The G Chord... hacked!

Hi Andy, I’ve been playing at least a year longer than you and still have difficulty with this (no matter what version of open G I play). I’ve had some success by actively focusing on reaching for the G on string 6 first, and not thinking so much about the rest of my fingers. Admittedly when I started doing this, I landed that (and the B on string 5) before the others, but at least it was different. From there I’ve made progress in landing my fingers more simultaneously on all strings. And in the meantime, I think it’s a “better” problem to land on 5 and 6 first because they are usually the strings you play first - so if there is a lag, it will have less impact on the sound.

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Thanks all.
I’ll give your suggestions a go and see if I can get my fingers to cooperate.

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Welcome @neophytosdm . All of your observations and comments are correct. This is just one way to play the simplified G chord. Later Justin introduces the 3 4 simplified G chord in Module 10 Grade 2 in the Weak Finger G lesson. It is a great G chord shape to use when changing quickly between G and C chords such as in the chorus of “I’m A Believer”.

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Maybe im lucky, but G chord is not hard for me, I struggle way more with the C chord…

Though im wondering why we sometimes see the G chord with 4 fingers

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Hi @jonathan.corriveau, good for you that the G chord works out! Me too, I thought the C chord was more difficult. As for the 4 finger G: keep on going - you will meet it at the beginning of grade 2 :wink:

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I’m thinking of learning the 3 fingered version of g chord with fingers 2,3 and four. I have seen youtubers use it and looks easier to change chords.

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Hi @Nafizzo, ease of change between chords might depend on which chords you want to change to. Also, later on, you might want to use your 4th finger for other things. So I would advise you to stick with the fingering Justin teaches for now. Later on, he will teach you different versions of G and different fingerings. It’s better to have more than one tool in your toolbox.

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Hi Nafees @Nafizzo, welcome to the community! Following up on what @LadyOfTheCastle wrote, there are many ways to play the open G chord, and each has its place. Justin’s lessons build off each other, so if you learn a different fingering now, you may be in the wrong “position” to execute a technique in a future lesson. (For example, there is a 4-finger G introduced early in Grade 2 that builds on the G with fingers 1,2,3 that Justin is introducing in Grade 1.) For what it’s worth, I’m a Grade 3 beginner, so speaking from recent experience. :smiling_face:

Justin also sometimes introduces a certain way of doing a technique because it develops certain muscles in the hand, or helps you stretch more. It’s not that other ways of doing something are necessarily wrong (though sometimes they are!), it’s that Justin is building a skill set in a logical manner. Do keep asking questions like this in the community, though. You’ll always get good feedback!

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Is it alright if I do the full G instead? I have learned it a fee times prior to this course just from learning songs and such, and I have gotten quite used to doing it and am able to do it quickly and comfortable change to and from it from other chords. Should I keep using it or switch to the two-finger version?

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@Kayasilly0 Welcome to the Community, Kaya !

I would encourage you to add the two-finger G into your practice when Justin introduces it. While you can play songs with the full G, you may find in time that having the option to use the two-finger G may make certain things easier for you. For example, I find it easier to change from G to G7 if the G is the two-finger version. It also frees up the middle and index finger to add other notes, for example adding a C at the first fret of the B string which can be a pleasant embellishment.

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oh no the three finger one sounds so bad in comparison.
with my fingers it does have a fuller sound that can sound nice in some context, but honestly not much difference with the fingers
but with a pick it sounds I dropped my guitar in the middle of playing the chord

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Have you checked this lesson:

We really don’t want anyone dropping guitars :slightly_smiling_face:

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HI everyone… I just tried out the two and three finger G chord and for whatever reason, the three finger, with my pinky on the first string (the highest) E just works more intuitively … I tried changing chords from C to G and it just involved a little more finger spaghetti but seemed to be manageable… so I am just wondering for those whose journey is farther along, if I should stick to the two finger (which is a bit more squishier for my fingers) versus the open G…

I love the sound of the chord btw … It’s been such a journey to see what mostly lovely sounds I can get from my guitar with each lesson.

And fwiw - my least favourite chord is still the D chord. Bleh with the D chord.

Hey guys. When I was taught the G chord, I was taught a 4-finger version.
finger 1 playing B on A-string
finger 2 playing G on low E-string
D and G strings open
finger 3 playing D on B-string
finger 4 playing G on high E-string
I learned to make the changes, but I did find it difficult. I’m looking forward to trying the two-finger version.

Anyone else just love the sound of the G chord (however you play it)? Am is my favourite melancholy chord so far and G is def up there with my happy chords… it’s been such a ball making mostly pleasant sounds come out of my guitar …

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Very good lesson, I really enjoyed this one. I like your 2-finger version of the G chord. I also think it sounds better than the traditional 3-finger version. To be honest, I hadn’t considered the difference before, but playing them just now I think the 2-finger one sounds better. I’m surprised that is the case, but I totally agree.

There are lots of different fingerings for the G chord. I sometimes play a 2-finger version using my 3rd and 4th fingers, or a 3-finger version using my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers. Those versions make it really easy to change from the G to a C.

Personally, I think the best sounding version is the 4-finger version, so that both the thinner E and B strings are included in the chord. That has the best balance in my opinion. I think this version sounds awesome on an acoustic guitar, and it is very easy to change from that version of the G chord to the C-add9. The G and C-add9 combination are used in loads of songs.

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I found it much easier to use the thumb instead of the 2nd finger for the low E and muting the A string.
Is it OK or should stick to the fingering in the video? Can it cause any problems further down the road?

welcome to the forum Pablo
It worked for Hendrix but as a beginner you may find it slower when changing chords.
If you can use the thumb over and still stay in time then it’s not a problem but if it’s interfering for your rhythm then leave it for latter on.

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So guys, I’ve been practicing the G chord using all 4 fingers. To my ears it sounds better than the “hacked” version (the open B string in this chord sounds bad to me, kinda of out of tune) so I use all fingers. Fingers 2, 3 and 4 grip also sounds nice (it’s the same shape as the hacked version but fretting that note on the B string. By the way, does that count as a G chord?).

Anyway, I’m practicing the G chord with the 4 fingers and I’m having some struggle. I can’t manage to get to 60 or more changes per minute (G - C specifically). It seems like I was improving but now I don’t make more than 50 something. Is this normal? It’s all about practice or I’m doing something wrong?

You’re doing fine and 50 is enough - you will hardly ever need to do more than that in a song. Giving it a rest, doing some other things, coming back to it later can sometimes help to improve without seemingly trying to :wink:

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