"A" cord

Practice.......Seriously.

Make sure you're using your fingertips only. Proper thumb position (on the back of the neck as opposed to wrapped around it) helps a lot.

3 weeks is not a long time.

It might not seem like it right now, but it will come around.

Your fingers will stop hurting, chords will become second nature and changes will happen quicly and cleanly...they really will

You really WILL eventually be able to get all three fingers inside one fret. As JBehar said....... practice, practice, practice!

However! You can also play an A chord by placing your index finger only across the strings (from top of neck to bottom.... also known as a partial barre chord). You don't have to worry about keeping the sixth (Low E) string pressed down (or the fifth), you merely have to concentrate on keeping even pressure on the next three strings (the ones that form the A chord). When you strum it, start at the fourth string and end at the second, stopping before you hit the first (High E) string. Hope that makes sense! :D

Buddy, A chords are cake. I'd be more worried about the jazz chords that are like doing the tango with your fingers than an A chord. :P

Steve

I would stick to the way you are learning it. Like everyone says, “it WILL get easier” (because it REALLY will) but you have to remember your chord changes. With most of the music I play, I find that the three fingers ‘bunched up' (with practice) helps with the chord changes that are following.

I'm sure there are times when people will do the barre with the A chord and every chord change works out smoothly but, I think for the majority of the time you will find that what is “hard” now will be the easiest down the road.

Steve

I would stick to the way you are learning it. Like everyone says, “it WILL get easier” (because it REALLY will) but you have to remember your chord changes. With most of the music I play, I find that the three fingers ‘bunched up' (with practice) helps with the chord changes that are following.

I'm sure there are times when people will do the barre with the A chord and every chord change works out smoothly but, I think for the majority of the time you will find that what is “hard” now will be the easiest down the road.

I think you are right about that, but I have been getting used to barreing that chord, I guess I should practice both ways. BTW does it make a difference which finger you barre it with? sometimes I use different ones

I barre with the index finger. And I barre it 90% of the time if not more. Just mute the first string.

When I do need to play it with 3 fingers, I position my fingers as I would for a D or a D7 chord -- with the middle finger slightly forward or slightly back.

It is good to learn the traditional way to play chords. But never feel there is only ONE way. At different times I will use all of these fingerings.

e--0-------0-------0--------X-------X------X-----
b—-2r------2p------2r-------2i------2m-----2r----
g—-2m------2r------2i-------2i------2m-----2r----
d—-2i------2m------2m-------2i------2m-----2r----
a--0-------0-------0--------0-------0------0-----
e------------------------------------------------


It all depends on what you are doing in a song. If I am playing a Blues type rhythm guitar in E like this;

E A trill.........

e----0--0------------------------------0----
b----0--0------2-----------------------0----
g----1--1------2------0tr1-------------1----
d----2--2------2-----------------------2----
a----2--2------0-----------------------2----
e----0--0------------------------------0----


For this, I am probably just going to use my middle finger to barre the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings.

There is an old ragtime song I used to fingerpick. After picking an A chord you had to quickly play a Bb note on the 5th string while still holding the E note on the D string and C# on the B string. Anyway, for that change I found it easiest to use the form Musenfreund uses (3rd form shown at top)

Like Musenfreund, I usually just play it with a barre with my index finger and do not play the high E string. This is good so you can play runs between chords.

So, the point is, is that you should learn many different ways to play a chord. Look for easy ways to play. That is not cheating, it is smart.

But still, always try to learn the traditional methods. They are proven.

It is good to learn the traditional way to play chords. But never feel there is only ONE way. At different times I will use all of these fingerings.

e--0-------0-------0--------X-------X------X-----
b—-2r------2p------2r-------2i------2m-----2r----
g—-2m------2r------2i-------2i------2m-----2r----
d—-2i------2m------2m-------2i------2m-----2r----
a--0-------0-------0--------0-------0------0-----
e------------------------------------------------


ahh... it is good to know that it is ok, and at times advisable, to use different fingerings... for me, it is a matter of where i have been and where i am going

I had problems with the A when I switched from classical to steel. I started using my pinky, ring and middle fingers and it helped. I still get a bit of buzzing from the D string sometimes. But when I concencrate at it, it works.

for me, it is a matter of where i have been and where i am going

Thats what I was trying to make my point about, chord changes. You can fret all sorts of chords different ways but, after only playing three weeks it might be easier to stick with the traditional way only because of what is usually to follow (at some point), which is "easy" chord progressions.

I finger that chord in two different ways.

Either i use two fingers to hold all three strings (index and middle) or i use three fingers (middle, ring and pinky). I remcommend the second way though because it will help a lot when you move to the b chord barre shape.

i find it near impossible to fit my index middle and ring fingers in there.

Good luck

hey I ' having similuar probs with it but my nephew showed me the Wes said was one to plat it but I have a couple questions of my own to ask about this topic .

e--X-------
b—-2i------
g—-2i------
d—-2i------
a--0-------
e----

My question is how hard do you press down ? the same strength as any other finger on any other string ?
And what happens to bottom E do you just not strum it ?

see ya's

hilch

Anytime you chord you want to use the least amount of pressure possible of course. This chord can be more difficult on acoustic vs. electric.

You have probably seen several posts where on full barre chords people advise to slightly roll your index finger toward the side facing the thumb. Not all the way on it's side, but about half-way. HOWEVER, on this form I would advise you to use the underside of your index finger only. There is a reason for this. There are many things you can do with this form with your other fingers (and they are very common).

For instance, you can do a Blues shuffle

e---X------------------------------------------------------X--------------
b---2i-----------------------------------------------------2i-------------
g---2i-----------------------------------------------------2i-------------
d---2i--2i-----4m--4m------2i---2i-----4m--4m------2i-------------
a---0---0-----0----0---------0---0------0----0--------0--------------
e------------------------------------------------------------------------

Or, a little run from the A Major Pentatonic Scale

e------------------------------------------------------------X--
b------------------------------------------------------------2i--
g------------------------------------------------------------2i--
d---2i-------------------------2i----2i-----4m----4m------2i--
a---0----0----4m-----4m----------------------------------0---
e-----------------------------------------------------------------

There are many things you can do with this form, and it is a very popular way to hold an A Major chord.

As far as the high E string, you just let your index finger hang over it, naturally muting it. And with carefull picking and strumming you will not strike it anyway. You don't have to play every note in a chord. And many times you don't. As you see in the 2nd example above, even though you are holding strings 2, 3, and 4, you only pick the 5th and 4th strings at the beginning.

Wes ,

great advise there

cheers

:D :D :D :D