cram three fingers close enough together to play a clean D chord on my sweet soprano? I have average-to-small size hands and I play violin, but now that I am trying to learn more than C-F-G7, I can't seem to play a good D chord. Would it be easier on a concert size, or if I just keep trying will it happen some day?
When I first started to play I too struggled but eventually found a way that would and does work for me. Briefly reading through the thread I don’t think anyone else describes my (triangular) method, but it’s good to have several to choose from and what Eynowd and then Ukecaster suggest is effectively near the same but with a slight difference in style.
The G7 chord is simple enough in form, basically it’s a triangle shape and that, slightly modified, is what I move across to help me play the D chord. Place your index finger on the C string just behind the first fret, place your ring finger on the the E string just in front of the second fret and then place your middle finger on the G string just in front of the second fret. That’s a flattened triangular shape. When I move from the D to the D7 chord I use my little finger on the A string, but otherwise it’s easiest to play the D7 with a Barr. A Barr for the D chord (as mentioned above by Mopman) works for me too, Barr across all the second fret with your first finger and use your little finger for the A string and the fifth fret.
I find it helpful, from time to time, to pluck each string in turn to check that they are properly fretted by my carefully positioned fingers. The other important thing is to ensure that your Uke is properly set up, if the unfretted strings are too high above the fret board then they will be difficult to press down properly.
I hope that the above is a help and welcome to the world of Uke playing, may you have much fun with your Uke.
Edit. One of the really useful things, to me, about this thread is being reminded of techniques that I no longer use but should try again, and another is being supplied with useful techniques and lines of thought that hadn’t yet found their way to me.
. Never stop learning and never stop refining technique.