Drop D Tuning 5th Chords (Demo Page, Some Links May Not Work)
To be able to play these types of chords in songs you have to know how to tune
your guitar.
The
standard tuning on a guitar from thin to thick strings is
E B G D A & E. When you play
a song using drop D tuning you tune the 6th string (thickest)
from an E note down to a D (2 frets).
Tuning Down
When
you tune normally you use the 5th fret and open string below method as shown in the tuning section . To tune your 6th thick string down to
a "D" note you have to play the note on the 7th fret 6th string and compare it to the 5th string open underneath
it. Remember, you tune the 6th string 7th fret down to the same sound as the 5th string open.
Placing or naming drop D 5th
chords will be the same way you name bar
chords or normal 5th
chords, you will use the 6th string as the root note.
Unlike bar or 5th
chords you will only use the 6th string as the root note.
You can not transfer the shape down to the 5th string and
play a root 5 position. There is no commonly used root 5 or
4 drop 5th
chords.
Since
the 4th string is also a D string, you can include it with this
chord, the choice is yours. When you include the 4th string it
makes the chord full and rich, with a distorted amp it sounds
great.
There is also a lot of songs that use Drop D
for main song riffs, Some of these bands are Rage Against
The Machine, Metallica, Silverchair, Lifehouse, Limp Bizkit
& Korn (although some of these bands have seven string
guitar and the seventh string goes down to a low B note).
The
standard tuning on a guitar from thin to thick strings is
E B G D A & E. When you play
a song using drop D tuning you tune the 6th string (thickest)
from an E note down to a D (2 
When
you tune normally you use the 5th 
Since
the 4th string is also a D string, you can include it with this
chord, the choice is yours. When you include the 4th string it
makes the chord full and rich, with a distorted amp it sounds
great.
