Do I play an A chord 'weirdly'?

[RadioSilence]

I've been told I play an A chord 'weirdly' because I only use one finger, my index finger, laid across the D, G and B strings but raised at the bottom so the top E string can ring free.

This is just how I've always played it. I've had some lessons but not when I was beginning; I taught myself from tabs/chord boxes.

 

So how do you play it? with three fingers? seems a bit uneconomical to me

[gambit]

Yeah that sounds awkward..

 

I play with middle and third finger holding the 3 strings. Sometimes middle third and pinky on a string each if I can be bothered.

[Dr.Picklebottom]

distortion- your way, clean- fancy way.

[magnum pi]

I do it the same as you. Lazy hand style.

[joeyowen]

I play it with pinky ring and middle. if it works for you, sound as

[english_bob]

I don't think I could do that and keep the top E string ringing clearly, but I guess the conventional way is inefficient if all you want to do is play that chord. With the conventional one-finger-per-string method if you want to be able to play variations on the A chord- minor, maj7, dom7, sus2 etc- it involves moving one finger with the conventional method and re-fingering the whole chord with yours.

 

OTOH, your method leaves lots of fingers free for altered bass notes, add9, sus4 chords or that good old fashioned Stones-y 6sus4 vamp: x02220 -> x04230

 

So yeah, not weird, not necessarily worse. I do both depending on what I'm playing.

[joncyberboy]

I use one finger and sacrifice the high E. Seems to be getting me by.

[goodhonk]

no, that's not weird.

[penelope twee]

I used to always play it with a finger devoted to each string but I usually use a combination of my index and ring fingers these days. It depends on what surrounds the A chord.

[RadioSilence]

 

Yeah that sounds awkward.. I play with middle and third finger holding the 3 strings. Sometimes middle third and pinky on a string each if I can be bothered.

 

 

see that feels awkward to me, i would never have thought of using mid, 3rd + pinky. maybe index, mid + 3rd.

my way i can easily reach my other fingers to make variations (Asus4 x02230, A6 x02222, A5 x02255, etc.) which i can't do your way. oh well, whatever works for each of us. I'm glad there's some others doing it 'my' way though.

[GCDEF]

I play it that way if I'm playing power chords or need the other fingers to add to it. If I need the high E to ring, I'll use pinky, middle, ring.

[english_bob]

 

I use one finger and sacrifice the high E. Seems to be getting me by.

 

 

Same, most of the time. If you want a slightly higher voicing, there's always x02255

[english_bob]

Follow on question: How far up the neck can people go with an A shape chord before finger fatness and fret spacing make it impossible to fret each string separately and you have to resort to a barre instead?

 

Me? not far

[Jnichols2727]

 

I use one finger and sacrifice the high E. Seems to be getting me by.

 

 

This

[RadioSilence]

 

I don't think I could do that and keep the top E string ringing clearly, but I guess the conventional way is inefficient if all you want to do is play that chord. With the conventional one-finger-per-string method if you want to be able to play variations on the A chord- minor, maj7, dom7, sus2 etc- it involves moving one finger with the conventional method and re-fingering the whole chord with yours. OTOH, your method leaves lots of fingers free for altered bass notes, add9, sus4 chords or that good old fashioned Stones-y 6sus4 vamp: x02220 -> x04230 So yeah, not weird, not necessarily worse. I do both depending on what I'm playing.

 

 

yeah. i do play it other ways as the situation requires; for instance if i needed to go from Am to A i'd just slide my index finger from C to C# on the B string instead of changing the finger positions completely.

[solewheelin]

I like a wider fingerboard for this reason. The extra room is nice.

I have fat fingertips. On some guitars, I have to squeeze my index between my middle and ring fingers to get a good open A.

[english_bob]

yeah. i do play it other ways as the situation requires; for instance if i needed to go from Am to A i'd just slide my index finger from C to C# on the B string instead of changing the finger positions completely.

 

You can play an Am (x02210) with one finger? *That's* weird

[zygoat]

that's how i do it

[onyxrhino]

This thread is rather interesting. Do you guys finger chords the same way all the time? I finger the A different ways based on what I'm playing, whether I'm arpeggiating it or what chords I'm playing after it or strumming fast/slow, etc.

[murch33]

I use one finger and sacrifice the high E. Seems to be getting me by.

Same here. D is the one that I've been told I play weird. I barre GBE at the second fret with my index finger and play the D on the B string with my middle finger.

[RadioSilence]

You can play an Am (x02210) with one finger? *That's* weird

 

no, I play Am regularly; like this

[juri]

How do you play the A-shape for bar chords?

[RadioSilence]

 

How do you play the A-shape for bar chords?

 

 

index finger holding E, A + topE strings, ring finger holding D, G + B strings

 

or - ring finger holding D + G strings and pinky holding B string. depends on the situation really.

[lolque?]

That's how my theory teacher played it. There's no right or wrong way to finger a chord. Insert fingering joke here.

[joncyberboy]

How do you play A style barre chords?

I use my index to play the root, then my ring finger as a 'barre' over the d, g and b strings and mute the high e.