How to Build D7 Chords on the Guitar

Chord building is a great practice for guitar beginners to see what notes go into a chord. Some chords are easier than others. A seventh chord has a little different sound and construction than its major and minor counterparts. Here's how to build the most common form of D7 on the guitar using an "open string" approach.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Lay out your chromatic scale (on paper or in your head). For the key of D, it's going to be D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. You'll be using some of these notes to build your D7. In the D7 chord, we'll use a first scale note (D), a third, F#, a fifth, A, and a flat seventh, C.

2. Put your middle finger on the second fret of the G string (fourth string from the bottom) to create an A note, your fifth scale note.

3. Add your index finger to the first fret of the next string toward the top, the B string (second string from top). Here you're adding your flattened seventh, the seventh note of the scale is C#, so taking it down one half step, you get C.

4. Get your ring finger onto the second fret of the high E string. You're adding an F#, which is your regular third scale note.

5. Leave the rest of the strings open. The open D string is your first scale note. The open A string is your fifth again. The open E string actually isn't part of the chord, so it's not a great idea to strum it when you're playing the chord, but you can if you want to. For a clearer sound, just strum the top four strings.

Tips & Warnings

• To hear how the sound changes between D major and D7, play both chords back to back. You can hear the change between the D major and the different seventh sound, which you can use as part of a chord transition. For example, in strumming D-D-D-D7-A, or lots of other chord combinations.