How do you pay the A chord?

PittPastor

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I play just about all the chords I can that way.
Started doing that after I got my first steel flat-top it with the idea that the index finger was always ready to barre, that way.
And it is a slight bit cleaner due to using slightly smaller/narrower fingers.
I do use other fingerings of chords when they work better in a particular progression.

I suspect that you guys have better pinky fingers than I do! But I'll try it later...
 

beecee

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I'm an odd duck....I use my middle finger on the D string, middle finger on G, and index finger on B.....using three fingers. I have small hands and have never felt that I can get a consistent clean A chord using 1 or 2 fingers.
Just to be preemptive here....no....not at all....it is not true what they say about guys with small hands :)

That second middle finger must come in handy at times....
 

walrus

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Index, middle, ring. Ring finger up to open the B string for the Asus2 chord, pinky down on the B string third fret for the Asus4 chord.

And now you can play both "If I Needed Someone" and "I Need You" by George Harrison...

walrus
 
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Index, middle, ring. Ring finger up to open the B string for the Asus2 chord, pinky down on the B string third fret for the Asus4 chord.

And now you can play both "If I Needed Someone" and "I Need You" by George Harrison...

walrus

And "Listen To Her Heart" by Tom Petty!

As for your original question, you can make the A chord in different ways, but for me it depends on the preceding chord and the chord immediately after...and the sound I'm after and the rhythm. Full chord, power chord..is the A the "1", the "5" or just a passing chord? Sus4, 7th, 6th, etc. It really all depends. Best thing to do is experiment with not only the making of the chord itself, but going from chord to chord and hearing the different voicings you can use in context of the song you're playing.
 

adorshki

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for me it depends on the preceding chord and the chord immediately after...and the sound I'm after and the rhythm. Full chord, power chord..is the A the "1", the "5" or just a passing chord? Sus4, 7th, 6th, etc.

Yeah.
That's what I meant.
Whatever the heck it was he said.
:biggrin-new:
 

Taylor Martin Guild

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I'll try to explain my A chord.
Try making a D chord and then moving all three fingers into the second fret.
This allows me to lift one finger to get a 7th or add my pinky to the third fret for a different sound.
 

jmascis

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I haven't read all the other responses, but I have many ways to play A and it depends on the tune and context (what notes I need to ring).

If you need just the basic sound of A, laying the ring in the open position is fine. If you need the high E string to ring out, the best way for that shape in open position is 3,4,5th fingers. Reason being they're more narrow thanks to the pinky and can fit in the space easier. If you need the ring or pinky free for embellishments, then alter it as needed.

My favorite place to play it is probably an F shape moved up to the 5th fret. This allows for a lot of nice embellishments and a more natural fingering pattern. It's also very nice with the D shape on the top 3 strings or D string --11th, G string-9th, B string-10th with A and high E open (great shape).

There are many other great shapes so play around and find them.

Good job cleaning up your playing. I dedicated to that 2 years ago and it made a world of difference.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I also use most or all the variants mentioned here depending on what I’m playing. If noodling around I tend to use the one PittPastor illustrated since lots of my fav noodling chords are in the 5th fret area.

-Dave-
 

walrus

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And "Listen To Her Heart" by Tom Petty!

As for your original question, you can make the A chord in different ways, but for me it depends on the preceding chord and the chord immediately after...and the sound I'm after and the rhythm. Full chord, power chord..is the A the "1", the "5" or just a passing chord? Sus4, 7th, 6th, etc. It really all depends. Best thing to do is experiment with not only the making of the chord itself, but going from chord to chord and hearing the different voicings you can use in context of the song you're playing.

Right, Retro! I forgot about the bar chord on the 5th fret, the A power chord, etc, etc., etc. I gave the "cowboy chord" answer, but of course there are many versions of all guitar chords!

walrus
 

crank

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Yeah there are a lot of ways and places to play A chord but the OP was referring to the open position.
 

JohnW63

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Index , middle ,ring on the 4th, 3rd, 2nd strings respectively. Makes changing to an A7 easy. I play the 5th fret barre version plenty as well. As I am learning more blues stuff, I've learned to just lean the index finger over all three and not play the high e. 12 barre blues sorts of "chunk-a, chunk-a " sounding stuff doesn't need the high e.
 

jmascis

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Recently, though, I am hearing a slight buzzing, or sometimes a dampened string. I don't know if my hands are suddenly weaker

A lot of times that's technique. Make sure your fingers are close to the fretwire.

Sorry, OP, I had just woken from a nap and a bit out of it -- didn't read that you were only interested in open position/cowboy chords.

But yeah, almost always buzzing with chords is a fretting problem. Sometimes it's the guitar itself not being setup right. Try fretting with the middle, ring, pinky all in a row and close to the fret wire. That should solve all the problems.
 

jmascis

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I've learned to just lean the index finger over all three and not play the high e.

In that position you can actually reach with the pinky and hit the high A on the 5th fret, which is a really cool John Hurt type sound.
 

Rayk

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In that position you can actually reach with the pinky and hit the high A on the 5th fret, which is a really cool John Hurt type sound.

Yup do it a lot especially when playing along with Rush !
 

Rayk

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Recently, though, I am hearing a slight buzzing, or sometimes a dampened string. I don't know if my hands are suddenly weaker, or I am just paying attention more (I started to play a lot under amplification, so maybe I just hear it now


One thing for me is I noticed a buzzing which is caused by my finger very lightly hitting a open string next to a fretted note . I have kind of stubby short fingers .

I’m pretty comfortable on a 1 5/8 finger board as long as I’m not playing a lot multi finger chord patterns around the nut area if so my fingers are to fat to get in there .

On 1 3/4 or 1 11/16 ths I’m good but then there’s the issue of string spacing at the bridge . My open tunings have wacked out finger positions having 5 fret or 6 fret spreads the wider the string spacing is reaching all the strings becomes hard lol

So ya gotta find the right size board for your hand and string spacing .
 

swiveltung

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Often I use the pinky, ring and middle. That fits more conveniently for those with bigger fingers. But it depends on what comes next. I may use the ring/middle/index for some things. Either way you can do the suspended addition.
 
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As for your original question, you can make the A chord in different ways, but for me it depends on the preceding chord and the chord immediately after...and the sound I'm after and the rhythm. Full chord, power chord..is the A the "1", the "5" or just a passing chord? Sus4, 7th, 6th, etc. It really all depends. Best thing to do is experiment with not only the making of the chord itself, but going from chord to chord and hearing the different voicings you can use in context of the song you're playing.

This. This is why Retro Rocker plays on stage and gets his picture taken with Kris Kristofferson.
 

SFIV1967

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Justin describes it as follows:

"The traditional approach (which I taught for many years) has the first, second and third fingers, all in a row in the second fret. I prefer the newer fingering where you swap around your first and second fingers so your 1st finger is placed on the third string; your 2nd finger on the fourth string; your 3rd finger on the second string. The first (thinnest) and fifth strings are played open. Don't play the thickest (sixth) string. newer method makes it so that all the fingers closer to the frets, fingers 2 and 3 are right next to it and the first finger just pushes in from behind. I would recommend that you use the new method but if you have learned the traditional way then stick with that, it's ok, and I learnt using the traditional fingering."



Ralf
 
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