D chords for guitar in different categories including major, minor and dominant chords.
D major
D
D major is often commonly referred to only D. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A. The root note is placed on the open 4th string and the lowest strings should not be played. The presented fingering consists of a doubled root, a third and a fifth interval. All D Major chords
D minor
Dm
D minor is often abbreviated Dm. The notes in the chord are D, F, A. The root note is placed on the open 4th string and the lowest strings should not be played. The presented shape consists of a doubled root, a minor third and a fifth interval. All Dm chords
D dominant 7th
D7
D dominant 7th is often abbreviated D7. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A, C. The root note is placed on the open 4th string and the lowest strings should not be played. The presented fingering consists of a root, a third, a fifth and a minor seventh.
All D7 chords
D major 7th
Dmaj7
D major 7th is often abbreviated Dmaj7. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A, C#. The root note is placed on the 4th string and the presented fingering consists of a root, a third, a fifth and a seventh. A tip is to play this chord with only one finger laying over three strings.
All Dmaj7 chords
D minor 7th
Dm7
D minor 7th is often abbreviated Dm7. The notes in the chord are D, F, A, C. The root note is placed on the 4th string. It consists of the same intervals as the Dm, but adds a minor seventh.
All Dm7 chords
D 6th
D6
D 6th is commonly written D6. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A, B. The root note is placed on the 4th string. It includes the same intervals as for the D major plus a major sixth.
D minor 6th
Dm6
D minor 6th is often abbreviated Dm6. The notes in the chord are D, F, A, B. It include the same intervals as for the Dm plus a major sixth (sic!).
D 9th
D9
D 9th is commonly written D9. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A, C, E. The root note is placed on the 5th string. The chord shape is movable.
D major 9th
Dmaj9
D major 9th is often abbreviated Dmaj9. The notes in the chord are D, F#, A, C#, E. The 5th interval is omitted in the version shown in the diagram. One way to include the 5th is to play it inverted as X44230.
D minor 9th
Dm9
D minor 9th is often abbreviated Dm9. The notes in the chord are D, F, A, C, E. The 5th interval is omitted on the version shown in the diagram; it can also be played as X53555 including the 5th.
The notes in relationship to numbers
Concerning D chords, the numbers used in names are based on the position in the D major and minor scales. Here you can see these relationship.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | E | F# | G | A | B | C# | D | E |
With the help of this reference, you can see that a D major triad with the 1, 3, 5 intervals includes the tones D, F# and A. You can also see that, for example, a Dmaj7 includes a C#, which is the seventh degree.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | E | F | G | A | Bb | C | D | E |
You can see that an D minor triad with the 1, b3, 5 intervals includes the tones D, F and A. You can also see that, for example, a Dm7 includes a C, which is the seventh degree.
More D chords can be constructed from these scales, such as 11th and 13th chords, which include the 11th (G) and 13th (B / Bb) degrees, respectively.
The relationship among chords
All D chords are constructed with a D root note, which normally is the lowest note in the chord. When that is not the case, the chord is said to be inverted. A major chord include a major third whereas the minor equivalent include a minor third as the second note in the chord. The third note is a so-called perfect fifth. Besides that, some chords are extended with sixths, sevenths, ninths and so on.
Chord construction
D x - x - D - A - D - F#
Dm x - x - D - A - D - F
D7 x - x - D - A - C - F#
Dmaj7 x - x - D - A - C# - F#
Dm7 x - x - D - A - C - F#
D6 x - x - D - A - B - F#
Dm6 x - x - D - A - B - F
D9 x - D - F# - C - E - A
Dmaj9 x - D - F# - C# - E - x
Dm9 x - D - F - C - E - x
Guitar versions of the chord
Notes in chord
D D - F# - A
Dm D - F - A
D7 D - F# - A - C
Dmaj7 D - F# - A - C#
Dm7 D - F - A - C
D6 D - F# - A - B
Dm6 D - F - A - B
D9 D - F# - A - C - E
Dmaj9 D - F# - A - C# - E
Dm9 D - F - A - C - E
Theoretical order of notes
Notation for blind and visually impaired
D XX0232
Dm XX0132
D7 XX0212
Dmaj7 XX0222
Dm7 XX0211
D6 XX0202
Dm6 XX0201
D9 X54555
Dmaj9 X5465X
Dm9 X5355X
Fingerings based on frets from thickest string
Comments
Dmaj9: The pictured guitar version doesn’t include the fifth (A).
Dm9: The pictured guitar version doesn’t include the fifth (A).
Excluding the fifth is a common approach, especially in major and minor chord in which it's the least important tone (interval).
For pdf, see The Chord Reference ebook with over 800 chord charts.
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