The D shape is the open D chord — a compact triangle on the top three strings with the root on the open 4th — turned into a movable treble voicing. It is the highest-pitched of the five shapes and the one most often forgotten, which is a shame: it is the sparkle register, and chord-melody playing leans on it constantly.
Where it starts, for every root
Recomputed from the voicing library: the D shape's major form for each of the twelve roots, with its starting fret and exact frets (x = muted). The geometry is identical in every row — only the address changes.
| Root | Starts at | Frets (6th → 1st) |
|---|---|---|
| A | fret 7 | x–x–7–9–10–9 |
| A# | fret 8 | x–x–8–10–11–10 |
| B | fret 9 | x–x–9–11–12–11 |
| C | fret 10 | x–x–10–12–13–12 |
| C# | fret 11 | x–x–11–13–14–13 |
| D | fret 1 | x–x–0–2–3–2 |
| D# | fret 1 | x–x–1–3–4–3 |
| E | fret 2 | x–x–2–4–5–4 |
| F | fret 3 | x–x–3–5–6–5 |
| F# | fret 4 | x–x–4–6–7–6 |
| G | fret 5 | x–x–5–7–8–7 |
| G# | fret 6 | x–x–6–8–9–8 |
Using it
The D shape is position 5, the last link: above every D shape the C shape reappears and the cycle restarts an octave up. Because it uses only the top strings, it excels where full chords would be mud — second-guitar parts, high fills behind a vocal, and the closing voicing of a fingerstyle arrangement.
Start from open D, then slide the triangle to fret 2 for E major (root on the 4th string, fret 2). The table above gives all twelve addresses. Played after an E-shape barre of the same chord, it adds a register jump that sounds like a second guitarist — one chord, two floors of the same building.