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20/04/2005 4:01 am
Guys, hoping your experience can help.
I'm been playing for a little over a month now and I know all the major chords and have started practicing moving between them. I do that by moving my fingers without picking, then I do both really slowly then pick up pace.
But the one chord I'm having trouble with is the A chord. My main problem with this, is with my index finger on the fourth string. The third and second sound fine with my middle and ring finger.
When I play with only my index finger further along the fret, it sounds fine, but when I place my other two fingers on the fret, there is not enough room for my index finger and when played, it sounds overly twangy.
Is there another finger formation to use or any other suggestions?
20/04/2005 4:19 am
i sometimes bar the three with my middle finger but it depends on the chord changes
#4491....
20/04/2005 4:28 am
I learned how I play it from an article in here, but I'm not sure where. Here's how it's done:
Ring finger on 2nd string, index finger on third string, and middle finger on fourth string (each finger on second fret). It should kinda look like you're poking your index finger between the middle and ring fingers. I hope this helps.
"All I see is draining me on my Plastic Fantastic Lover!"
20/04/2005 9:42 am
Most of the time I bar it as well.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
20/04/2005 11:13 am
David Hodge wrote that article, I remember reading it, but I cannot find it right now.
John M
20/04/2005 1:07 pm
I have trouble getting all three fingers positioned well also. I have trouble with the bar as I tend to mute the high E string. So, I generally play the chord with my middle, ring and pinky. Since the pinky is smaller, I have no trouble fitting them all in there.
Jim
Jim
20/04/2005 1:26 pm
okay, here is how I teach it. It takes a bit of visualization but I want you to try to make the image in your mind however idiotic you think I am. :D
Okay, play an Em chord. Just like you do in Horse with no name.
Middle finger goes on B, the second fret of the A string.
Ring finger goes on E, the second fret of the D string.
Now, first we aren't going to play A at all, we are going to play A7.
You are going to shift your fingers down toward the floor and cover two strings, the second fret of the D string and the second fret of the B string. Make sure you get them close to the 3rd fret.
When you do this, I want you to visualize your hand moving as a slow industrial robot. The robot picks things up and puts things down. The robot doesn't think about where strings are. They are always in the same place, just like your strings. So slowly pick the fingers up off of Em and drop them down on A7.
Continuing on with the robot analogy, now try it imagining your middle knuckles of the ring and middle finger are held together by a tiny drop of super glue.
Why? The change in shape from having two consecutive strings fretted to having two strings fretted that are one string apart is tiny. Tiny I tell you.
Try that and play the A7 making sure the G string rings.
Make your hand motion as small, efficient and robotic as possible.
Okay, so now onto A.
All right, so now you have the fingers in the A7 position. Imagine each one of them is holding down a small piece of metal on your robotic assembly line. Your index finger is the welder. Stick that welder as close to those two fingers as you can. You should end up with a triangle shape.
Other images that may help, lift the A shape off the fretboard and look at your fingers, they should look like Robin Hood's arrows, or a pyramid or imagine in your mind that they are all bound together.
20/04/2005 2:21 pm
This is my cheat ... index on string 4 and ring barres string 3 and 2 ... sounds strange but it works for me. When you have fat finger tips ... make use of them :)
Logan5
There are 10 types of people in the world ... those who know binary ... and those who don't.
04/05/2005 10:47 am
David Hodge wrote that article, I remember reading it, but I cannot find it right now.
It's in this article -> https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=78
This is where I learnt it, makes chord changes and fills so much easier!
(¯`·._..-SMUDGA-.._.·´¯)
A few clowns short of a circus!!!
04/05/2005 4:54 pm
Thats the one :)
John M
04/05/2005 9:05 pm
I'm with CrackerJim. I've played around with all the options and I'm liking the middle, ring, and pinky all in a row. trying to get that danged pinky in the game more and more.
04/05/2005 9:12 pm
There is another way to play the A chord...put the barre across strings 2,3 and 4 and stretch your pinkie up to the fifth fret of the first string....
E A D G B E
0 0 2 2 2 5
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
06/05/2005 8:33 pm
I had the same problem, it gets worse if you've got wide fingers. To get around it, I stopped using my index and moved my fingers all up - middle finger on 4th string, ring on third, and bring in my pinkie on the 2nd (B) string. Since I've taken out my index and brought in my pinkie which is of course smaller, I can fit all three fingers in without buzzing or muting adjacent strings.
Anyhow, I'm not sure if this is bad practice but it works fine for me while strumming. Maybe you'll need to play something where you strum an A chord and need your pinky to hammer on another note or something - gotta find an alternative there.