How to Play D7 on the Guitar (Free Video Lesson)

The D7 chord, as with other 7th chords, has a "jazzy" or "bluesy" sound to it. I like this chord for three reasons:

• It's a fun chord to learn as a beginner player - all of the notes are in the open position
• The shape of a D7 looks like an upside-down D Major chord!
• Strings 1 (the high E string), 2 (the B string) and 3 (the G string) form a triad shape.

Triads are very handy because the shape of the chord can be "locked down" and you can move it up and down the guitar fretboard to easily produce new chords. This is a slightly more advanced topic, so I'll cover it in a future blog post, but for now, I would suggest practicing the D7 open position chord.



How to play a D7 chord on the guitar:

• Place Your Left Index Finger on the 2nd String, 1st Fret
• Place Your Left Middle Finger on the 3rd String, 2nd Fret
• Place Your Left Ring Finger on the 1st String, 2nd Fret
• String 4 is used in this D7 Chord, but is not fretted - it is called an open string
• Strings 6 and 5 are not used in this D7 Chord

Do you have any favorite songs that use a D7 chord? Please leave a comment and share your feedback!