D Major guitar chord
Three notes across one string set.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About D — triad voicings
D is D, F# and A.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
D notes and formula
| D | F# | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Dmaj, DM or D major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play D
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
D has 47 of them, on the bottom three strings, the high-middle three, the top three strings, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the middle four strings, the low-middle three, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 2nd fret up to the 14th — every inversion the chord has: D in the bass, F# in the bass and A in the bass. The one to learn first is the F# shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the top four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with xx0232 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 7 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx0232 | open position | D, root position | F# | 1 open string |
| x54232 | 2nd fret | D, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x57775 | 5th fret | D, root position | A | barred |
| 10-9-7-7-7-10 | 7th fret | D, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-7-7-7-10 | 7th fret | A, 2nd inversion | D | barred |
| 10-12-12-11-10-10 | 10th fret | D, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-12-14-15-14 | 12th fret | D, root position | F# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 2 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use D
How you get to it. The turn that lands on D is Em7 to A7 — the ii and the V of D — and A7 shares its third and seventh with Em7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of D belongs to D major (the I), E minor (the ♭VII), F# minor (the ♭VI), G major (the V), A major (the IV) and B minor (the ♭III).
What to play over D
Every note of D is in D major pentatonic, D major, D lydian, D mixolydian and D lydian dominant.
Chords near D
Change one note of D and you have Dm (the major third becomes a minor third), Dsus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Dsus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Dmaj7 (add the major seventh), Dadd9 (add the ninth) or D5 (drop the major third).
D is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On D’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.