D chord WILL be the death of me!

Here's what seems to work for me:

Along the lines of Nils' advice, I place all the fingers in the desired position (for whatever chord I'm learning). I strum it and then lift off.

But I only lift off very slightly, just enough to play the strings open. Just enough to prove that all the fingers came off just a fraction.
No need to hit all the strings open, just whichever 2 or 3 sound Ok open with the chord you're learning).

Then I do that over and over -

place fingers - strum,
slight lift off - open string strum,
fingers back down - strum again

"Strum" can be a single strum, several strums, a pick pattern or whatever you choose. Whatever sounds OK, feels "guitarish" and keeps you doing the repetition! 8)

When that has "stuck" nicely I lift off a bit further.

When that works OK I start to do it as a change from a chord with either similar fingering or a common anchor point.

Breaking it into small steps seem to make it much easier and less frustrating.

With the D I might also try lifting ever so slightly, and sliding down 2 frets to make it an E and then back (strumming only the top 3 on the E strum)

Mixing it with another sound seems to make it a bit more fun, and can be quite "musical"....

If you fancy making a little song of it, to keep you working on the D shape try this:

1. Put the fingers in the D position. Strum.

2. Slide the whole thing up 5 more frets, so that two back fingers are on fret 7 (might be a dot there). Strum just the 3 strings (it's now a G)

3. Slide up two more frets (two back fingers now on fret 9. may be dotted too) It's now an A.

Slide up and down strumming to suit and mixing up the order. It's a DAG song! Your first DAGGY song.... and in D Major, instead of C for a change :D At least I think it's D Maj. :wink: :o

Good luck. :)

D fouled me up when I was starting, too. Just practice going from D to all your other open chords. Back and fourth over and over, go at a speed that you can play cleanly at.

for years i barred the second fret with my index finger and fretted the "D" note with my ring finger (3). it worked for strumming but once i started finger picking runs, hammers and what not i forced myself to learn it the right way.
I still barre the A chord most of the time tho :oops:

Mike

I know this is late in the thread but you are not indicating what the problem is with the D chord. Are you not coming down on the correct frets? Or is one of your fingers damping one of the neighboring strings? Different problems.

Mikey,

Its my middle finger that is being the least cooperative...it just won't come down where it's supposed to. Even though its only 3 notes the D chord is a difficult shape for me to make because the fingers are so close together...I have the same problem with the the A chord with the fingering 2-1-3 and had to switch to the barre fingering. I am working on the A but since there is an alternative I have been lazy...with the D chord there aren't too many alternatives..

Put the middle finger down first. I 'walk' into many chords like this.

I used to put the index finger down first for a C. Now I form a C in unison but I still walk into a D very slightly and going to a G from a D I still walk into the G by going for my pinky first.

I have been doing it so long and it is so automatic and fluent I totally forgot I was even doing it.

I even walk into my F#m and you can't hear it because I am on an upstrum during the change. Somewhere along the line, the time it takes to land right shortens if you are relaxed.

For you guys who bar the A, I see so many people doing it that I almost feel I am doing it wrong.

If you still have a problem with the D after 1,000 times, it sounds like you are frustrated and could use a break.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to relax and take your time. Tensing up and rushing and trying to do it fast will knock you down for improvement every time.

'Walk' into your problem chords. It works. :)

You shouldn't substitue anything for the D chord. It is such a common chord. Just do what your doing and it will come.

With night moves you should also add in muting with your fretting hand. It is done in the recording and it will cover your switching a little. But like I said the D will come.