Guitar: Forming the D chord: An Open Learning Guide

There is more than one way to form the chords, set the fingerings and determine the tones. Here I will introduce you to a method that is particularly suitable for simple chords in song accompaniment. The goal is to be able to grip all the handles comfortably and with little effort. A position that is as natural as possible makes your fingers more flexible and prevents cramps. Pay attention to the way you finger chords in future lessons. Based on experience, the mistakes shown in this lesson are often corrected in the first month or so.

For simple chords, the thumb is opposite the middle finger, approximately at the height shown. In practical terms, this means that your thumb always begins behind the second fret. This makes it easier for fingerings that extend over three frets to get the index finger into the first fret, the middle finger into the second fret and the ring finger into the third (see C major chord in the 3rd lesson). If the thumb is too far towards the head, you can no longer reach the 3rd fret with your ring finger and little finger. However, if the thumb is too far towards the sound hole, the index finger tends to slip from the first to the second fret.

The main job of the thumb is to keep the hand from falling. This may sound obvious, but many beginners use their thumb like a vise to create counter pressure against their fingers. This works, but the thumb is actually too weak and tires quickly. Then your hand cramps and playing is no longer fun.

In this position the wrist is not (or only slightly) bent. Without going into too much detail about the anatomy of the hand, you should know that the tendons of your fingers are held together by ligaments at the wrist. If the hand is bent, the tendons of the fingers rub against these ligaments. In the short term this isn't a big problem, but in the long run it can lead to inflammation, which could be avoided if you don't bend the wrist unnecessarily.

By the way, the counter pressure is created with the elbows of the playing hand by pressing the guitar body a little bit and thus pushing the fingerboard slightly forward. The fretting hand only needs to pull back the fingerboard and thus generate enough force to grasp the chords. It should be clear that you should not rest the elbow of the gripper arm on your stomach, but should hold it loosely at your side; otherwise it will be difficult to pull the fingerboard back.

Any tension or tension in the palm of your hand is a sign that you are tensing more muscles than necessary. Of course, you shouldn't pull on the guitar neck so hard that it changes the tone. Much less force is required for gripping than you think. The goal is to apply as little pressure as possible, but just enough so that the strings don't buzz. If the hand does not tense up, the fingers will become much looser and therefore faster for changing grips (and later for solo playing).

Many students find it hard to believe that they have more than enough finger strength to play the chords cleanly, and that the main problem is the unfamiliar position of the fingers.

Even if you can hardly do without your thumb when changing grips (just because of the orientation), it is a good exercise to try out playing the first grips without your thumb.

To practice, first finger the chord with your thumb, as usual. But then, when the chord sounds good, you take your thumb away while playing. The chord should sound full and flawless even without the thumb. Of course, the next time you change chords, the thumb is added again.

Getting a clean fingering and realizing that the thumb doesn't have to build up a lot of pressure to make the chord sound. If you realize that the chord also sounds without the thumb, you can do without a "clamp grip". The fingers find their position even without cramped gripping. Without a thumb, they may need to adopt a different posture to achieve their goal. These positions are often more comfortable or open up new posture options for the guitarist that he would never have thought of with his thumb. Unfortunately, a tense posture already works somehow, so you don't think that there is an easier way.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Guitar/Forming the D chord by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.