Hi All,
My Name is Peter and I’m 75 years young and trying to re learn as a beginner the guitar, unfortunately I’m having lots of difficulty in getting the "A’ chord. It seems that my fingers are to fat even when I press the strings separately and they sound OK but when I use all of my fingers this stuffs it up. Any tips on how to improve his. I have been trying this chord for about 2 weeks and not having a great deal of success. All other chords I can play except this one.
Any tips we be appreciated
Best Regards,
Peter
Hi Peter!
Welcome to the forums!
Everyone feels like theres an issue with their hands somewhere or somehow, to big, to short, to small.
This is just the pain of going through the beginner process , and 2 weeks isnt all that long
Saying that its good to show some video or photos of you trying to do this so we can see what you are doing, how you are fingering it (Justins way?)
Also when you start your finger tips are not tough so tend to spread out more, and you need to be closer to the fret etc
(Much) later on you sometimes end up playing A with a 1 finger barre etc
Thanks for the advice I will keep trying
Whats your fingering (which fingers on which strings?)
What strings are not working?
I originally started using the fingering pattern where finger was on the 4th string and the 2nd finger was on the 3 string and the 3 finger was on the 2nd string, I then saw justins fingering pattern and decided to try that which seemed to be easier. The strings that are not sounding any good are because the other fingers are getting in the way or the string isn;t pressed down hard enough, I gues it is a case of keep on practicing.
Thanks foryour suggestions always appreciated.
Peter
Hi Peter,
Rob told you about the usual problems above. You will certainly see a change as your fingertips stiffen with use.
You also do not need to let string 1 ring out. If that makes a difference, then it be muted for now and make adjustments in a few months if you want that string to ring out.
A picture or two would help us tell you more. Don’t let taking the picture make a mess of how your hand usually looks holding the chord!
Are you supporting the guitar with your fretting hand. If so that would make it very difficult to learn your chords. The proper way to hold your guitar is: set it on your right leg and put your forearm on the body to keep it from moving. The neck should be parallel to the floor. And forearm should lay on the guitar and keep it solid (not moving). When you let go of the neck I should stay roughly in the same place.
The fingering of the cord was already covered so I thought this might be something else to try. Good luck on your guitar journey 
Hi, Peter, greetings from Poland!
Let me give you a piece of advice pertaining to the A chord that you may find useful. Try this: finger the second fret of the D(4) string and G(3) string using your middle and ring finger, respectively, leaving the B(2) string open. You’ll get a beautifully sounding Asus2 chord often used instead of either A major or minor chords.
Another awesome and easy to finger A chord that many guitarists use often is an Aadd2 chord also fingered on two strings only: 7 fret of the 4th string and 6 fret of the 3rd string. You can then strum all strings or, better still, start from the A string. This one is a better defined A major chord as it contains the note C# being the major third of the A scale.
I hope I explained it clearly enough; please don’t feel overwhelmed by the bits and pieces of theory I threw in.
Oh, BTW, I’m 71 and enjoying playing guitar as never before in my life. Good luck! 
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Hi Peter,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun 
Maybe this will be of some use to you and you will read that more people have difficulty with it (shared sorrow is half the sorrow),
It is good to know that if you have a specific question to see if there is a lesson because then all the questions and answers will be together in one place, Good luck and I hope you have a great time 
Greetings ,Rogier
This below is also a nice topic (but may cost you a lot of guitar playing time 
)
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I can find the A chord hard too.
For sure, do it Justin’s way.
That said.
imho, ya can use whatever fingers ya want to do the A chord. While this may be advanced for a beginner, I think it’s worth noting.
Covering D,G, B stings, 2nd fret, ya can play it with these fingers.
1,2,3
2,3,4
1,2 or 2,3. If your fingers are feeling fat, which sometime mine do too, I’ll cover 2 strings with one finger with playing it this way. So 1 could be covering D and G string, or 2 could be covering G, B sting. Use whatever single finger to cover 2 strings that might feel comfortable.
Then, as mentioned above, there’s covering all strings with one finger, a barre across D,G,B string. If ya deaden the high E string with this way, this is OK. The E note is already covered on the D string @ 2nd fret. Use whichever single finger ya want or is easiest to cover all three strings. 1,2, or 3rd or even 4th finger.
There may be other ways too, but these are the ones I’m aware of. I also play this chord using these different ways depending on the song I’m doing. Sometimes one way is easier with one song, another way is easier with a different song.
I understand that some of these ways my be more advanced, but all I’m trying to say is ya can play this A chord using several ways, using different fingers. Ya may find one easier than the other.
fwiw, the way I initially learned this chord was 1 on D string, 2 on G string, 3 on B string. Next I learned 2 on D string, 3 on G string, 4 of B string.
Also, it takes 3 strings to make the any chord. the root, the 3rd note of the maj. scale and the fifth note of the maj. scale. So for A it’s A, C#, E. Ya could just play the top three string. The G,B, E string. 2nd fret on the G string, 2nd fret on the B string, open high E string. This is the A chord. 3 notes. This can be done with using only 2 fingers (which ever ones ya like and find easy) on the second fret of the G and B string. High E is open. This is the A chord.
Last comment, there are more ways of playing the A chord that I’ve not described still. Food for thought and hope I’m not confusing you.
Good luck and practice makes perfect… 