Welcome to the forum Abhishek if you are comfortable using your ring finger then keep doing it that way. Justin coarse is designed for beginners that have never played guutar so the fingers donāt have the flexibility to use the ring finger yet.
That being said it is also the best course on the Internet for both beginners and people coming back to playing.
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Anyone else find the Dm chord hard to get? I have been able to get all the other chords taught so far without too much difficulty. For some reason the Dm chord just feels awkward
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think about what is awkward - probably which finger is weird. Work on the control you have on that finger using some individual finger exercises or just moving from Dm to maybe something like Am. donāt go for speed. Go for feeling very certain of your movement. Pick a movement that exercises the finger you donāt feel comfortable with.
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Hi @scuba561 , I think most people find it a bit tricky. Personally, I have trouble getting enough separation between my middle and ring fingers. (In fact, after years of playing, I still put my ring finger down a fraction of a second before the others, to help with the stretch.)
The alternative grip, using the pinky, avoids that stretch, but using the pinky is generally tricky in itself (because we donāt use it as often, I guess).
You should try to figure out which grip works best for you and try to perfect that one.
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OK - so IĀ“m able to hold down the second string with my pinky but I cannot get my ring finger to move back and away from the strings. IĀ“ve therefore resorted to tucking my ring finger under the guitar neck which sometimes works but other times it mutes the thinnest string. Any finger exercise recommendations to get by ring finger to move independently of the other fingers?
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there are several related topics. enough we could use a nice way to find them. 
Here is what I answered in another similar topic:
Index finger and ring finger tend to creep to each other - #2 by sequences
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Thanks for the help. IĀ“m still struggling with this but have developed a workaround and wanted to know if people would recommend this as good practice or not. First two fingers are fine but I cannot get a stetch to the third fret with my ring finger, and I cannot lift my ring finger up when I use my pinky. So I find myself holding down the second string with both my ring finger and pinky! This way my ring finger isnĀ“t hitting other strings and its Ā“helpingĀ“the pinky hold down the second string.
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Hi Richard @richardsteedman, using two fingers to hold one (or more) string is not a good idea. Especially at this stage of the journey, it discourages building strength and finger independence (which, unfortunately, is exactly what we beginners struggle with!). Additionally, in future youāll begin to use one of those other fingers for other chord embellishments.
I donāt recall if you already answered this - are you doing the beginner finger stretch exercise in Grade 1 Module 4 (the module immediately preceding the Dm lesson)? Iāve been at this for over a year and a half, and I still include those stretches in my daily exercises. Just 2-3 minutes does the trick!
Youāll get this. Keep us posted. 
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Hi Richard @richardsteedman, the finger stretch exercise suggested by Judi is a good idea. You could also incorporate some finger independency exercises into your practice routine.
You could try this: put your 4 fingers on the lowest string in different frets, somewhere higher up the neck where the stretch feels comfortable. Then carefully move one string up, first fingers 1 and 2 together, then fingers 3 and 4 together. Move your fingers up, then down all the strings carefully, making sure only the 2 fingers you want to move together actually move. Then repeat the exercise, but this time move fingers 1 and 3 together, and 2 and 4. Do this for every combination of fingers you can think of.
It requires patience, but if you do this every time you practise, bit by bit youāll be able to move your fingers more independently of each other, which should help in preventing your third finger from pressing down when you donāt want it to.
Good luck, and keep going! You will get there!
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Which chords are usually combined with Dm? For now I only did the one minute chord changes between Dm and Am. Iām wondering which other combinations make sense but Iām lacking the music theory for it.
Any hints which chord changes with Dm I should try?
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Hi Balthasar,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of funā¦
For example, you could use some chords from the C key likeā¦C major or E minor or F major or G major or A minor ā¦While I consciously omit the B major, I realize that F is of course also not a chord for grade 1 ā¦I hope this helps 
Greetings,Rogier
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Thanks a lot. In this point in time in module 4 I can neither play C major, F major, G major nor A minor.
But I will definitely add E minor to A minor to my one minute chord changes practice. 
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Hi Balthasar @usr42, welcome to the community! I usually select chord changes to practice based on songs Iām practicing. Youāll learn the C chord in module 5, and many (most?) of the songs Justin suggests for practice in module 5 include Dm. Cue the one minute changes!
While youāre here, consider telling us a bit about your guitar journey over here.
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Hi Balthasar,
Since you are at the Dm stage, you should already know A,D,E, Am & Em.
My suggestion would be go over to the website
and type in all the chords you know on the songs page. (you have to do this to bring up a song list) Itās below the search.
A list of songs come up with those chords in it. That would give you a good starting point for what other chords go with Dm. 
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RE: both of these approaches.
No.
Please, stop immediately. You are creating a really bad habit. Stop it before it starts.
Did anyone else have trouble playing the Dm chord? I am using the finger position he is using but find my pinky muting the high e string. If I work a little, I can get it. I was just curious if anyone used fingers 1-2-3 vs 1-2-4?
Thank you
Tim
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I use 1-2-3. Works OK for me.
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I use my ring finger instead of the pinky
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Most everybody! If you search for āD minorā in this community, you will find lots of discussion, including the merits of 1-2-3 and 1-2-4 fingering.
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Hi Tim,
To answer your question:
Yes! It took me a while to get comfortable with Dm, and some days it still feels difficult. Youāre early in your journey, so donāt worry too much at this point. Iām (slowly) consolidating Grade 2; like many others, I typically use fingers 1-2-3 but also eventually learned the 1-2-4 grip. Youāll find alternate grips become easier as the spread of your fingers on your left hand increases. This comes with naturally with practice - including finger stretching exercises which, if you havenāt yet encountered, you will soon. Youāll also eventually encounter situations where a specific grip makes a chord change easier. With that motivation, I find it much easier to finally tackle a particularly challenging grip.
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