D7 — the D dominant 7 guitar chord
D7 is tense and jangly and pulls hard toward G, so you’ll meet it constantly in folk and country cadences. Its triangle of fingers points the opposite way from D, which fools muscle memory at first. Strum from the D string down and listen for the high E.
How to play it
- Index finger on the B string (2nd), 1st fret.
- Middle finger on the G string (3rd), 2nd fret.
- Ring finger on the high E string (1st), 2nd fret.
- Let the open D string (4th) ring.
- Don't strum the low E string (6th) and A string (5th). They stay silent in this shape.
Changes to practice
Holding D7 still is the easy part. Songs need you to arrive at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice D7 as changes, alongside the rest of the Open 7ths set: