G Chord Fingering

[UtahGuy]

So sitting in Session 5 for 2 months because I am a stubborn bluegrass wannabe and want that G Chord with the 2, 3, 4 fingering.  The problem is that my 3rd finger mutes the A string.  I swear I have tried everything but hang upside down to get this.  I now can do 1-2-3 and 1-2-4 fingering.  I know the answer is move on it will come, but any successful ideas anyone has would be appreciated.

[Odie]

So ,,, your 3rd finger "touches" the A string (Bass - - 5th string) and mutes it when it should not touch ANY string? And this would be the 1-2-4? Is that what you mean? Sorry, if I'm confused. I always do the 1-2-4 and never had that issue if I understand your post correctly. 

[UtahGuy]

Thanks for getting back.  My 3rd finger (ring) is playing the bass E but it mutes the bass A that my 2nd finger (middle) is on.  Just cannot seem to get it curved around and play the 4th finger (pinky) on the high E.

[Mike Boehler]

Just a random thought that maybe you are not lowering your wrist toward your left knee (if you are right handed)  to create a bigger bend in your wrist to allow you to reach the lower strings better? 

 

 

[Odie]

2 hours ago, UtahGuy said:

Thanks for getting back.  My 3rd finger (ring) is playing the bass E but it mutes the bass A that my 2nd finger (middle) is on.  Just cannot seem to get it curved around and play the 4th finger (pinky) on the high E.

Ok, yes, I was confused but got it now. Sorry, don't know what to suggest. I have pinky issues but can do "sort of" okay though. Pinky profusely points inward. 

[Odie]

5 hours ago, UtahGuy said:

Thanks for getting back.  My 3rd finger (ring) is playing the bass E but it mutes the bass A that my 2nd finger (middle) is on.  Just cannot seem to get it curved around and play the 4th finger (pinky) on the high E.

You mentioned bluegrass, so why is that the reason to use ring finger for the G chord? Is it for a quicker change from G to C and/or G7 or other? If so, you do know that you can use the G chord fingering in the chart above and use the available ring finger to press down the 4th (A) string at third fret (F) for a G7? Just my guess that you're looking for a faster chord change. 

[Jim26]

Another option is to put that third finger to good use. Place it on the second string third fret. Makes a great sounding G chord. Bob Seeger and other players use this version of a G chord. Try it out and see what you think.

 

Jim

 

 

Edited March 21, 2018 by Jim26

[Randy120]

I have a similar issue, but I don't let it bother me. Not many people would ever notice you muted that note. There are several ways to play G, but you should learn the form Steve taught you because it is very useful if you can't perfect it so be it. You use the form that makes it easy to move from one chord to the next. Many self taught players use the first 3 fingers which is ok, but makes transitions awkward. There is the 4 finger version too. You will also learn G2 which mutes the A string. You have to consciously roll your hand a little to give the A string clearance. Don't worry about it, and definitely do not let it slow down your progress. I use all of these forms, but I use the standard form most of the time mute A string or not.   

Edited March 21, 2018 by Randy120

[Triple-o]

I had the same problem until I started to place my pinky first and then the G and B.

[Dave White]

As Randy said above, there are numerous fingerings for the G chord and eventually you will want to learn them all. Keep practicing and one day you will suddenly notice that you are no longer muting the A string.

[Steve Krenz]

Great post.  Thanks for sharing.

Yes, there are many ways to play a G - each with different advantages that work better in this or that musical scenario.  You can live a long and happy musical life and never play a G as 3-2-4. 

It's a huge stretch to have your 3rd finger on the 6th string and the 4th finger on the 1st string.  If you have smaller hands, then it is quite natural to bend the 3rd finger so much that it touches the 5th string and mutes it.

But, never let that, or any other musical limitation, stop your progress.  Just go around it. Find other ways to play it and other ways to play cool things around it.

Some players can use the thumb over the top of the neck and are able to do really cool things with it.  I could never do that.  But I don't dwell on that and have learned a ton of barre chords to do everything that I want to do.

Don't overly worry about this small issue.  Just keep moving - and learning - and playing.  Figure out a way to play the G chord that works for you and never look back.

- Steve

 

 

 

 

[UtahGuy]

Many thanks to all of you for your words.  I will continue to work on it as I feel I am getting closer.  But for now, it is alternate fingering and moving on.

[matonanjin]

@UtahGuy, not much help but when I started learning/playing the G chord I had exactly the same issue.  I originally learned (I don't know where) the G chord the 1-2-3 form.  But very early on I got the L&M course and when I got to session 5 saw where Steve showed it the 2-3-4 form. 

In fact, over at our former home, I posted a very similar post as yours about this very subject and my frustration!

I don't know when it happened.  It just occurred to me one day that I was playing G chord and my 3rd finger was not muting the A string.  It will happen to you.  It's not always perfect.  I will sporadically check and sometimes it's great; sometimes I am muting the A string a little and I need to lower the wrist a little to lift the knuckles.  But it progressively gets better.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the G major chord is G(1) B(3) D(5).  So when playing the open G chord this way you have, from lowest string to highest,  G B D G B G.   If you mute the A string you still have a B playing from the second string.  I'm not suggesting sloppy playing.  Just that with muting the A string you still have a G chord with all the notes while you improve.

[Odie]

On 3/20/2018 at 2:22 PM, UtahGuy said:

So sitting in Session 5 for 2 months because I am a stubborn bluegrass wannabe and want that G Chord with the 2, 3, 4 fingering.  The problem is that my 3rd finger mutes the A string.  I swear I have tried everything but hang upside down to get this.  I now can do 1-2-3 and 1-2-4 fingering.  I know the answer is move on it will come, but any successful ideas anyone has would be appreciated.

Also, you said above that you're an aspiring bluegrass player. You may or may not know that there are many instances that you won't even play the entire chord such as: G - only the three high strings and C-again the three high strings (open chords). I do this on several tunes. Would imagine it's done quite often and those real lighting speed guys/gals, it's not that noticeable.