Banjo lesson: the D chord
Over the years I’ve had many dozens of people sit down with me for banjo lessons. Most of them quit before they achieved their full potential. There are so many challenging facets to learning any stringed instrument that it’s not possible to know exactly why every one of them quit. However, there is one troubling “sticking point” for a large number of people who take up the banjo. You experienced pickers might remember this from your early days, or some of you may not have struggled with this aspect and so may wonder why I am belaboring this point. The teachers who might be reading this should be able to back me up on what I’m writing here; regardless, I have the empirical evidence of what I am writing about today, because I’ve witnessed it first-hand as I’ve gone about teaching my students. It’s real and it’s a problem for many.
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Your first 3 chords: G, C, and D
Are you a rank beginner who is getting ready to crack open your first instructional book or take your first lesson? Congratulations! I think it’s pretty universal to be shown the 3 common chords in the progression for the key of G as one of your first 2 lessons or first 2 chapters of an instructional book. Chords are the backbone of playing Scruggs-style 3-finger bluegrass banjo. So…first you learn that you can make a chord witthout even touching the strings of the banjo neck (if your banjo is properly tuned) which of course is a G chord. Second, you get shown a 3-finger chord called C, based around the first and second frets. The chord you’re shown next will depend on the instructional book you bought, or on your teacher’s preferences. Depending on your teacher’s methods, I might be about to disagree with him or her. I’ll certainly be disagreeing with most instructional books out there.
The third chord in the progression is not D7
What?! Scandalous! How dare I buck conventional trends and wisdom?! Shocking. The banjo police should take me away! Well…maybe it’s not that serious, but that advice does differ from what you’ll find in many instructional resources.
The full D chord on the banjo is a monster!
I suspect that the reason many books show the D7 chord instead of the D chord is that it’s hard to play the D chord! I think many authors realize that students tend to drop like flies if they are thrown to the wolves and forced to make this 4 finger chord. The problem with the conventional wisdom is that the D7 chord is not the correct chord in the progression for the key of G. D7 is a totally different chord with it’s own place and use in music, but it is not a substitute for the D. If you are up to the point in the song where it’s time to play D and you stick in D7 instead, you are playing the wrong chord.
But Banjo Paul! They sound so similar!
You know, these two chords do sound similar in some ways because they are both from the “D family”. You might say they are cousins. And just like real cousins can often look similar, these two chords sound similar. But for everyone who tells me that substituting a D7 chord for a D chord is acceptable, I then ask why not go ahead and substitute C7 for the C chord and G7 for the G chord? C’mon, go ahead and try it once! Play the song Lonesome Road Blues using G7, C7, and D7 as the chords in the progression. Hear a problem? Yep!
It’s never too early to develop muscle memory
I‘ve always had my students battle it out and jump right in to the full 4-finger D chord. Mostly because D7 is incorrect, but also because they are going to have to play it eventually. If it’s going to be a chore and a challenge getting it learned and playable, then we better get busy right away so we can get it behind us.
But…give yourself the freedom to overlook slow progress!
Let it go young Skywalker. Use the force. Put on your blind fold and play Lonesome Road Blues…Mountain Dew…Love Please Come Home…and do your best to lay down the 4-finger D chord. But don’t let it stop you. Play through it, fix your fingers as you play, but most of all keep playing the D! Don’t avoid it. It’ll come. Do not stop your banjo progress, focusing solely on the D chord. Don’t “hang” there until you perfect the D chord, because it’s going to take you a long time got get this chord smooth and playable. Give yourself the permission to play it badly for awhile; understand that you have to have played the D chord over and over and over and over and over and over and over…and when you’ve done that, play it 500 more times. If you do this, you’ll get it.
Check out my lesson on the D chord
Alright, I’ve given you the reasons why you should not avoid the D chord. But is there any way to make the D chord more manageable and get it learned quicker? Funny you should ask oh young Grasshopper! I’ve got advice and instruction on becoming a pro at the D chord over at my website located at www.banjosrule.com. I’ve come up with a fairly unique and helpful set of guidelines which can help you condition the fingers, tendons, ligaments and muscles in your arm (in other words, build muscle memory) so that the D chord starts to become easier. That’s not to say that it’s going to be any less of a challenge, but I’ve come up with a method to the madness which can help you get this chord tackled quickly. Click this link, which takes you straight to my lessons page. It’s free and you’ll find it helpful. As of when I’m writing this blog post you’ll find three lessons on this page. The third one is the D chord lesson. Click the headline to expand the article out:
http://www.banjosrule.com/lessons.html
If you are using D7…stop it!
