D major chord
Home in D major, and the V that pulls toward G.
- How it sounds
- Bright and settled. D to F♯ is four frets, and that gap gives it its warmth, while A on top holds it steady. It has an open grip, the D form, with one open string ringing.
- Where it lives
- The I of D major, the IV of A major and the V of G major. In D major it’s home; in G major it pulls the song back to G. In G harmonic minor it’s the V, and its third, F♯, is the raised seventh that leads back to G. Folk, country and bluegrass, and Irish and Scottish traditional music, where D is the tin whistle’s home key and one of the fiddle’s easiest.
Voicings across the neck
D, F♯ and A can be played in five places on the neck, each built from a different open chord shape. Neighbouring forms share a root, so each one hands over to the next, and together they run from the nut to the 13th fret before the cycle starts again. The open D form rings the most. The E form at the 10th fret is the fullest barre, all six strings.
- High E string: F♯ at fret 2
- B string: D at fret 3
- G string: A at fret 2
- D string: D at fret 0
- A string: not played
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: F♯ at fret 2
- B string: D at fret 3
- G string: A at fret 2
- D string: F♯ at fret 4
- A string: D at fret 5
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: A at fret 5
- B string: F♯ at fret 7
- G string: D at fret 7
- D string: A at fret 7
- A string: D at fret 5
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: D at fret 10
- B string: F♯ at fret 7
- G string: D at fret 7
- D string: A at fret 7
- A string: F♯ at fret 9
- Low E string: D at fret 10
- High E string: D at fret 10
- B string: A at fret 10
- G string: F♯ at fret 11
- D string: D at fret 12
- A string: A at fret 12
- Low E string: D at fret 10
Formula
| Intervals | Notes | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| R · M3 · P5: what each interval does in a chord | D · F♯ · A | 4 + 3 |
D major is a root, a major third and a perfect fifth: D, F♯ and A, taken from the D major scale by skipping every other note. Four then three is what makes a chord major. Turn the gaps round, three then four, and you get D minor: D, F, A.
In these keys and scales
D major turns up in twelve scales on the site, and the job it does depends on the scale. In D major it’s the I, home. In G major and G harmonic minor it’s the V, the chord that pulls back home. In B minor it’s the III, the relative major inside the minor key, and as the VI of F♯ minor it’s a warm step away from home. The numeral beside each scale names the job, and the name opens that scale’s page.
| Family | Scales |
|---|---|
| Major | |
| Natural minor | |
| Harmonic minor | |
| Melodic minor | |
| Pentatonic |
Progressions
A lot of progressions in D major start on D, and nearly all of them come back to it. In I–IV–V the other two chords keep returning to it. In I–V–vi–IV it opens the loop, and G at the end leads back round to it. V–I turns it the other way: there D is the V, and it resolves to G.