Hello @verygood1010 and welcome to the Community.
Use 3rd or 4th for now, whichever works best.
Hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | Community Moderator, Official Guide, JustinGuitar Approved Teacher
I just started the D minor chord and am trying the 124 fingering as suggested. One question had that I donāt think was addressed is, what do most people do with the third finger? Maybe because my pinky isnāt strong enough or my hands have not learned to stretch, but my 3rd finger wants to sit on the b string along with the 4th finger. Is this normal or should I practice backing the 3rd finger off?
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@gsgreene For the 124 fingering, my 3rd finger just hovers a bit out of the way but not touching any strings.
123 fingering is also ok for Dm but 124 is usually easier in the long run, and allows that 3rd finger to do chord embellishments, which are later in the course.
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My third finger can (now) just hover off the b string, but when I started it was definitely in line and on the string behind the pinky.
I found that with practice and time, itās starting to lift a little more off the fret board. Only just though!
Iām having the same trouble now with Justinās recommended G/B chord (X2003X). But Iām finding that Iām doing the same thing and itās slowly getting better - keeping the ring finger in-line behind the pinky and trying to lift it.
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Just sharing in case it helps anyone else. When Iāve sometimes videoed my efforts at playing I see my thumb appearing over the fretboard. I decided to really try and keep it at the back so Iāll be better at Barre chords when they arrive. The reason I write this here is because I find it really helps with Dm. I put the third finger down first with the thumb behind it to help it press harder then add second finger and then first. It takes a while (i.e. Iām not v quick yet, in 1min changes A -Dm got 6 as opposed to 21 for Am - E!) but nearly always sounds good on all the strings. Hope this may help anyone struggling to get a clear sound.
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Iām currently practicing the Dm chord using the 4th finger and it feels very comfortable. So much that when I switch to D major want to continue to use my 4th finger on that chord. Should I stop myself from doing that? Will it hurt progress later? Just want to make sure I am stopping any bad habits before they become tougher to break.
Thanks!
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Hey Brian, welcome to the forum!
Out of curiosity are you thinking using 4th finger fretting the B string for D major? Either way I wouldnāt advise doing it. Mainly because further down the line youāll encounter the Stuck 3&4 (Oasis!) chords which I could see causing all sorts of confusion with your pinky if youāre used to using it in a D major chord. There may be other valid reasons others can suggest but this is my take.
Oh and take pride in finding Dm comfortable regardless of fingering, itās not an easy one! 
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Hey, thanks for the reply!
Yes, I noticed that when practicing my chord changes, especially when Dm is involved, I want to put my pinky on the B string, almost like an anchor between the two chords, but knowing that it could confuse things later, I will practice my changes with switching to the 3rd finger on the D major for the B string.
Thanks for the assistance!
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When playing D major you generally want to use the 3rd finger and keep the 4th finger free for playing embellishments which you will cover in Grade 2.
As you progress you want to be able to play the D minor using either the 3rd or 4th finger. Using the 3rd finger frees up the 4th finger for embellishments and using the 4th finger frees up the 3rd finger for playing bass notes as Richard discusses further up the post.
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Also a spot on point from James for you there Brianā¦ itāll all slot into place with that good old friend, practice 
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I just wanted to hop on and say that I also found Dmin to be the hardest chord so far! It just feelsā¦ weird. But, I just did my second practice/day with it and Iām catching on for sure. So, give it a bit of time! I think, as some others have said, module three went by relatively quickly, so, it might have given me a false sense of ease on future modules. 
Module 4 might just take some more time.
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I find it difficult to play with this version of the Dm chord, playing 505 and switching from Em to Dm with the fourth finger is just confusing, I have an easier time doing it with my third finger.
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Hi Adriel, welcome to the community!!
If 3rd finger works for you go for it, long term itās better anyway. I think Justin teaches it to begin with using 4th as itās quite a stretch when you first learn it, I know it was for me. I started using 4th as taught and now use 3rd.
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Whenever I play this chord (and many other chords as well) I find it difficult to keep my left pinky from sticking straight up! Iām guessing that this might be a bad habit to have in the long run? Are there any remedies to this - exercises, stretches etc?
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Just a small rider on this ā¦
3rd finger is better when youāre going to play sus4 from a Dm position.
4th is better when youāre going to play bass runs on the thicker strings for which you need 3rd finger available.
If none of te above apply it is personal choice.
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Yes, this is usually a sign of excess tension in the hand. Iāve had similar problems with the C chord, because I got in the habit of jamming my pinky under my ring finger, and itās been quite difficult to break.
I got some benefit from resting (not pressing!) my other fingers in the chord shape, and making sure I could move my pinky down to lightly touch the strings.
Once I could do that, I started pressing down the other fingers while making sure my pinky stayed relaxed.
I also found ācrookingā my pinky was better then letting it fly up straight off the fretboard.
It took a lot of slow, very focused practice - over a period of weeks - but I saw a lot of improvement.
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And here I am, another struggler with D minor. (And it seems odd that since I started on this a week ago some of my other chords are starting to suffer a bit.) For me to get my pinkie and my 2nd/middle finger at the fret, my index finger lays sideways. I simply cannot get it to stand up straighter, short of letting the others slide to the middle of their frets. I also have this problem with my index finger on D Major.
Is this going to be a problem? I blame my pinkie which is very short, in fact itās a 1/4 inch shorter than the pinkie on my strumming hand! GRRRR. Any tips?
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Hi Rebecca,
No need to keep fingers 2-3-4 that perpendicular to the fretboard. Try to keep them at an angle, like this, and make sure your fretting hand is as relaxed as possible.
Note: my thumb hovered a little over the neck but this position works with the thumb at the midline of the neck as well.
Also, it might be just the angle of your photo, but your palm seems to be a little too far below the edge of the neck. Have you tried this exercise already?
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Iāll see what happens if I angle my fingers a bit more, thanks. Iām also going to rewatch Justinā D and Dm videos, my D being a bit wonky as well. And I do 4 minutes of those finger stretches every time I practice which is usually 7 days a week now. Iām actually starting at the 2nd thru 5th frets as the 5th thru 8th have become too easy. Thanks for the quick reply.
Maybe, Iām not sure, Iāve got a mirror in that room, Iāll try to move it where it would be useful for me to look at. At least my palm isnāt touching the neck though. 
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And bass note strumming sounds really good and adds that extra interest to the listener. So definitely worth learning to play proficiently both fingerings.
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