Hey Friend,
It feel like yesterday when we talked about the D major chord… Oh wait, it almost was. This past Sunday, we looked at D major as the major VII chord in the key of E minor.
Today, D major is the III chord in the key of B minor. Nothing has changed with the fingering, just the chord’s location within the harmonic progression.
Im IIdim III IVm Vm VI VII
Bm C#dim D Em F#m G A
D is a very important chord as it is heavily used in Rock music. It is a cornerstone of the Dropped D tuning, and you will see it used everywhere due to its role in the keys of A, D and G.
D major is built using the D, F# and A notes (1 3 5) from the D major scale.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
D E F# G A B C# (D)
Obviously, because the D major key is the relative major to the key of B minor, the scale is identical (just a different tonic note).
Here are all the exercises the cool kids will be practicing today:
For those of you that are “sick and tired” of playing D chords, try this. Lower your sixth string tuning from E to D when you play the various chords. See how using an alternate tuning changes the way your guitar sounds. You’ll instantly notice more energy in your chords.
D might not be so “boring” after today!
Peace~
Dave
P.S. I don’t think D is boring at all - it’s one of my favorite chords ever. Dropped D tuning gives it extra power…
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