A Major on Guitar (ideas on how to work on it?)

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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This is a pretty rudimentary question,

I am very familiar with the open A major chord on Guitar. I'm a self taught guitarist but recently have been trying to get some lessons and more structuredetails practice. Because I have medium fingers and have had many breaks I've played a major using fingers 5-4-3. Recently it's been purposed to me to go back to trying to use 4-3-2 to transition more smoothly between chords.

So the question is,

How long did a major take for your fingers to get used to it using 4-3-2. I don't know if I have actually have the ability to play the chord that way or not. When I use my right hand I can position the left hand and hold it for a while on the neck. For years I've gotten by using my smaller fingers for open a major but just going back to basics and trying to clean up my technique.

Wasn't sure where to post this question. Hope this is okay.

Thanks!
Kevin
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Finger nr. 5 ??? One is the index finger, 4 is the pink.
So I don't understand what you're doing.

Fwiw, it took me some years to push down all string for barre chords. Nowadays sometimes I use a barre grip on 3 strings to play Am.
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I'm presuming the thumb is "1" and "5" is the little finger ... :)

I can't remember how long it took to be able to properly press down the strings, but after a couple of months of guitar playing, most people are fine with the open chords. The big issue is getting enough strength to press down the strings and building up enough calluses on your finger that doing so doesn't hurt. If you've been playing guitar, I'd have thought you have most of that taken care of.

I think it's generally good to be comfortable with different methods of fingering the same chords. Not only does it make transitioning between chords easier, but it also gives you different fingers to add embellishments with for more variation.

Don't forget that you can play an A with just one finger (4) if you finger it barre style, as alluded to above.

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For me, the only real rule ( of thumb :hihi: ) with fingers is they need to be comfortable. I started out on Double Bass (at 8 ), added Bass Guitar at 13 and didn't really start guitar till I was 17. Consequently, most of my chord shapes are weird, but they work for me and I can transition quickly and smoothly. It took me just over a year to get there. Since I already had the finger strength (actually too much initially) from playing bass, that's how long it took to add most of the standard chords (plus a few inversions) to my muscle memory.

So what you need is repetitive practise and to learn the difference between discomfort, which is to be avoided, and pain, from muscles and callouses developing. The song I used to practise basic chord transitions was "If I can't change your mind" by Sugar. I played it every day, over and over, for a month or so.
Last edited by khanyz on Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I think the key phrase is "transition smoothly between chords". Just use whatever fingering (sounds so rude! ) is smoothest going from one chord to the next.
Technique is like music theory: good to know, but it's there to free a musician, not to restrict.

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Thanks for the feedback guys,

Sorry for the numbering confusion. I use my thumb at timew so I always count it also I play piano so hard to keep it all straight at times :P.

I will try this fingering for the next few weeks and see if it improves hopefully it will but like you guys said. There are tons of ways to play chords and I've already got the barre down I just like to learn different ways of playing the same thing to make playing as smooth and effortless as possible.

Thanks again for the replies!
Kevin
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Kevin DiGennaro

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Rappo Clappo wrote:There are 5 basic chord shapes

https://www.guitar.com/articles/five-basic-chord-shapes

This might be interesting for you

http://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/101 ... ions/53034
Thanks for the links,

Both of those look like good reads. I will check them out this evening in more detail!

I played in hard rock bands for a while and 95% of what we played was in drop C so over the years I've gotten used to the sound of standard tuning but never really bothered to work on technique. At least to isolate certain technique and form practice sessions, so working on open A maj etc.
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I usually play an open A major chord using just my index finger ... like a barre chord but leaving the A string open and damping the high E string. That's more electric style than acoustic ... on acoustic guitar I'd use fingers 1,2 and 3 (1 being the index finger).

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thecontrolcentre wrote:I usually play an open A major chord using just my index finger ... like a barre chord but leaving the A string open and damping the high E string. That's more electric style than acoustic ... on acoustic guitar I'd use fingers 1,2 and 3 (1 being the index finger).
Just curious, in what order do you use 1-2-3? I've been working on 2-1-3 just curious what your default go to order is.

Thanks,
Kevin
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Kevin DiGennaro

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theEmbark wrote:
thecontrolcentre wrote:I usually play an open A major chord using just my index finger ... like a barre chord but leaving the A string open and damping the high E string. That's more electric style than acoustic ... on acoustic guitar I'd use fingers 1,2 and 3 (1 being the index finger).
Just curious, in what order do you use 1-2-3? I've been working on 2-1-3 just curious what your default go to order is.

Thanks,
Kevin
If I understand you correctly ...

1 (index finger) on D string
2 (middle finger) on G string
3 (ring finger) on B string

:)

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Yup you got it :-) and thank you!
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theEmbark wrote:Yup you got it :-) and thank you!
Cool. Practise is the key to nailing it. I was a late starter on guitar, and it took a few years to get comfortable playing basic open chords ... F major was such a big step :hihi: These days I'm tuned DADFAD most of the time. I cant play barre chords since I broke my left wrist.

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thecontrolcentre wrote:
theEmbark wrote:Yup you got it :-) and thank you!
Cool. Practise is the key to nailing it. I was a late starter on guitar, and it took a few years to get comfortable playing basic open chords ... F major was such a big step :hihi: These days I'm tuned DADFAD most of the time. I cant play barre chords since I broke my left wrist.
You got that right! I learned playing with heavy Guage strings in drop c so I mastered the Barre chord but never really played anything that used open chords. It was always speed accuracy and rhythm which are great foundations but time to study open chords and theory more.

Sorry to hear about the wrist. Sounds like you've worked around it though!

Best regards,
Kevin
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Kevin DiGennaro

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I use "432" for A major, but I use "345" for E major, mostly because it's easier to transition to barre chords up the fretboard.

Just a matter of personal preference I guess.

However, I've always used "432" for G major and just recently I've been told to use "345" for that so that it's easier to transition to C major. I've tried it the new way, but habit always brings me back to the way I've always done it.

-B
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