Uncle Bob's Guitar Lessons
Lesson 7 - The Big, Bad Barre Chords
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Much like the "E-Form" barre chords, all "D-Form" barre chords do is move the D Major chord up the neck and create a new 1st position by laying your index fingers across four strings.
Once again, the chords are almost identical - take the D chord and slide it up the neck one fret, then lay your index finger across the top four strings at the 1st fret and you have a Eb. One more fret makes E, then one more makes F.
There is one difference that I'd like to point out, and that is the possibility of using a second barre in the chord. If you'll look at the two Eb chords in the illustration, you'll notice that the first Eb barre chord uses all four fingers, whereas the second Eb barre chord only uses three fingers by using your third finger to create a second barre.
Often these "D-Form" barre chords can be difficult to fret properly, depending on the position on the neck where you're playing, so I cheat and only play the bottom three notes of the chord, but I add the fifth as a root, which is one string below the lowest note in the chord. (It's like playing a D/A chord and moving it up the neck.) This allows me to play a fuller chord, and yet fret the chord easier. It should be noted, however, that doing so makes the chord a "no 3rd" chord, because you've cut the 3rd out, so now you are playing only the "5th - root - 5th - root" of the chord.
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