D minor 7 (Dm7)

D minor with a mini-barre from your index across the top two strings. Soft and a little jazzy, it’s the ii chord in the key of C.

It’s played in open position, near the nut, and as a barre chord higher up the neck. It’s the home chord of the key of D minor; in major keys, you’ll find it in F major, C major and B♭ major.

Notes:: D, F, A, C.
Formula:: 1, ♭3, 5, ♭7.
Difficulty:: Beginner.
Strings played:: 4 (from the D string).

Chord diagram

e|--1--|
B|--1--|
G|--2--|
D|--0--|
A|--x--|
E|--x--|

Other positions

e|--5--|
B|--6--|
G|--5--|
D|--7--|
A|--5--|
E|--x--|

e|--10--|
B|--10--|
G|--10--|
D|--10--|
A|--12--|
E|--10--|

Common mistakes

High E not ringing? The index mini-barre has to cover both the B and high E strings: lay it flat across the 1st fret.

Sounds muddy? Don’t strum the low E or A string: start on the D string.

Variations

Dm: the basic chord, without the mini-barre.

e|--1--|
B|--3--|
G|--2--|
D|--0--|
A|--x--|
E|--x--|

Heard in

Dm7, G7, Cmaj7: the ii–V–I, the foundation of jazz chord charts.

Often played with

The chords in its key, the ones you hear most often around D minor 7.

e|--1--|
B|--0--|
G|--0--|
D|--0--|
A|--2--|
E|--3--|

G7V of the key

e|--0--|
B|--0--|
G|--0--|
D|--2--|
A|--3--|
E|--x--|

C major 7I of the key

e|--0--|
B|--1--|
G|--0--|
D|--2--|
A|--0--|
E|--x--|

A minor 7v