PlayAlong Lesson 4

Your Next Chord - D Major

This is the next step to becoming a real guitar player. With the D chord you'll be able to play many two chord songs.

Review of The Simple G Chord

The D Scale on the D String

This scale begins at the open D string and goes up the D string to D12. The key of D Major has two sharps - F and C - so it is a little bit trickier than the G Major scale. We run into F# at D4 and C# at D11. So you have to stay sharp when you play it.

The D Scale on DGBE

This scale begins at the open D string and ends at B3 on the B string. The key of D Major has two sharps - F and C - so it is a little bit trickier than the G Major scale. We run into F# at D4 and C# at B2. So you have to stay sharp when you play it.

The Basic D Major Chord

The D Major chord is usually easier to play than it looks. It is also a really nice sounding chord, mostly because we add the open D string. As mentioned in the video you can play the open A string too, but often you will avoid that string.

Chording to Row Row Your Boat in D

Here's the same song we played in the last lesson, but in this case it is in D Major, rather than G. Just use one chord all the way through. And you can try your hand at the "1-2-3-Rest Strum" as described in the video.

Moving Between G and D Chords

Here's a familiar song you can use to practice changing chords between G and D. Three Blind Mice.

Lesson 5...