naming.