How do I play the D chord?

The D chord is one of the more difficult chord shapes for guitar beginners. The position the fingers need to be in feels awkward at first, and it’s hard to get all of the held notes sounding clear. Here are some practice suggestions to help you develop a reliable D chord.

Are the 1st and 2nd strings clear when you play D? Place your fingers well up on the tips. Holding them still, pick the individual strings; the 1st and 2nd strings should both sound clear. The bright, distinctive sound of D relies on these two strings sounding well. The first shape below is the standard D major chord. If you can’t hear the 1st string you are, by default, hearing the D5 variation. If all those notes are clear you have a useful version of D that will work for some strumming songs. To help learn what you should be hearing try picking each note in the D2, then the D6. If these are clear then go back to D. The last shape is named Dmaj7 and is played with the index finger flat on three strings. It is a useful substitute for D in some songs in the keys of D and A, but does not work well in the key of G.

D chord; some useful variations - here are some useful D chords that appear higher up the fretboard. They all sound clearer when treated as four-string chords but also sound good with the 5th string included. When strumming these shapes, make sure the 6th string is lightly muted by the thumb. Note the fret indication at the top-right of each chord-box

Modern guitar chord styles to the rescue!

Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : This is a very helpful book for entry-level players and those who have already learned the common chords but are still having trouble putting a full song together. If this reflects where you are up to, just a few weeks of the technique building work in MGCS1 will have you putting songs together.

Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : to learn about D, how it fits in to progressions and some of it’s variations go to pages 14, 20, 24 and 28.