The D5 ukulele chord contains D, A. Its first ukulele voicing is the movable voicing: G string muted; C string at fret 2 (index finger); E string at fret 5 (middle finger); A string open. As a power chord chord it has a distinct job in a progression, and this page explains that job alongside the fingerings, the notes and the practice steps that make it stick.
What notes are in the D5 chord?
The D5 chord is a power chord chord, and its notes are fixed: D, A. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root D, so you can see the structure of D5 at a glance. On the ukulele, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in D5.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| D | Root |
| A | 5 |
The root is D, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in D5 are 5. That combination is what makes D5 sound the way it does: the intervals decide the colour, and the root decides the pitch. On the ukulele, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
D5 sounds powerful, open and ambiguous — with no 3rd, the power chord is pure root and 5th, and it can fit over major or minor. The colour is strongest when all the notes ring clearly. A muted chord tone, especially the 3rd or the 7th where the chord has one, flattens the character of D5 noticeably. On the ukulele, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in D5.
Comparing D5 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, power chord against a full triad: D5 has only D, A — root and 5th. Add the 3rd F# and it becomes major; add F and it becomes minor. Hearing the comparison matters more than reading it: play D5, then play the chord it is compared with above, and let your ear find the note that changed. On the ukulele, the movable voicing of D5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
How to play D5 on ukulele
On the ukulele, D5 has 3 voicings in the data below, and each one uses the same notes — D, A — in a different place on the neck. The first voicing below is the one to learn first, and the alternatives cover the rest of the neck. Finger numbers below use 1 for the index finger, 2 for the middle finger, 3 for the ring finger and 4 for the little finger, and x means the string is not played.
The movable voicing puts D5 in around fret 2: G string muted; C string at fret 2 (index finger); E string at fret 5 (middle finger); A string open. The challenge here is the muted string: 1 string is marked x, and it needs to stay silent. Let the edge of a fretting finger rest lightly on it — muting by touch, not by pressing. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in D5 — D, A — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
The barre chord is the voicing to learn if you want D5 in around fret 2: G string at fret 2 (index finger); C string at fret 2 (index finger); E string at fret 5 (middle finger); A string open. It barres across strings 1 to 2 at fret 2 with the index finger. The barre is the hard part: the index finger must press every string from 1 to 2 evenly at fret 2, so roll it slightly onto its bony side and keep it close to the fret wire. If the barre buzzes, move it a fraction closer to the fret and press from the arm, not the thumb alone. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in D5 — D, A — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
The movable voicing is the voicing to learn if you want D5 in around fret 2: G string muted; C string at fret 2 (index finger); E string at fret 5 (middle finger); A string at fret 5 (middle finger). The challenge here is the muted string: 1 string is marked x, and it needs to stay silent. Let the edge of a fretting finger rest lightly on it — muting by touch, not by pressing. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in D5 — D, A — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
Choosing between the voicings of D5 is a musical decision, not a right-or-wrong one. The open or low-position voicing rings the most and suits strumming, while a barre or movable voicing lets you slide D5 up the neck to any key without changing the shape. When you change chords, pick the voicing of D5 that sits closest to the chord before it — shorter moves between shapes mean faster, cleaner changes. Practise the change into D5 from the chord that comes before it in your song, not the chord on its own, because the move is the skill. On the ukulele, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes D, A in D5.
A short practice routine for D5 on the ukulele: play the first voicing four times slowly, checking each note, then change to it from the chord a fourth above D and back, four times, at a slow tempo. Then play the second voicing the same way. If a note buzzes, stop and fix the finger placement rather than playing through the buzz — clean notes at a slow tempo become clean notes at full tempo, while buzzes practised fast become habits. Use the Ukulele Chord Finder to see the diagram for D5 while you practise, and the Chord Finder to compare it with the same chord on other instruments.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make D5 sound wrong on the ukulele, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Using it where a triad is needed. D5 has no 3rd, so it cannot carry the major-or-minor information a melody sometimes needs. Use full triads in clean, melodic passages. On the ukulele, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in D5.
Pressing too hard on the nylon strings. Ukulele strings need far less pressure than guitar strings, and pressing hard on D5 pulls the notes sharp and tires the hand. Use the lightest touch that gives a clean note, and keep your fingers close to the frets. On the ukulele, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in D5.
Adding a 3rd by accident. A stray finger on the 3rd can turn a power chord into a triad, which sounds muddy through distortion. Mute the strings that should not sound. On the ukulele, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes D, A in D5.
Letting open strings ring. Open strings that are not part of the chord blur the sound. Mute them with the edge of your fretting hand. On the ukulele, the movable voicing of D5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Where D5 is used
D5 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of D major, the key of G major, the key of A major. a moving chord: power chords slide up and down the neck as a single shape. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward G major, the key a perfect fourth above D, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where D5 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the ukulele, the movable voicing of D5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Because D5 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain D triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try D5 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the ukulele, the movable voicing of D5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in D5 on guitar, D5 on piano, D5 on bass, and the scales that fit over it are the D major scale and the D minor pentatonic scale. Learning D5 on the ukulele and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — D, A — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising D5
A short worked example makes D5 concrete. Play the four-chord progression G – D – Em – C in G major, the key D5 most often resolves toward: G – D – Em – C. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how D5 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on D5 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the ukulele, the movable voicing of D5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
For a second exercise, play D5 and then the chord a fourth above D, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move D5 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing D5 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: D, A. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the ukulele, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in D5.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest voicing of D5 on the ukulele?
The movable voicing is the easiest voicing listed for D5 on the ukulele: frets x–2–5–0, fingers 0–1–2–0. Learn that shape first, get every note ringing cleanly, and only then move on to the alternative voicings further up the neck.
Is D5 major or minor?
Neither. D5 contains only D, A — the root and the perfect 5th — so it has no 3rd to make it major or minor. That is why it works over both. On the ukulele, check the first voicing above for that note.
Why do rock guitarists use D5?
Through distortion, full triads sound muddy because the overtones clash. A power chord has only two notes, so it stays clear and punchy even with heavy distortion. On the ukulele, check the first voicing above for that note.
What notes are in D5?
Just two: D, A. The root D and the perfect 5th A. Some voicings add the root an octave higher, but the chord itself is only those two pitch classes. On the ukulele, check the first voicing above for that note.
How do you play D5 on the ukulele?
The first voicing is the movable voicing: frets x–2–5–0, fingers 0–1–2–0, on the ukulele. That voicing uses the notes D, A, and it is the one to learn first. The page above lists more voicings for D5, so you can choose the shape nearest the chords around it.