B1-105 How the play the D chord

[close2u]

Lesson link: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/how-to-play-the-d-chord-b1-105

Questions ...

[dewitty]

  Very confused. Need help. answr so i can learn guitar, my fav instrument

[batwoman]

Welcome to the forum dewitty 

If you're playing an acoustic guitar you need to press the strings into the neck.  It might take you some time to find the right amount of pressure. Beginners often press too hard. The closer you are to the fret the better the sound.

If you're playing an electric, you might get a sound by touching the string, but ideally you need to press the string into the neck. You won't need to use much pressure at all.

[Twin Six]

Press the strings right down but with the least amount of pressure you can manage, and make sure you use your fingertips and arch your fingers to prevent them touching the adjacent strings. Also, finger positioning for the D chord can be slightly tricky, so experiment with the angle at which your fingers press the strings. I've found that I've had to rotate my fingers so they're at their thinnest to avoid buzzing or muting when playing the D chord. Learning what works for you takes a lot of practice and can be frustrating at times, but you'll get there.

[AshandBulbasaur1]

Hey Justin! I just started your course and I have tried to perfect D chord and the 3rd and 2nd Finger Parts are Buzzing and I can't do it! Can you give me a couple Ideas?

[Jamolay]

Hey Justin! I just started your course and I have tried to perfect D chord and the 3rd and 2nd Finger Parts are Buzzing and I can't do it! Can you give me a couple Ideas?

I am no expert, just beginning too, but I have had trouble with the 2nd finger being too far onto the fret when I try to get the 1st and 3rd fingers forward near their frets. I have been trying to give myself a little more leeway to place the 1st and 3rd a little further back to free up room for the 2nd.

Play with your finger location between the frets and see where you can place them and still have good sound. Then find and learn the spots where you can get all three to ring true.

I found that my guitar, bought used with super long lasting phosphor bronze strings was NOT forgiving at all and I either had to crank really hard or be extremely precise, and being a beginner, I had sensitive fingers and not enough flexibility to manage very well (still the case...). I took the guitar in to be looked at and it is a good guitar, so I put softer, more flexible strings on (silk and steel for me). World of difference. It takes less pressure and opens up the usable string between the frets more.

Also, I seem to have trouble with my 3rd finger moving too slowly to get the the d string in a timely way. I am now trying to relearn the D cord by placing my fingers in the 1-3-2 order. Already going faster, but it backed me up a bit.

Keep trying!

[Mister_B]

Hey guys and girls, first timer poster! I decided in my early 30's, now's the time to learn acoustic guitar after always wanting to, but never putting in the time and hard graft to do it.

I've found Justin Guitar to be hugely helpful in these early few days. But..... I cannot seem to nail the D chord! No matter how many different angles or knots I tie my fingers and wrist into, that bottom E string just sounds dead under my 3rd finger!

I thought I had it yesterday, I managed to to get 3 in a row on perfect practice, but then it goes dead again, and it's stopping me from getting onto song practice as my fingers just don't go where they are supposed to. A chord - easy, D chord - bloomin' difficult! 

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[adi_mrok]

Hi Mister and welcome to the community. There are tons of possibilities why it's not working for you, perhaps a photo of your fretting hand would help us? First two things that popped into my head - option 1 is your calluses are not strong enough and it's causing string not ringing out correctly (which you will overcome in time in next few weeks with everyday practice).

Option 2 - try to place your fingers as close the metal frets as possible, so if your middle finger goes on fret 2 string E try to move finger as close to the metal between frets 2 and 3 as possible (finger still need to remain on fret 2, just really close to metal piece) rather than keeping it in the middle of the fret. This might help you I hope.

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[firstrazor]

I have the similar problem even until today when I am already into the 10 months from beginning. My problem is that the middle finger can’t bend enough to keep at the right spot, and it often goes below the fret hence mutes the string. Now I have to try to move the whole hand a bit higher for D shape. Another very important thing for me is, I need to cut my middle finger nail almost every time if I’d like to seriously play guitar.


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[Jamolay]

Hey guys and girls, first timer poster! I decided in my early 30's, now's the time to learn acoustic guitar after always wanting to, but never putting in the time and hard graft to do it.

I've found Justin Guitar to be hugely helpful in these early few days. But..... I cannot seem to nail the D chord! No matter how many different angles or knots I tie my fingers and wrist into, that bottom E string just sounds dead under my 3rd finger!

I thought I had it yesterday, I managed to to get 3 in a row on perfect practice, but then it goes dead again, and it's stopping me from getting onto song practice as my fingers just don't go where they are supposed to. A chord - easy, D chord - bloomin' difficult! 

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Can you take (or have someone take) a close up picture of the “dead” D cord. Maybe that will help others understand how to help.

I get the dull E for a few different errors. Most common is that my 3rd finger drags the others forward to get to the better part of its feet, which pulls my second finger to far up onto or over the second fret instead of just up to it. I solve this (more or less) by placing my 3rd finger first.

The next common reason for me is the 3rd finger touches the E string. You just have to learn to hold it better and it will improve with time. At least I hope so...

The last is that sometimes my straining to get the cord has my second finger pushes the E string off the edge of the fret board.

Keep working at it! My bugaboo(s) at this time is the Dm, I am slow and inaccurate. Another that has needed my 3rd finger first. I also really struggle with the A cord. Not sure why, my fingers are small enough. I think I drift up towards the head as I switch cords and the A needs to be all down by the fret. Sigh.... at least I still have no rhythm...

[firstrazor]

Keep working at it! My bugaboo(s) at this time is the Dm, I am slow and inaccurate. Another that has needed my 3rd finger first. I also really struggle with the A cord. Not sure why, my fingers are small enough. I think I drift up towards the head as I switch cords and the A needs to be all down by the fret. Sigh.... at least I still have no rhythm...

I played A chord using the twisted fingers Justin suggests, but after a few months I started to feel the finger joint pain. Now I change to normal way, which is also easier to play A - Asus for embellishment. This is a rare case I am not following what Justin says.


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[Jamolay]

Thanks! I have been stuck thinking there is only one way to do it, which of course I know isn’t true. Good reminder to find a way to make it work!

[Mister_B]

I'm not sure how to add an image to my post? When I click the add image button, it says I am unable to post external links?

[adi_mrok]

You need to add 3 more posts to unlock the feature of posting external links.

Sent from my SM-G973F using JustinGuitar Community mobile app

[Mister_B]

Thanks. I've now made a total of five posts. Do I need to host my image somewhere else on the internet and link to it? Or can I upload an image into my post?

[DarrellW]

Thanks. I've now made a total of five posts. Do I need to host my image somewhere else on the internet and link to it? Or can I upload an image into my post?

You need image hosting, something like imgur.

[jimmymac1066]

Following the instructions in the videos, I learned D, A, and E by placing the fingers down in order. When doing one-minute changes, as I've marginally improved I am able to land the non-anchor fingers for A and E more or less simultaneously, but I can't seem to do D without doing it a finger at a time, I think because I'm having to pull finger 2 back behind the anchor finger while pushing finger 3 forward. With A and E, at least from each other or from D,  2 and 3 are moving in the same direction.
Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions for making that opposite movement more dexterous? I was wondering if I should concentrate on landing finger 3 first. I find that finger a little less "obedient" than the others.

[Jamolay]

Landing finger 3 first is what I had to resort to. Finally D is coming together for me and the fingers get there close to the same time. Doing the same with Dm, but not C or G. None of those have come together well yet.

[jimmymac1066]

Thank you for responding, Jamolay. I'm gonna give that a try.