Practice the Dmaj Chord on Guitar with Real-time Feedback

The D major chord uses D, F# and A: the root, a major third (F#) and a perfect fifth (A).

There are 16 voicings on this page, five of them using open strings, such as x00232. D is the I chord of D major, the IV of A major and the V of G major. Turning the triad into chord inversions changes the lowest note without changing the chord, and all three notes sit inside the D major scale.

Press play on the fretboard player at the top to hear D as a strum and as an arpeggio, one string at a time.

D major guitar chord is also written as D, Dmaj, DM or DΔ.

Notes in the D maj chord:

D F# A

How to create the Major chord:

Formula: 1 3 5

D Maj Chord Interactive Fretboard

Want a structured chord roadmap instead of jumping between pages?
Go to the full guitar chords tutorial.

D Maj Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the high E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 3 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the low E, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 11 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 12 of the D string

Position 4 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the high E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string

Position 5 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the A string

Position 6 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the A and high E strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 7 Barre Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string

Position 8 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the high E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 7 of the B string

Position 9 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the A string

Position 10 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the D string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 9 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 10 of the low E string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 11 of the G string

Position 11 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string

Position 12 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 13 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string

Position 14 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the D, G and B strings at the same time
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 10 of the high E string

Position 15 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 11 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the D string

Position 16 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the G string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 4 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the A string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

Keys With The D Major Chord

Here are the most common keys in which you can find a D major chord.

Notice that in the key of G, the D major is the dominant chord (5th degree). That's the reason why G and D play well together.

G Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
G	G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F# dim

D Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
D	D	Em	F#m	G	A	Bm	C# dim

A Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
A	A	Bm	C#m	D	E	F#m	G# dim

E Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
E	Em	F# dim	G	Am	Bm	C	D

F# Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
F#	F#m	G# dim	A	Bm	C#m	D	E

Scales To Play Over a D Major Chord

This is a major chord, so any scale with root, a major third and a perfect fifth could be a good fit. Here are some examples:

D major scale
D Lydian scale
D Mixolydian scale
D Major Pentatonic scale

Songs With The D Major Chord

Hotel California is the first song that comes to mind when thinking to a D major chord. It's Am E7 G D F C Dm E7 (again, notice the G -> D transition).

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd is formed by D, C and G. This song is a great example of D mixolydian modal progression.

Love hurts by Nazareth is another awesome song with a D major: The progression is indeed G Em C D.

Variations for The D Major Chord

The D major chord is often used along the following shapes.

Basically, you put the pinkie on the 3rd fret of the G string (G), to play a D sus4, D(1) G(4) A(5).

Then you lift it, then you play again the D major, and then you lift also the ring finger, leaving the E high string open and forming a D sus2 chord D(1) E(2) A(5).

D major

D sus4

D sus2

You can experiment with these chord voicings and variations by using my chord explorer tool.

Want to Learn Everything About Chords?

Check Chords Domination out: a unique ebook that shows you finger positions, note names and intervals in the chords (plus a tones fretboard maps)

You'll learn how to play 44 chords types across all the fretboard, with many voicings and fingerings

In the ebook you can also find maps show you the tones in a chord all along the fretboard. They are incredibly helpful because allow you to:

Create new voicings on the fly, across all the neck
Improvise targeting the right notes
Unlock the fretboard and expand the CAGED system.

In the new ebook, Chords Domination, you'll find the fretboard tones maps for 44 different qualities of chords. Check it out:

Download Free Excerpt Learn More Here

Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

Which notes are in D major?

D major contains D, F# and A. F# is the major third, four semitones up from D, and A is the perfect fifth, seven semitones up.

How many voicings of D major are there?

D major has 16 voicings, 5 with open strings and 9 with a barre. The highest one reaches the 12th fret.

In which keys is D major a main chord?

D major is the I chord of D major, the IV chord of A major and the V chord of G major. Its three notes are in each scale.

Which scale suits D major?

The D major scale: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. It contains D, F# and A, so it suits melodies over the chord.