Pesky D Chord!

It's not just you. I always read that the hardest is C to G but that was easy as pie for me. I play barre chords, I am currently playing Pink Floyd solos. But changing to the D chord is really tough for me too. I can switch and hit the e and G strings easily but getting the finger on the B string eludes me every time.

No help from me, sorry. Just wanted to say you're not alone.

Three finger A chord is a tough one for me also. Can't seem to switch to that one real fast either.

Wow! Your situation describes me perfectly!

I also found CC to G (and vice versa) pretty easy. I can play some barre chords (B minor to C minor etc) and play the most awkwardly fingered A chord you will ever see.

I have started training myself to put the ring finger on the b chord first. If I aim for this they all tend to come down at around the same time. However, the ring finger just insists on touching either the g or b when he first gets there.

Just a bit of sympathy and knowing i'm not the only one was all I was really after to tell the truth, as i know the answer is practice practice practice....

You definately aren't the only one, although I've been practicing loads, and it is coming a it easier for me, but it is the C that I struggle with most...

WIthout being able to watch you play and see your fingers, it's kind of hard to offer advice other than that dealing with the "usual" obstacles on has with the D chord. So my apologies in advance if you've already taken this into account.

Usually, problems with the D chord come because of one of three factors - the first one being too tight of a grip. Ppeople often wrap the thumb around on D, which can be done (is done by many) but for beginners who are still just getting comfortable with fingering in general, wrapping the thumb pulls the fingers down meaning that their fingertips aren't getting the string and there is a lot of muting and dead notes.

The second usual culprit is a "lazy" ring finger that flattens out and mutes the high E string. The index finger can also be guilty of this.

The third suspect is having the middle finger on top of the metal fret at the high E string.

The good news is that one can usually take care of any of these three problems with a bit of proper position and posture. First, be sure you're sitting (or standing) straight. Place your middle finger on the third fret of the high E string, close to the fret (body side of the guitar) but not on top of it. Hit the note to make sure you've got it right.

Then add your index finger to the third fret of the G string. Try to tilt your wrist slightly so that the inner wrist is pointing at where then neck joins the body of the guitar. This should allow your middle and index finger to line up almost perfectly over one another. You have to make sure your fretting hand is about chest high. You can't do this if your wrist is sitting atop your leg. Now play all four strings (D, G, B and high E) to make sure you've got good clean notes. Adjust your fingers a bit if you have to.

Finally, add the ring finger to the third fret of the B. Give it plenty of space and be sure it's up on its tip. If you see the first knuckle collapsing, get it back up. When you have your fingers in place, then also make certain that your guitar is relatively parallel with your body. This means don't tilt it up to look at your fingers! Tilting it up so you can see also pulls your fingers downward, increasing the likelihood that you'll mute the strings. There's a new article up on the home page that addresses this, by the way :wink:

Again, my apologies is all this is old hat to you. Practice will certainly help you get there but it's going to be a lot of practice if you're not giving yourself the best shot at the chord. And that means good position and posture.

Hope this does help.

Peace

Thanks for you reply David. Great help as always.
It's definitely problems 2 and 3 together. Or rather, if i try to address 2, 3 becomes an issue and vice versa!
I'll practice using your advice :)

Keep on trying......it'll come, then you'll have wear spots like a lot of us probably have. "F" was a pain to me & "A" I have to play with my last 4 fingers 'cause my fingers are too big. I don't play that traditionally most of the time. Still gets played.

My point is eventually you will get there even if it's not the way it's shown in the book. I knew a guy that barred the A & F# notes & added another finger to play the D. He played the D with 2 fingers.....sounded the same, so what's the diff?

Some lefties play upside down.....as long as it sounds good to you.

One of the earliest songs I learned was Led Zep's Tangerine. It's got D chords galore along with two different suspended D chords as part of a riff. I learned to hit the D chord with plenty of room for an untrained pinky finger to come down on the high E string for G note. That, and when you lift the middle finger up off of the high E, your ring finger has to be at steep enough angle to not have the high E hit it and mute itself. I guess after that, any normal D was easy, relatively speaking.
....the first one being too tight of a grip. Ppeople often wrap the thumb around on D....
:shock:
I just tried to do it like that. Ouch! I could, but man, it was a bit of a stretch.

Definitely a big "ouch" my first five dozen or so times, too! But the thumb wrap is how many players fret the D/F# (200232). It's actually not to hard to do but the trick is to relax and just get a very small bit of your thumb to fret the low E string. Once you're good with positioning a regular D it becomes easier to play around with it.

Peace

I play it like that naturally. I also use the thumb for the F, in particular, while I'm pickin' notes.
I know it's not correct, but i don't care.

I just ran into that D/F# in "I Told You So" by Randy Travis and I play it with the thumb on the E also. It's a fairly quick switch C to D/F# to D. As for D it will get easier and there will be another problem to take it's place but it's all part of learning. Stick with it and you'll get it. When I started I could'nt get the A without switching my index to the D string and pointer finger to the G. That made it easier to switch from A to D also. Now I still automatically use that fingering if the chord sequence is A to D but I've switched to using index, ring, pinkie for A especially if the next chord is F# or C#.

You can try to drop your wrist a bit and play more with your finger tips. This is tough to learn. Look and see where your thumb is on the back of the neck for your left hand. It should be towards the middle of the neck with may help you drop your wrist and fret the chord cleaner.

Also try to fret as close as you can to the actual fret. So 2nd finger on the high e string should be as close as you can get it to the 2nd fret. This will also help you play this and other chords cleaner.

Hope this helps!