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OfflineBrAiN
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guitar q: how to position your hands
    #7547388 - 10/22/07 03:31 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

I know this sounds like a dumb question.. but i'm 28.. been playing on and off since I was 19. Not really any good.. but I've never really played or jammed with anyone.. maybe once or twice, so i never really knew if I was doing certain things correctly.

I've always wondered if I was positioning my fingers in the correct way... not just for chords... but how to position you fingers in the easiest way to transition from one chord to another.

Here's a good example of what I;m talking about. Radio's LUCKY

At one point you have to go from A Major, to A sustained.

http://www.chordfind.com/ (to find the chords).

It's basically the 2nd fret on the 4th5th6th strings and then you move the 5th string up to the third fret.

For A, I basically put my index finger on the 3rd string, middle on 4th, and and ring finger on the 5th.

Then when I transition to Asus, I drop my pinky down to the 3rd fret on the 5th string.

My questions are

Is there REALLY a correct finger positioning for each chord or does it just depend on whhat chord you're coming from and going to?

In this case.. it just doesn't FEEL right. To fit my three fingers on these strings for AMajor.. I almost have to have my fingers diagonal (ring finder at the top of the 2nd fret.. almost touching the 1st.. and my ringer finger and the very bottom.. almost touching the third fret. My fingers are just IMPOSSIBLE to get them all lined up side by side for the A. THEN when you try to drop the pinky on the 3rd fret.. well jesus... it's a nobel feat just to try to move your PINKY without moving your ring finger WITHOUT a guitar... let alone with one.

I WOULD just slam my index finger flat across the 2nd fret to get all three notes at once.. but you can't really do that because you need the open strings on the end to really give the chord some pUNCH

For all you accomplished guitarists out there.. just as a basic example.. moving from Amajor to Asus... how would you do it?

Edited by BrAiN (10/22/07 03:36 PM)

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Invisiblemarvoman

Registered: 04/26/05
Posts: 207
Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7547412 - 10/22/07 03:42 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

Your fingering is correct, and it may feel akward, but at the end of the day if it sounds right it is right. There is ultimately no right or wrong way to play the guitar in terms of fingering, etc, as long as you achieve the sound or the effect you are looking to get.

Some will tell you certain fingerings are wrong (although in this case you are actually playing what would be considered the correct fingering) but if it works for you and gets the sound you need/want then who can possibly tell you if you're wrong or right?

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InvisibleautomanM
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7547417 - 10/22/07 03:44 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

for my A Major chord, i bar the second fret with my index finger and just mute the high E string.

to add the D note, i just put my bird finger down on the third fret of the B string.


--------------------
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr

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OfflineBrAiN
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: automan]
    #7547457 - 10/22/07 03:56 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

I wish the joints on my fingers weren't so boney.. i could bar a lot better. The one type of music that I want to play (punk) is the type that my fingers aren't really suited for.

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Invisiblemarvoman

Registered: 04/26/05
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7547480 - 10/22/07 04:04 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

It's all practise really, and adapting your playing to your hands and the guitar you use. My hands are tiny as I'm only a small guy, yet I have learned to rip up the fretboard as good as someone with octopus hands just by adapting the way I play. Saying that, if you have trouble barring on your current guitar maybe it's the wrong guitar for you? (Unlikely if it is an electric, but some acoustics on the cheaper end of the scale make it very difficult to play).

Two inspiring guitarists I always refer to are Tony Iommi and Django Reindhardt: Tony Iommi lost the tips to two of his fingers on his left hand so adapted by lowering the tuning on his guitar and playing more simplified riffs, inventing heavy metal in the process. And Django lost his middle and ring finger of his fretting hand in a fire when he was young, yet he still went on to be a fucking incredible jazz guitarist! So having 'boney' fingers won't stop you from playing effective barre chords. It's all down to lots of practise.

