Does anyone have any tips on fingering the moveable D shape up the neck? Do most people barre the g,c and e strings with a bent ring finger ? I can do it but it feels awkward. Is it just a matter of practice or is there a better way?
Moving the D shape
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photoshooter
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I find it slightly easier to use 2 fingers;
I barre the G and C with my middle finger, I fret the E string with my ring finger. This leaves my index finger free to fret the A string if I want to move the shape up the fretboard.
I barre the G and C with my middle finger, I fret the E string with my ring finger. This leaves my index finger free to fret the A string if I want to move the shape up the fretboard.
If you cannot do separate fingers on the 2nd fret, try a full barre on the second fret and a pinky stretch on 1st string 5th fret. Or make the Bb/ Cmaj shape on the 5th. This latter way gives plenty opportunity to make an E 2frets up and so on.
Bob Bledsoe
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I find the bar less awkward if I bar the g, c, e strings with my ring finger and then bar the e and a strings with my 1st finger. Grabbing the e string with my first finger doesnt make any difference since i already have it barred two frets up, but it makes the shape more comfortable... It all depends on how your hands are built though.
Thanks for the great responses, guys
Photoshooter, i was shown your way for making a D but sort of disregarded because i felt like open chord changes were easier the way i was doing it but now it makes a lot of sense for moving up the neck. Ill have to practiice it that way.
Bob, i tried your way and i see why you do it. Ill give it a go but i think photos way is probably going to work better for me.
Barry, i get what you're saying but i want to work on more variety of moveable shapes so i want the D, not a substitute.
Photoshooter, i was shown your way for making a D but sort of disregarded because i felt like open chord changes were easier the way i was doing it but now it makes a lot of sense for moving up the neck. Ill have to practiice it that way.
Bob, i tried your way and i see why you do it. Ill give it a go but i think photos way is probably going to work better for me.
Barry, i get what you're saying but i want to work on more variety of moveable shapes so i want the D, not a substitute.
Play a Bb chord shape on the 5th fret. Gives a D. Whoops sorry read the thread wrong. Will leave here anyway.
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plenty of ways to skin this cat... this line shows 4 variations that are moveable...
http://www.ukulele-chords.com/D
http://www.ukulele-chords.com/D
janeray1940
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If you can do it, keep practicing, but if you can't - it might be genetic. Some peoples' ring fingers will not bend that way at all. Mine won't, so I fret each string individually with my middle, ring and pinky fingers. When I first started playing, this was probably the most challenging chord shape for me - but 6+ years later, it's so intuitive that I don't even think about it any more
Down Up Dick
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KnowsPickin
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Here is Adrine Guerro's take on a D shape, or in most cases, the D moved up to be an E chord:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTS0qHXupJs
I use this movable shape a lot. It takes some getting used to, but works quite well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTS0qHXupJs
I use this movable shape a lot. It takes some getting used to, but works quite well.
Well, at least 2225 is not a substitute but a full blown D chord. Actually even better than 2220 because it includes the root and octave instead of a doubled 5th (A). And 2225 is fully moveable...
:2cents:
Recstar24
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The 2225 typically is referred to as a C shape, as it's essentially a 0003 up two frets. The moveable d shape of 2220 in my opinion sounds a little better up the fretboard than the c shape because the pinky stretch really gets kind of high up there, the d shape sounds a little fuller to me up the fretboard because the 1st string is fretted 5 frets lower. But both work just fine and you can mix and match based on context and taste.
For the d shape, I'll use a middle to barre across strings 4-3, use my ring for string 2, index for string 1. Kind of like how you might do a d minor chord. Higher up the board I can do a ring barre across strings 4-2 since the frets are closer and I can get a better barre up there.
For the d shape, I'll use a middle to barre across strings 4-3, use my ring for string 2, index for string 1. Kind of like how you might do a d minor chord. Higher up the board I can do a ring barre across strings 4-2 since the frets are closer and I can get a better barre up there.
A movable shape for the E that I keep playing around with is a 1442. I use my first finger on the G string, my second finger on the A string and my 3rd finger on both the C and E strings. It's pretty playable on a Soprano though it might be a challenge on a Tenor. Even on a Tenor it might be preferable to the standard E shape up the neck where everything gets squashed together - provided you have low enough action to easily fret the C and E strings with the 3rd finger.
Recstar24
Well-known member
That's a cool way of doing it, never thought of doing it that way. Just tried it and it works really well for my hand, very movable, maybe even more so than 4442 for my hand. Thanks!
I like my students to learn the two finger barre on the 4-3 strings because of the flexibility, particularly if you mute the 1st string. With just the lower three strings, sometimes it's easier to move the form up the neck. You can also roll the second finger up a little to just play the 4th string, and use the first finger to get 7th and 6th chords, like these E chords: 444x (E), 434x (Emaj7), 424x (E7), 414x (E6).
70sSanO
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50+ years ago I was taught the "correct" way to play that shape on a guitar using the index to barre and then using the middle-ring-pinky to form the shape. When I started to play an electric guitar I just went to the 2 finger method that Aldrine demonstrates.
When playing a ukulele, I'll play the shape various ways depending on what I am going to play next if I am playing a melody off the chord shape. And sometimes I'll play it without barring it and only playing the single note on the "A" string. Unless you can bend your ring finger adequately, it is sometimes easier to bite the bullet and cram all three fingers on the fret. A part of me still sees this as the correct technique.
John
When playing a ukulele, I'll play the shape various ways depending on what I am going to play next if I am playing a melody off the chord shape. And sometimes I'll play it without barring it and only playing the single note on the "A" string. Unless you can bend your ring finger adequately, it is sometimes easier to bite the bullet and cram all three fingers on the fret. A part of me still sees this as the correct technique.
John
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