D Minor Chord on Guitar
Dm D F A 3 shapes Open chord
Chord diagrams
How to play D Minor on guitar
The D Minor chord (Dm) is made of D, F, A - 1 b3 5. On a guitar in standard tuning the easiest way to play it is the open shape xx0231, with no barre. Below are 3 shapes in all, from the lowest on the neck to the highest; the same chord sounds brighter the higher you play it.
A-shape barre, fret 5 x57765
E-shape barre, fret 10 (10)(12)(12)(10)(10)(10)
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right). Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. x = do not play the string, o = open string, a bar = one finger across several strings.
Notes
What notes are in D Minor?
The D Minor chord has 3 different notes: D, F, A. Root, minor third (3 half steps up), perfect fifth (7): only the third differs from the major chord. A guitar chord rarely has as many strings as notes, so shapes double some of them: the e-shape barre, fret 10 sounds all six strings.
| Note | Interval from the root | Half steps |
|---|---|---|
| D | Root | 0 |
| F | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| A | Perfect 5th | 7 |
Chords that go with it
Chords in the key of D minor
The seven chords built on the D minor scale, with the easiest shape of each. i, iv and v are the backbone; VI, III and VII are the major chords borrowed from the relative major.
A progression to strum
- i - VI - III - VIIDm - B♭ - F - C
Songs
Songs with the Dm chord
Easy songs on this site that use Dm, with the chords over the lyrics and a guitar that plays along.
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play Dm on guitar?
The open shape xx0231: G string fret 2 (finger 2), B string fret 3 (finger 3), high E string fret 1 (finger 1); let D ring open, do not play low E and A.
What notes are in the D Minor chord?
The D Minor chord (Dm) is made of D, F, A. Its formula is 1 b3 5. On the guitar, some of those notes are played twice on different strings.
Is there a barre version of Dm?
Yes: a-shape barre, fret 5 (x57765), and e-shape barre, fret 10 ((10)(12)(12)(10)(10)(10)). Barre shapes have no open strings, so you can cut the sound short with your fretting hand.
Keep playing
Strum Dm, then build a song around it
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