Where to capo for D Aeolian
Put the capo at fret 5 and play D Aeolian using A Aeolian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing D Aeolian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 4.7 to 3.4 and gains 4 ringing open strings.
You want D. Capo 5 and play in A.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes D Aeolian down by that many frets to find the shapes your hand would actually make, then scores the best voicing of all seven chords — fewer fingers, less stretch, closer to the nut, fewer muted strings. Lower is easier. Standard tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4).
| Capo | Shapes you play | Open strings | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | A Aeolian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 3 | B Aeolian | 19 | 3.9 |
| 1 | C# Aeolian | 10 | 4.4 |
| None | D Aeolian | 15 | 4.7 |
| 6 | G# Aeolian | 8 | 5.2 |
| 7 | G Aeolian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 2 | C Aeolian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 4 | Bb Aeolian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of D Aeolian are Dm, Edim, F, Gm, Am, Bb, C — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the D Aeolian key page.