Chords 12: D minor

I often say that anyone who knows F major also knows D minor. That is a slight exaggeration, of course, but it is true in the sense that F major provides an excellent starting point. We simply add a ring finger capable of flattening neatly and squeeze it onto the second fret of the second string, beneath the middle finger. This chord is also useful and important because the same basic fingering is used for F6 – but more about sixth chords later. D minor can be written as 2210, and in a chord diagram it looks like this:

It takes some practice to make sure that the fingers squeezed into only a few square millimetres do not touch neighbouring strings – especially the ring finger, whose flattened upper segment must not touch the second string. Players with larger hands may find this particularly troublesome on soprano ukuleles. Learning the chord requires a little practice and persistence; I will try to help with the following video: