D Chord Variations

 

Lesson Goals:

♦ Review "D" Chord
♦ Learn variations for "D" chord on the 1st string
♦ Learn Intro Riff for "Heart of the Matter"

After you have learned and become comfortable playing the basic open chords it is natural to want to expand on them a bit. One way to add some spice to your chords is to explore variations on those chords.

The "D" chord is a great one to start with. The fingering positioning of a "D" chord makes it very easy to do some different things that you will immediately be able to incorporate into your rhythm patterns.

This mainly involves making variations on the 1st string while leaving your 1st and 3rd fingers in position on the "D" chord.

Let's look at Example 1. You will start out with the "D" chord as normal and strum it one time. Then you will place your 4th (pinky) finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string and strum again. Listen to the change in the sound of the chord. Finally, return to strum the "D" chord again.

In Example 2 you will start out with a strum on the normal "D" chord, then just lift your 2nd finger off and strum the chord again letting the open 1st string ring out. Finally, play the "D" chord again.

Example 3 simply shows you what you can do by putting the last two examples together.

In Example 4 we threw in the Intro Riff for the song "Heart of the Matter" by Don Henley. Notice that the first two chords are a normal "D" chord, then the next three are a variation on the "D" chord similar to Example 2. Note that the final chord is trickier. It is actually a variation on a "A" chord and is played by playing the open 5th (A) string, the 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string, the 3rd string is played open, the 3rd finger is on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string (where it was for the "D" chord), and the 4th (pinky) finger is on the 3rd fret of the 1st string.