Hey Friend,

It's time to get back to learning music.

By now, you're probably getting a little tired of the C major chord. So let's start looking at the next chord in the key of C major. D minor (Dm). This is the IIm chord if we're looking at the chord numbering system (remember, Roman numeral 'II' to signify it's the second chord, 'm' to remind us it's a minor chord).

It's been a while since I wrote these out, so just a quick reminder - the chords in the harmonic progression of the key of C major are:

C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim and a return to C.

If you remember, each chord in this progression is constructed using the notes from the C major scale. Here's that again:

As we saw with C major, the notes were C, E and G, or the 1 3 5 notes. The same rule will apply for D minor. The notes used to make D minor are D, F and A. If you look at the scale above, you'll see the notes are 2 4 6, but since were playing a D chord, start on the D note as the 1 note.

Technically, we would look to the key of D to help us determine what the notes should be. If we lay out the scale, here's what we have:

Using our "1 3 5" formula, the D major chord is the notes D, F# and A. But we want to make a D minor chord. So here's what happens when you want to change a major chord to a minor chord - in our case, D major to D minor.

You look to the 3 note. To make a minor chord, you will flatten the three note, which is the major third interval, and use the minor third interval (again, just fancy note names in the scale).

In guitar terms, figure out which note is the 3 note from the scale and move that note down by one fret. You might have to change your fingering to make it work, but there are some very easy shapes you can use, which we'll explore.

This is a time when knowing which inversion you're playing pays off. I mentioned in a past email that the D shape chords are second inversions. That means the note order as they lay on the fingerboard are 5 1 3. When you remember the inversion, you automatically know where your 3 note is in the shape.

The open first position D major 3 note (F#) is located on the first string, second fret. To make the chord D minor, just lower the 3 note one fret to F, which is the first string, first fret.

As far as fingering the D minor shape, if you start with a D shape chord, your ring finger can stay right where it is. Your index finger will move from the third string, second fret to the first string, first fret. Move your middle finger from the first string, second fret, to the third string, second fret.

Here's some tabs to give you the visual. 

One challenge many guitar players have is changing between chords, often because the finger positioning changes. The second system in the tab gives you the opportunity to switch between the D and Dm chords. 

Now you wouldn't see this particular chord change very often, but it's good practice for your fingers to learn to move quickly and accurately to new string positions. Try it out.

Tomorrow we'll look at other positions for D minor. Have a great one!

Peace~

Dave