I see no one has jumped on the A chord so I will be the fool. I have trouble no matter how I finger it. I can't seem to fit all three fingers in the available space without muting another string or causing a "clunker" (technical term).
Zeph
Don't know if anyone is still struggling with this (the post I'm quoting is several months old), but I would suspect so as the A is a perennial issue. Anyhow, the only way that works for me is to bar all three strings with the index finger. I manage to do so in such a way as to keep the high E open and get a clean sound. The biggest challenge for me is to get a clear sound from the second string, which is lowest down from the tip of my finger. What seems to work best for me is to finger the chord by coming at the strings from below, (a down to up motion when I cover the strings), rathert than to come down on the strings from above. That way I slightly bend the second string upward, bringing the three strings I'm fretting closer together. That makes it easier to cover them all and it gets my finger out of the way of the high E. I'm still working on this technique to get a consistent. clean sound but it seems to be the best way for me personally.
Good luck!
Regards,
Mike
"Growing Older But Not UP!"
Hi Mike,
I barre the second fret too most of the time (99.44%) to play the A. And I just mute the high e string. It's still an A chord -- the A is built out of A C# E and when you barre and mute you get this combo:
--x
--2 (C#)
--2 (A)
-- 2 (E)
---0 ( A)
----x
So it's still an A chord.
Now, if for some reason (usually because there's an arpeggio), I want to play the high e open, I use three fingers on the second fret but I place them using the D shape. that seems to make enough room to fret the chord.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
I barre the second fret too most of the time (99.44%) to play the A.
99.44%, eh? That's pretty precise. You sure it's not 99.43 or 99.45? (Sorry, I'm an engineer. I had to ask. :roll:
Regards,
Mike
"Growing Older But Not UP!"
I barre the second fret too most of the time (99.44%) to play the A.
99.44%, eh? That's pretty precise. You sure it's not 99.43 or 99.45? (Sorry, I'm an engineer. I had to ask. :roll:
Depends on the relative humidity.
:wink:
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
Depends on the relative humidity.
:wink:
Ok, makes sense now. No, really, in all seriousness, do you mute the first string because you have a hard time keeping you finger totally clear of it, or because you just like the chord voicing better without it? I'm getting to where I can make it sound good with the first string about 82.57% of the time (again, depending on the humidity). I haven't really tired muting it, though, to see how it sounds.
Regards,
Mike
"Growing Older But Not UP!"
Maritimer asks:
when you come to the part "it's time we stop children what's that sound
-everybody look what's going down" any ideas on the strumming pattern? That part doesn't feel like the rest of the pattern in the lesson.
Great lesson - good sounding 2 chord song made easy for a beginner
I haven't worked through this lesson. Can't you use the strum pattern in the final mp3s? Or maybe use a single chord strum with an unaccompanied vocal to heighten the dramatic tension of the song?
(Btw, I moved your question to the thread on the lesson. We try to keep all the questions on a lesson together in one thread.)
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
I usally stroke down with my index and drag up with the nail of my thumb, it sounds more like freepicking when you utilize your nails.
Kido
just a silly question: the pattern is easy to play and I have no trouble at all with it but of course muting is a lot harder. Is it really neccessary to mute or can I play it without muting...well, the resulting sound is not quite the same
Matteo
Matteo,
I think you answered your own question. If the sound you're getting is working, you're fine. The more you want to approximate what David's suggesting, the more you'll work on the muting. Over time, muting will become easier and seem less awkward.
Hope that made sense.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
Hello everyone
I finally managed to get a recoding of the song itself in a Buffalo Springsfiled best of album. I tried to play along with the cd but the strange thing is that I feel that the pattern is a bit faster than what David suggested.
To my ears the pattern for each chord is something like
bb ddu bb ddu
or
bb du udu
of course with a few muted strum
I don't know if I'm totally wrong or if David suggested a pattern simpler than the orginal one in order to get us play the song, or maybe since there are several guitars on the recoding they all play differnt parts and my ears mix them all togheter....
Matteo
I'm sure he did simplify it for beginners. If what your playing sounds right to you then run with it.
Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear!
ChuckNorrisFactsdotCom
Oops figured it out. :oops:
I'm finding the heel stroke absolutely impossible - any chance of a video link so I can see exactly where I'm going wrong?
Hi Dandelion
My apologies, but I have no video equipment! Perhaps a good way of thinking about the percussive stroke is like giving the strings of your guitar a karate chop (at an angle) while strumming at the same time. I know that sounds weird, but it accurately describes what's going on.
Not sure when I'd get the time, but if some free time happens my way, I'll try to hunt down some examples on YouTube that might give you a visual.
Be chatting with you again soon.
Peace