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OfflineBrAiN
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: marvoman]
    #7547519 - 10/22/07 04:14 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

Yea I have one of those Ibanez Electric Accoustics. It's a nice guitar and sounds sweet.. but if I had a change to go back.. I would have bought something with frets closer to the strings.. I filed down that part at the bottom where the strings rest (just above where you string them into)... but the stringers are still too far from the frets. It's not that I DONT have the strenght to push them down. I can stand the pan... its just when I try to barre.. my fingers are so boney and jointy.. in order to press down on 3 of the strings.. the 4th one ends up in the crevice of one of my joints and either gets muted or it makes that carppy sound when the string doesn't hit the fret hard enough.

Would I be too much of a pussy if i played punk with one of those cappo's.. kappo's... whatever that thing is called?

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Invisiblemarvoman

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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7547566 - 10/22/07 04:28 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

With a cappo? Nah, if you could make it work that is.

I think your problem lies with the guitar you're using, especaially if the action is high. For punk stuff you'll probably need an electric guitar, not only is it generally much easier to hold down the strings, you can also put loads off distortion on it and thrash away and it will sound awesome!

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OfflineBrAiN
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: marvoman]
    #7547827 - 10/22/07 05:27 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

Yea I think it's time for an electric

I used to have a squire strat... but I got drunk 3 years ago and decided to disect it.. ripping it's innards to pieces.

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InvisibleWhiskeyClone
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7548618 - 10/22/07 07:51 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

At one point you have to go from A Major, to A sustained.


It's basically the 2nd fret on the 4th5th6th strings and then you move the 5th string up to the third fret.

For A, I basically put my index finger on the 3rd string, middle on 4th, and and ring finger on the 5th.

Then when I transition to Asus, I drop my pinky down to the 3rd fret on the 5th string.




You seem to have your strings mixed up. The common shape for A major is in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string on the second fret. The 6th string is the lowest string, the 1st string is the highest (thinnest).

Anyway names aside, it sounds like you're still fingering it right.

I always use my middle, ring and pinky to fret the three strings on the 2nd fret for A. There's more room with your index finger out of there. And instead of using a fourth finger to fret the suspended fourth when you switch to Asus, just slide your ring finger (or pinky if you choose to fret it my way) up one fret, rather than adding another finger. I can't imagine struggling to add that fourth finger there.

Also, when I play that part of the song (I'm assuming you're talking about the "pull me out of the aircrash" part), I go from A to Asus2, before going to E minor. It seems to work well, and it's definitely easier.

You can check Asus2 (Asus is short for Asus4, or "A major, suspended fourth") on chordfind, but all it is is just an amajor with an open b string:

--0--
--0--
--2--
--2--
--0--
-----

I saw an official transcription for it once, and they don't actually play a suspended chord there. One guitar plays a straightup A major, and the lead guitar plays that suspended fourth (the third fret on the B string) as part of the riff.


--------------------
Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man.  For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire.  Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.

~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"

:heartpump:

Edited by WhiskeyClone (10/22/07 07:53 PM)

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OfflinePinballWizard
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7549683 - 10/23/07 12:13 AM (16 years, 5 months ago)

It would depend where I go after the Asus4, but I would either do it your way or just slide my ring finger up a fret. Make sure your fingers are really curled (almost 90 degree angles at both knuckles). If your fingers are flat, it will cause you problems.

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OfflineBrAiN
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: WhiskeyClone]
    #7550059 - 10/23/07 06:43 AM (16 years, 5 months ago)

Hmm funky this site shows something sslightly different from A Major

http://www.chordfind.com/

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OfflineBrAiN
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7550090 - 10/23/07 07:13 AM (16 years, 5 months ago)

No you're right... should be 345strings

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OfflinePinballWizard
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Re: guitar q: how to position your hands [Re: BrAiN]
    #7550754 - 10/23/07 12:53 PM (16 years, 5 months ago)

There's possibly hundreds of different ways to play the same chords on a standard guitar. The way you posted originally is the standard "open A".

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