D Major Chord on Mountain Dulcimer

The D Major chord is a bright, stable major triad — one of the first chords most players learn. It is built from the notes D, F#, A. This page shows how to play D Major on Mountain Dulcimer with clear fretboard diagrams and suggested finger positions.

The D and A strings ring open in the lowest shape, with the remaining notes fretted at fret 2. The root is the D string itself. It sounds from D3 up to F#4.

Mountain Dulcimer is tuned D–A–D, with frets 1 to 17 laid out diatonically plus the 6+ and 13+ frets — D#, F and A# sound nowhere on it. Only the chords and notes its diatonic frets reach are charted, and the 6+ fret (between 6 and 7) counts as a fret of its own.

Browse alternate voicings to find the one that sits best under your fingers, then compare it with the other chord types built on D or explore the same shape in nearby keys. The diagrams list the notes in each voicing so you can connect the shape to the theory behind it.