Unfortunately , some of the guitar educational materials I ’ ve come across teach the A chord with fingers 1 , 2 , and 3 in a row . Even if we slightly adjust to fingers 2 , 3 , and 4 , the situation is not improved by much , because there ’ s not quite enough room for our adjacent fingers to be well-situated on the second fret in these configurations .
lifted from the string . Way better . ( Watch the video for the economy of movement .)
Ok , how about the transition from A to D and back ? Even though I do have something of an anchor note on the 2 nd string with my 3 rd finger , the other two fingers have to re-locate entirely both ways .
It works , but is there a better way ? Yep . Our new way .
Again , not all three notes will be right up next to the fret , but this is still a vast improvement to what we had before . Remember , even if a finger is not right next to the fret , it can still sound clean ; it just needs to press harder , the further it is away from the fret .
So now that you ’ ve been exposed to this new fingering for the open A Major chord , what can I do to validate its usefulness ?
Try it , and then watch with delight as only one finger needs to lift up to relocate as the other two fingers provide anchor points both directions .
So , not only is it a cleaner articulation to play A Major this way , we have a much cleaner transition to and from a couple very closelyrelated chords . So yes , I believe guitar chord fingerings do matter .
That ’ s right – I ’ m going to place it in context . This may be significant to you , or it may not .
So , what do we do ? For almost 30 years , I have taken the approach I ’ m about to show you , and it is truly a game-changer . And it ’ s actually really simple . Check it out .
I use fingers 2 , 1 and then 3 . A better way to get situated is to place 2 and 3 on the 2 nd fret , like you ’ re voicing an open A7 chord and then drop in the 1 st finger , wedging it right between those other two fingers .
Remember how we talked about the keys of A , E and D ? Let ’ s say I wanted to move from A to E and back , whether that ’ s in the key of A or the key of E . Both scenarios apply here .
Watch what happens if I use the “ old ” way of fretting the A chord . If I start with the less optimal fingering , I have to lift all three fingers to move to the E chord . Then when I go back , I again have to lift all three fingers . Doable , but not ideal . ( The accompanying video demonstrates this clearly .)
What if I tried our new and improved fingering ?
The first finger stays on the 3 rd string and provides an anchor point because although it slides down a single fret , it doesn ’ t have to be
But if we ’ re going to play this chord a few thousand times in our lifetime , wouldn ’ t it be better to play it more effectively ? And wouldn ’ t it be nice to gain even more visual independence from this chord in context ?
Hopefully this gave you a window into my approach to teaching the guitar , and how I like to zoom in for more precision and artistry , which enhances our musicianship and just helps us PLAY better .
Side note : in September of 2023 , I published an article / video in WM Magazine called “ Do Guitar Chord Voicings Matter ?” I encourage you to check that out as well .
© GuitarSuccess4U . All rights reserved .
David Harsh David is a nationally touring worship leader , songwriter and performing artist . He is passionate about equipping guitarists to discover their potential . Learn more and join now at www . GuitarSuccess4U . com
December 2023 Subscribe for Free ... 65