I, too, am in the group that finds the 213 fingering just doesn’t work for me. I use the 234.
I gave the 213 fingering an honest, good try (and the 123 as well), but like others, I can’t get the g-string to ring most times. I can REALLY see the advantages in the switches to E and D. But, I feel I have to go with what works for me.
I see lots of fine players playing A all three of these ways, clearly each can work. I’ve gotten my D,A,E switches up to 50-60 per minute (on a good day). Quite cleanly if I go just a little than that.
I really appreciate the multitude of tips from Justin in these 1st few lessons, as I go forward.
I think that playing A in 213 is a great way to get you to play on the tip of your index fingertip. You’ ll not get away with not coming down almost vertically on that G string. It will develop strength in that last joint which is great for a beginner. It makes sense to be able to play it that way because A-D transitions are common enough and it makes for an easy switch. You’ll end up having to play 234 later with A shape barre chords, so starting off with 213 will give you an extra tool in the end.
Anything wrong with doing 2-3-4 fingering? My fingers are too fat for 1-2-3-. I can do the 2-1-3 that Justin teaches but I cannot maintain it during chord changes. When I change chords it quickly degrades and I’m just muting strings with my first finger.
One issue I ran into with Justin’s 2-1-3 fingering…
It was hard to get the G string (under the first finger) to ring properly on certain guitars, because that finger is so far from the fret and so close to the nut. This happened on my $1000 CDN Martin, and my girlfriend’s $150 Denver. Lowering the action and lighter gauge strings fixed it on both guitars.
But if you are playing the Justin beginner songs with D-A-E chords, being able to keep a guide finger down really helps.
There are so many ways to fret an A chord…I think it’s best to find the fingering that is easiest with the songs you are learning. But understand that you may find other grips may be easier for other songs as you progress.
Hello again from Australia,
I posted my first message a couple of hours ago, to the ‘robot’ it turned out, and missed the topic I was trying to ask about. Here is my second attempt (a repeat), I hope where it is relevant this time, and with finger numbers added.
I’m fumbling around here during a first visit to the Community, though I did have some interaction on the Forum about two years ago. I’ve more or less re-started at the ‘start’, as not much ‘hands on strings’ since then, and not much since 1974 when I first bought a guitar (sold to a mate in the 1980s).
I’ve been looking at finger positions for the A chord, and the diagram of four versions that I saw this morning. About 3 years ago, a chap who knew what he was doing suggested I learn the A chord as 324, and not use my index finger, as otherwise I’ll need to ‘unlearn’ as soon as I run into barre chords based on A. That is still a way off, but my question is this:
Is the idea of using 324 (or 234) for A a good starting point? My fingers at age 70+ are not as compliant as they might be, and a bit on the short side anyway. I’ve been trying 234 for several days, but the switch to D is pretty slow.
Over to the Community, and thanks for the facility.
Regarding the fingering, if you decide to follow Justin’s lessons, he’s consistently teaching the 213 version as it ties in with the fingering of the open D and E chords, i.e. 1st finger can be used as an anchor finger in chord changes, thus making the changes easier. (Of course, the concept of anchor fingers is not limited to these 3 chords.)
If you decide to take Justin’s course, you will learn about the first finger A chord which is sort of an introduction to A shape barre chords. And in Justin’s method, A shape barre chords are typically played with the 1st and 3rd finger anyway, so you may not need to use the 324 fingering.
I would guess that it is a minority of players who use three separate fingers for the A-shape barre chord. Most lay either their 3rd or their 4th finger flat across as a preference. This does mute the thin E string but that is no big issue - unless there is a specific reason for needing that note, such as playing arpeggiated chords with melody notes needed. I do use the 2, 3, 4 variety for the open A major chord, but it has nothing to do with being useful for barre chords and is simply to do with efficiency of movement when making certain chord changes.
Thanks for your help last week, Richard. I’ve stayed with Justin’s 213 recommendation when practising the A/D changes. I’m a fair way off studying barre chords and mainly was chasing hints to make things simpler when I do reach that point. I’m starting to wake up that there are plenty of variations of chords that people use, not just those in chord charts. Cheers, Bernie.
A valuable insight, Bernie. First and foremost a chord chart presents the notes to be fretted to make a chord. Secondly, they may indicate a recommended or common fingering for the chord.
As you progress you’ll find that based on the preceding or following chord certain fingerings make things easier (as @Richard_close2u said) and certain fingerings will make certain chord embellishments possible to play.
Did anybody else find the A chord much easier to do than the D chord?
Still working on perfecting the D chord but the fingering position of the A chord seems to be more straightforward, even if it is slightly cramped. Using Justin’s preferred fingering of 213.
I only know A, D & E chords at the moment so I’m still pretty new, however, that’s been my experience so far.
Hi Lewis, welcome to the community. That’s great that your A, D and E chords are coming along well. I’m sure there are plenty of folk in the community that have found the A chord easier than the D chord and vice versa. Speaking of the community how about introducing yourself and sharing your back story here:
New here. Been learning for a month and just started the Justin program. I completed module one. I see by the discussion here there is much discussion about the A cord.I had been playing it with fingers two and three fairly well. Right not I am trying to reprogram myself to the 213. It is definitely a challenge to get all three fingers in the fret. I will keep trying. After two days I can get close to 30 A to D clean strums in a min, so I must be on the right track.
Hi All. I have been playing some guitar before (a while ago) and play the A-chord different from anything I see. The standard 1-2-3 or the better 2-1-3 I see used on all learning sources. But I am used to playing it 1-3-2, so actually in the same shape as the D-chord but then with all fingers on the same (second) fret ofcourse. This works fine for me and f”to me also feels natural when switching from A to D or the other way around. As I am revisiting learning guitar basics from the ground up and after that getting more advanced (hopefully), is it worth the trouble learning the A-chord 2-1-3? So I am wondering, will I run into trouble later on when I stick to 1-3-2? Thanks for your thoughts!
Edwin @cleancourt
First of all welcome to the community.
The 213 Justin teaches is to use 1 as anchor finger to make it easy for beginners to play E and D. I just moved to grade 2 and very recently started to use 123 basically as I found it much easier and faster to change to and from. There is another option 111 ie partial barre, Justin does mention it further down the road and have noticed the experienced players at the guitar club tend to play 111.
I think it comes down to what you are most comfortable with. See Richards earlier post with the various fingering.
Michael
PS will have to get my head round your 132, not sure about that, will have to pick up my guitar and give it a go
I think for early learning, Justin’s 2-1-3 method makes a lot of sense with the anchor finger switching to D and E. it’s worth getting that bedded in and then begin to switch up as you need to depending on the song you’re playing. I have to say I’ve never gone 1-2-3 but the 1-1-1 barre is really useful. 1-3-2 sounds quite odd I have to say but only you know how it affects your changes.
In your case if you’re revisiting changes and are comfortable with how that works to other open chords then go for what works. So in other words my opinions kind of irrelevant!!
If you’re following the course I would stick to the fingering Justin is teaching in the lesson as he does it for a purpose. Later on you will explore other fingerings as covered in How To Play The A Chord - #47 by Richard_close2u. I’ve see me play one song recently where I’ve used 213 and 123 fingerings based on the chord changes. It’s good to learn various fingerings and not get stuck to a single option but that will all come to you as you progress through the course.
