D chord barre fingering help

Fuzzbass

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
Messages
169
Reaction score
0
Location
Norwich, UK
D chord is a bit tricky to barre, since you have to leave the A string open. You can try two things, one is to use three fingers for the three strings [fingers 1,2,3 from top to bottom, Like A on the guitar] if your fingers are thin and nimble. If, on the other hand, you're like me, you can try barre with the first finger, and put your pinky on A string, fret 5. This high D enriches D chord greatly, but does not always sound suitable. Sometimes, it's too bright. Give it a go.
 
I just use fingers 1, 2, and 3. A slight rotation towards the headstock puts if in the crook of my thumb and allows easy alignment of them. No problems with subsequent chord changes. 3 cheers for the folks with long, ambidexterous fingers that can barre it with the tip of their forefinger.
 
I think some people's fingers (mine included) are just not designed to bend backwards enough to clear the a string. I've just persevered with using three fingers to play D. Took some practice but works now. Not having bendy fingers is a pain, especially when it comes to the 4442 e chord.
 
I most often play the D chord (2220) with fingers 234. I'll also put the pointer finger on the third string (C) at the first fret. Is puts my hand in a comfortable position to hold the chord and aids in changes to A or A7. Works for me but may not for others.
 
I had to edit my post. I didn't have my uke with me and wrote down the wrong fingering!


I use 2 fingers; my middle finger holds down the G and C strings while my ring finger holds down the E string. Makes it real easy for me to fret and also to move to other chords.
Try it, you may find it works better for you too.
 
Last edited:
I had to edit my post. I didn't have my uke with me and wrote down the wrong fingering!


I use 2 fingers; my middle finger holds down the G and C strings while my ring finger holds down the E string. Makes it real easy for me to fret and also to move to other chords.
Try it, you may find it works better for you too.

+1 for this method. As photoshooter says it makes it easier to change to and from other chord shapes.
 
My suggestion is to practice and get used to using 3 fingers. Ring, middle, and index. The problem is you need to have the fingers contact the strings as close to the bottom of the fret as possible to get a crisp note without buzzing. That's a little hard, because fingers are kind of forced into an angle to hold a D chord, so you end up with fingers progressively moving away from the proper area on the frets, from one string to the next.

I'd say keep practicing by moving from a C to a D chord, or an A to a D chord, or both. This will force all of your fingers to shift into a D position, giving you the maximum amount of practice for getting all 3 of those fingers in position.
 
I use different fingerings according to the context: ring-middle-index / middle-ring-pinkie / index on G and G with middle on E / middle on G and C with ring on E. I can also bar just the three strings with index or middle finger while clearing the A string but not reliably. (My ring finger is more flexible so I can play the E chord easily with just index and ring.)
 
Actually, you're just doubling the A that you're already getting on the 4th string, so if you muffle the 1st string, you're not losing much. If your first finger won't bend back far enough to clear the first string, just play 222X for the time being. I find that for an Eb, I'll often just play 333X and it's hard to tell the difference between that and 3331.
 
Wow! Thanks all for the advice and comments. I shall keep trying, I can do the three finger D, so lots more barring practise for me :)
 
Have a look at this video - and yes, the presenter talks really fast :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znYkS2mHMSM

The doubling up method is probably worth trying if you're not already doing it, but also rotating your barre finger to use more of the finger's side than the pads can help. I carried this practice over from playing 12-string guitar and I'm not even aware I'm doing it unless I look. Rotating the finger toward the nut just a little bit avoids some problems caused by the joint creases in your finger preventing proper fretting of the string. I saw in your video you are flat-finger fretting which should probably be the name of a song.
 
Any ideas as to why I'm not getting it. A lot of practice this week on trying to barre the D chord with both my pointer and my middle finger. I'm doing the finger folding exercises, but after a week, I'm not getting any improvement. Any pointers on my technique? Many thanks all.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18047518/Ukulele Underground/IMG_1220.MOV

It sounds odd, but I started off doing it with my ring finger, which was more flexible. It might work for you. Once I got the hang of it, I switched to middle. I don't think I could do it with my index finger.
 
Last edited:
A week is not a long time, relatively speaking, to perfect a new and difficult chord. It may take weeks of practice before becoming satisfactorily proficient. Be patient. Practice slowly forming the chord in whichever manner you choose to finger it. Strum slowly once listening to each string ring clearly. Remove your fretting fingers. Replace fretting fingers. Strum once. Repeat.
 
Surely SailingUke nailed it - 2225. Moveable too. Drop the 5 back to 3 for the 7th. Once there you have the B chord, G too, up to for the E and so on. Vamping too (hope I got that right).
 
I'm fortunate that I can do the one-finger thing (am guitarist, learned the A chord that way). Now on uke, I can do that in the first position, but have taking to hooking my thumb over and getting the top 3 strings that way, works nicely, but you kinda have to have the hands of an orangutan
 
hooking my thumb over and getting the top 3 strings
:eek: :uhoh:
I wouldn't recommend getting used to that, actually I consider this "bad habit" (yes, I am one of these "thumb belongs behind the neck" guys despite not having any relation to classical guitar).
You might well run into different problems in the long run (fast chord changes out of this position, all kinds of arm/wrist/finger pain, ...) which will be hard to iron out once you got your muscle memory trained to such a bad habit.
But as said, this is only my personal view - YMMV.

Besides that I always play D with one finger barring G and C strings and another finger on E string - the choice of fingers depends a bit on the current chord progression.
 
Top Bottom