D minor chords tend to evoke feelings of melancholy and contemplation, yet aren’t limited to these specific emotions; for instance, Judah & The Lion’s “Take It All Back 2.0”, featuring country 90s rock anthem guitar chords composed in D minor, contains many instances.
Beginners often struggle with playing open position Dm chords. If this is an area in which you struggle, try our One Minute Change Exercise or Perfect Chord Practice to familiarise yourself with rapidly moving fingers.
Open position
Beginner guitarists usually start learning the D minor chord in its open position as one of their first chords, as it’s an easy one to fret and allows all six strings to ring out clearly. Unfortunately, however, this chord may not sound as full without proper execution – if this occurs make sure all fingers are pressing firmly against frets and your index finger does not muffle any lower E string when fretting it.
If you want a richer sound from this chord, try playing it as a barre chord. The diagram above depicts an open Am shape with the index finger barred across the fifth fret to muffle out its low E string for a more serious-sounding chord that works well for songs such as R.E.M’s confessional “Losing My Religion”. Judah & The Lion’s folk/rock ode to past, present and future loves also employs this chord beautifully.
Barre position
D minor is an easy chord to learn and one of the first that guitarists typically try. As it’s a basic barre chord that works across the fretboard, D minor provides an ideal foundation from which to progress further into more complex forms of bar chord voicings.
To create this D minor barre chord, place your index finger at the tenth fret of a guitar with its finger in a barre position and place your ring and pinky fingers on strings five and four respectively – be careful that they do not touch other strings, otherwise your fingers could mute them!
Remind yourself how to form the Dm barre chord by doing an on/off drill. Take your fingers off for four beats and put them back on; repeat this exercise several times until your muscles memorize its shape – this will also improve muscle memory!
1st inversion
The Dm chord may feel unfamiliar at first, but its popularity makes it worth exploring. There are multiple variations for this chord to increase your flexibility when switching chords.
Chord inversions involve simply rearrangeing the notes of a chord such that one note other than its root is in the bass position, adding an element of surprise and variety to your guitar playing.
To invert a Dm chord, all that’s required to invert it is moving its bottom note up an octave – for instance, to create a C inverted triad requires shifting C up one octave yielding E G C as the inversions can vary according to chord and its voicing – such as an F/E triad that uses all five notes from an F major chord but has an “F/E” spelling to signify that its low E string should remain muted (ie, not played).
2nd inversion
D minor guitar chord is one of the first chords most beginners encounter, making it ideal for use across many songs. You can either choose an open or barre chord configuration depending on your personal preferences; barre chords may require holding multiple strings across a fret; however, these require extra practice until perfected.
The movable barre variation of D minor chord is based on an open Am shape with the index finger barred at the fifth fret, making this version easier to play due to not using all six strings at once. Try tapping fingers two, three and four while holding down the barre for some unique percussive strumming effects!
Another variation of D minor uses an open Am shape but omitting the low E string. This voicing, known as Dsus2, sounds similar to traditional Dm chords but with an airier quality.