Advanced Guitar Chord Lesson – Learn to Play Dm

Advanced Guitar Chord Lesson – Learn D Minor

In this post you will learn several advanced voicings for the Dm (also known as D Minor) guitar chord.  They are advanced because they either require that you barre certain strings or that you mute certain strings. Both of which are advanced techniques that require a bit of practice to master.

The D Minor chord is found by locating the 1,  b3 and 5 steps of the  D Major Scale: D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C# , or the notes D, F and A.  The “b3″ symbol translates to “Flattened 3rd” , which means we simply lower the 3rd step of the D Major Scale (F#) a 1/2 step to a “F”.

Here is a key that will help you read the charts:

Everything on the above chart should be self explanatory, except for the last three in the third column. They may need a bit of explaining. The O, or open symbol, simply means that you do not press down on any notes on that string. The X means you do not strum that particular string. The Barre symbol means you need to barre that particular fret. When you barre a fret you are pressing down on multiple strings at the same time with one finger.

Chord Playing Tip

Be sure that you are pressing down on the strings hard enough and play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.