I’m currently fascinated with the various open G grips. Like you, I first learned the 3-finger version, then the 4-finger version. The 2-finger version is stretchier for me, and so at the beginning it was a bit more difficult to form…but I persevered feeling it was a good exercise. Now I use 2-finger when switch to and from C, and in many other situations. When switching to B7 from G, I find the 4-finger version easiest. And oddly, in many circumstances, the classic 3-finger grip is the most difficult on my wrist! Go figure.
I like all the forms actually. I play the 2 finger mostly so that I can keep the the other fingers free to do embelishments for hammer ons and other melodic type sounds. But the the stuck ons are super cool sounding and the heavier sounding G chord has their place as well. Sounds good when you have some fuzz and overdrive but dont want to jump right on the barre chord yet. My suggestion is learn them all because they all chords have multiple ways to play them. As a beginner find the one that suits you best and play it and when you feel comfortable try some diffferent voicings.
Something I’m wondering about, when using my pinky (but it can also happen with other fingers), my finger tends to ‘overstretch’. A picture is more clear, so here you see the pinky in the nice curve at the thinner E-string:
Intuitively I would say that the first one is better, especially when wanting to (later on) play with the chord and put the pinky somewhere else. Overstretching makes it go ‘out of control’ a bit.
Is this indeed a bad habit and should I focus on not letting the finger ‘overstretch’, or is it not a big problem (the chord sounds out alright) and shouldn’t worry about it?
Hi Jonathan,
This is indeed a bad habit.
keep an eye on it and it will go away 'on its own ', it’s what happend me and many people in the beginning,often due to unnecessary force in the beginning, if the G and other chords are changed without thinking, the problem never seen again
Greetings
I learned the three finger G chord from flash cards about 2 weeks before starting this course, so I included it in my practice sessions up to this lesson. The way I learned it after watching a youtube video was using middle, ring, and pinky finger. The transition to G from C is super easy, and A min and G suss 4th is right there too with the index finger just hanging out where it need to be for all three of those chord changes.
Hi, I’m practicing and struggling with the “full” 4 fingers G chord grip. I don’t exactly remember of being that hard to learn (because I’m learning again from scratch). I do remember spending a lot of time practicing . I’m doing G - D, G - E (alongside G/A - A to play a specific song). It is a practice thing or I’m doing something wrong?
. I’m doing G - D, G - E (alongside G/A - A to play a specific song). It is a practice thing or I’m doing something wrong?
