D Major

Alright, so I've been playing the uke for about a month and a half, and I feel that I have no idea how to play the D major chord correctly. (To clarify if I am thinking of the right chord, it is pressing down on the 2nd fret for strings 4, 3, and 2)

I just looked at a video on youtube, and it showed a guy placing his thumb over the three strings. This is incredibly awkward for me to play! I have been alternating between barring my index finger across the strings and putting 3 fingers on the strings in one fret. Is this incredibly frowned against, or will prevent me from switching chords easily?

If the thumb is the correct way to play the chord, how can I make this more comfortable for my hand, and less awkward from switching to my thumbs to fingers to play songs?

Thanks!

Hey, take a look at this recent thread concerning the Dmaj chord. IMO, use the shape that's comfortable for you while allowing easy transitions from the prior chord and going to the next one.

Searcheth and thou shalt knoweth

Da one.
Da two (in memoriam da one).

Enjoyeth. Practiceth. Make a video when you get used to playing D with you thumbeth.

Ah... Kanaka90210 beat me to it. Good chance his threads are more useful!

I don't know if there is a truly correct way to play the chord. I've either barred the three strings with my index finger, attempting to lift it just right to hear the first string played open (this rarely happens correctly), or I'll just force all three fingers onto the fret. This can be particularly difficult if you don't have the hands of a nine year old.

Oddly, I find it easiest to play with my ring finger on 2, index finger on 3, and middle finger on 4.

Oh no! I did a search, but must have done a terrible job with the keywords. Sorry!

afeatheredhat said:

Oddly, I find it easiest to play with my ring finger on 2, index finger on 3, and middle finger on 4.

Click to expand...

This is the easiest way for me to play it as well. I do have very thin fingers, so I guess I could put my hands on par with a 9-year-old. (And thus, this is why stretching my thumb on the chords is difficult, because my hands are so small.)

RadRenee said:

Oh no! I did a search, but must have done a terrible job with the keywords. Sorry!

Click to expand...

No problems, not many will come with the idea of searching for "steel pipe" when they need to know how to grab a D-chord.
Keep trying to bar it and eventually you will be fine. It is much quicker and you have only one finger to worry about instead of three. Pointing finger or middle finger are probably most commonly used.

One finger pushups ftw!