Blacksteel
Heavy drop-D metal — palm-muted riffs and double-kick, aggressive and dark.
Jam this track with live chords →The D Minor Scale
The notes of D minor are D, E, F, G, A, Bb, C — formula 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. Key signature: one flat (Bb). Its relative major is F major, which uses the same notes from a different home. Below: the full neck, the chords in the key, and the pentatonic that lives inside it.
D minor on the fretboard
Practice D minor position by position — interactive fretboard →
Chords in the key of D minor
Harmonising the scale gives the seven chords songs in D minor are built from:
| Degree | i | ii° | bIII | iv | v | bVI | bVII |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chord | Dm | Edim | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C |
The core minor progression is i–iv–v (Dm, Gm, Am); songs wanting a stronger pull home borrow a major V (A) from the harmonic minor.
The D minor pentatonic shortcut
For soloing in D minor, most players reach first for the minor pentatonic — the same scale minus the two most clash-prone notes. D minor pentatonic: D, F, G, A, C.
Backing tracks in D minor
Scales stick when you use them. These free tracks are recorded in D minor — play them right here, or open them in JamLab to see the scale on a live fretboard while the chords change:
More jams in this key: D minor backing tracks.