Thanks for figuring those out! The issue I'm having though is that the main melody of the song follows the descending pattern on the low D string so I'd naturally want to see those low notes as the root of each chord.
So in the first example, those chords could well be called D11/C, Gadd9/B etc but it makes more sense to me to call them C something, B something etc. I just can't quite figure out what the somethings should be!
Would it be wrong to name the chords based solely on the two fretted notes and omit the open notes? So for the second example it might be G5, F6, E(#5). That would be simpler but I guess not 100% accurate.
Sure you could do that if you wanted (name the chords based off the root being the lowest note). The problem with that (IMHO), though, is that sometimes that's just not how music works. For example, a common occurrence is to have a I chord and then move to a I chord in first inversion (with the 3rd in the bass). So in the key of G, you'd have a G chord and then a G/B. If you wanted to name the second chord as some kind of B chord, you'd end up with something like Bm#5 or Bm+. In my opinion, that's unnecessarily complicating things. But if it makes more sense to you, then go with it.
In that case, the names I would give to the first three chords --- if I wanted to account for all the notes present --- would be:
C 6/9add #11
Bm7(add b13) or Bm7#5
Bbmaj13
For the bottom three chords, I don't think you should omit the open D string. I mean ... you're playing it, so it's affecting the sound, right? Anyway, I would say:
G5
F6
ughhh .... E7#5(no 3rd) I guess.
IMHO, it's much better, and makes more musical sense, to use inversions. Think of another classic move: G - D/F# - Em. If you were to name that second chord related to F# as the root, it would F#m#5. To me, that chord is
clearly acting as a D chord, just with another note in the bass.
Now, there are instances where it's not as clear cut. Off the top of my head, Metallica's "Fade to Black" comes to mind. The first chord in the intro goes like:
-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
----------0------------------------|-------------------------------------------
------4-------4-------4--------4--|------------------------------------------
--2---------------2-------5-------|-------------------------------------------
----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------
So you have the notes B, F#, G, and D. Normally, I would call those notes a Gmaj7 chord. But in this instance, it really does sound like a Bm chord with an added G note. So instead of calling it Gmaj/B, I would probably call it Bm(add b6) or Bm(add b13).