D maj7 — Violin

D maj7 is built from D – F# – A – C#. The maps below place those tones along the Violin's GDAE strings and name which finger reaches each one in position — every note plays back plucked, the way this site's audio speaks.

Read these as maps rather than as things to hold: a bow rests on one string, or leans between two neighbours, so what is playable at once is a PAIR — and the charts flag which adjacent pairs in each chord a single bow stroke can take. The rest of the chord arrives by rolling across the strings, or by letting the G or E ring open underneath the melody.

Open string for open string the Violin sounds exactly like a mandolin — the pitches are identical. What is not identical is anything after that: no plectrum, no fixed dividing line under the finger, and a bow that can keep a note alive as long as the arm keeps moving.