Chords in the Key of D Major
Every diatonic triad and seventh chord in D major, with the progressions built from them. Free. No sign-up.
Key facts
Diatonic triads
Seventh chords
Stack one more scale tone on each triad and you get the seventh chords — same key, more color.
Common progressions in D major
I–V–vi–IV
D – A – Bm – G
The four-chord pop loop — a huge share of modern radio runs on it.
I–IV–V
D – G – A
The three-chord workhorse behind blues, folk, and early rock and roll.
ii–V–I
Em – A – D
The jazz cadence — the strongest pull back home in the key.
I–vi–IV–V
D – Bm – G – A
The '50s doo-wop turnaround, still everywhere in ballads.
How the key of D major works
D Major carries two sharps (F# and C#). The scale runs D–E–F#–G–A–B–C#, and stacking every other note of that scale builds the seven chords above — every chord tone comes from those same seven notes.
B Minor is the relative minor: identical key signature, identical seven chords. A song that treats Bm — the vi chord here — as home base is in B minor, even though its chord inventory matches this page exactly.
The parallel minor, D Minor, keeps the same root but flattens the third, sixth, and seventh — its signature shifts to one flat (Bb). Borrowing chords across that line is where a lot of songwriting color comes from.
Playing D major on guitar
In D major, D, Em, G and A are open chords you can play in first position. F#m and Bm need a barre shape or a capo. The diminished C#dim is usually played as a small three-string shape rather than a full chord.
You rarely need a capo here, but one moves the same progression onto different open shapes and a different voicing. The I–V–vi–IV progression (D – A – Bm – G) with a capo:
Capo 7 · play it as G major
G – D – Em – C
4 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Capo 2 · play it as C major
C – G – Am – F
3 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Capo 5 · play it as A major
A – E – F#m – D
3 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Where D major sits on the neck
The root, D, is fret 10 on the low E string and fret 5 on the A string, the two places most major barre shapes and scale positions in D major are built from.
All six open strings are notes of D major, so any of them can ring against a fretted line without clashing.
The open A (the fifth) and D (the root) strings make a drone you can let ring under riffs and melodies in this key.
One note separates D major from each neighbour on the circle of fifths. Raise G to G# and you are in A major; lower C# to C and you are in G major. Those are the two keys a song in D major most often modulates to.
Songs in D major
From the song library, these recordings sound in D major:
- Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's
- Twist and Shout, The Beatles
- Fast Car, Tracy Chapman (capo 2)
- Blowin' in the Wind, Bob Dylan
Keep practicing
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