Folks, D7 is not an acceptable substitute for the D chord. Oh, it has its uses for sure, and you’ll play it a lot during your jams or stage shows, but it’s not a substitute. It’s just not. If you haven’t taken the time to get good at the 4-finger D chord, now is the time. You are hurting yourself in the long run by not getting it down. You’ll use that same “shape” in other places on the neck A LOT!! So get it down! Flip over to my lessons page for help.
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What do you think?
I‘d really love it if you would take a minute to jot down some follow up thoughts to what you just read. There is a comments area down below this article for this purpose. You’ll need to log in and create a username and password first, but that’s easy to do.
As always, those are my lousy opinions. As always, I’m Banjo Paul. As always, I’m eager to hear from you through any means of contact. And as I always say: pick ‘em if ya got ‘em!
Banjo Paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
www.banjosrule.com (main site)
www.mybanjolife.com (blog)
Click here: Ultimate Metronome
Hey Paul,
Great post – this is certainly one to be thinking about – why do we all learn D7? As you say, convenience is probably the main culprit.
Also, I think because we banjo pickers grow up with that 5th string always sounding off, we just get used to an extra note from it that may or may not be discordant. Your know how easy it is to forget that when we’re in the middle of a song and we hold an E, for instance. So compared to that, a D7 sounds downright hospitable.
Paul,
Nice job on the lesson. The clear, well lit photos used in the article really helped to put everything together.
I’m glad you started me out with the full D and F form chords. I still can’t plant them “in the heat of battle”, but one day, it will happen.
There have been a lot of little milestones for me during this banjo journey, but getting comfortable with the D chord will definitely be a big milestone when it happens.
Tim
Hey, thanks for the comments Tim. You always prove to have good insights and I think other beginner’s can get something from reading your comments.
“If it’s going to be a chore and a challenge getting it learned and playable, then we better get busy right away so we can get it behind us.” I totally agree with this type of thinking. It is difficult and the more time you have to conquer it, the better.
“Do not stop your banjo progress, focusing solely on the D chord. Don’t “hang” there until you perfect the D chord, because it’s going to take you a long time got get this chord smooth and playable”. I’m glad you put that in there….it is still a challenge to me, BUT…. I am making progress. Gotta go watch the video..
Method to the madness…:-) Funny you should say that. When I informed my practice (ex) wife that I wanted to learn to play the banjo… she said (wait for it!)…. YOUR MAD!!!!
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the comments. Your “practice” wife comment made me laugh. And you always have good insights to share about what I write.
Great advice thanks. I was getting hung up bacause I had to put one finger down at a time…keep forgetting I learned to walk one foot at a time!
Elizabeth
Thanks for the reply Elizabeth! I appreciate your feedback and hope you’ll stay in touch or comment often.
Huh? Howzat again? Is that a bluegrass-specific rule? I just pulled up the tab for Lonesome Road Blues and Love, Please Come Home. Sure enough, they show a D instead of D7. But since I didn’t start out in bluegrass, it still looks strange to me. In almost all music I’ve run across the 5-7th chord is the one that leads back to the 1. I guess if D’s the rule instead of D7 I’d best reform my D-form.
Hi Terry,
As a rule, you’ll find that the majority of songs in bluegrass end on a V chord, not a V7 chord. That of course refers to the Nashville Numbering System. So, for instance, in the key of G, the end of the progression is D, not D7. In the key of C, the end of the progression is G, not G7. I find that the most common uses for the 7th chord is as a step between the V chord and the I chord, i.e.: instead of D then returning to G, it’s a nicer transition to add a step between and go D to D7 to G. It creates a passing tone if you will. (And for C, you could do G to G7 to C as the end of the progression.)
Clear as mud?
Ahh, when you explain it that way it makes perfect sense. Thanks, O wise one. That straightens me out like a pretzel.
I have always taken the approach with beginners to have form the G chord at the 5th fret with just 3 fingers (strings 3,2 and 1) going from there to the G chord at the 9th fret. Then when they have the feel for that throw the D chord at them at fret 4. Just have them pinch the 3 strings and get the feel for where the fingers need to be. After a while add in the C chord, and have them bounce around the 3 chords with a simple back-up chinck, and befor they know it their fingers will start to find their way on their own!!!
Good advice! I appreciate the reply!!