Guitar fingering trouble

[Bigley]

I have been having trouble getting the fingering on the A Major Triad on my guitar. I keep getting a buzz or a muted string... It is near impossible to get all 3 fingers within the same fret like that. I don't know what to do.


E|---|---|---|---
B|---|--o|---|---x
G|---|-o-|---|---x
D|---|o--|---|---x
A|---|---|---|---x
E|---|---|---|---

[Honki]

I always play A with my index finger on the "G" string.
I cross my middle finger over, and play it on the "D" string.
Ring finger on the B string.

I find having big fingers, it makes the chord easier to play.
It also allowas a quick change over to the D chord.

[wintermute]

Haha. Yeah. I think most guys have this problem.

I literally had to pull out my guitar to remember my method for this. I do it like this:
E|---|---|---|---o
B|---|--R|---|---
G|---|-M-|---|---
D|---|I--|---|---
A|---|---|---|---o
E|---|---|---|---X

X is muted with the thumb. o is open. I is index... and so on.

My hands are pretty big and I can manage this one so I'm sure you can too (unless you're Shaq). The trick (imo) is the arch you put into your fingers. You have to make it high enough so you don't mute the high E with your ring finger. Also press down really hard. That will eliminate the buzz.

If the above doesn't work after a great deal of practise, than try using a guitar with a wider bridge. ie. dreadnought or larger acoustic. or a baritone. or a 12 string strung for 6...

Good luck!

[Trex2001]

wow, Honki, that souns like a weird way to play it, here is how i do it:

E|---|---|---|---o
B|---|--P|---|---
G|---|-R-|---|---
D|---|M--|---|---
A|---|---|---|---o
E|---|---|---|---X

I find having the Pinky on the B String makes it easier to keep the high E open...

Cheers and happy playing

[Bigley]

I have been doing it the way trex does it.

pushing down harder does help but... I didn't think I had to push down that hard... it seems almost like a waste of energy. Like there should be a better way.

Plus my fingers are still sore. They did get better but I haven't stopped for the last few days...


Thanks guys I will try those methods and see which ones I like.
it is funny the guys on threedy answered faster than the guitar forum I am going to. lol


And I had on more question

my A string is vibrating weird... like it looks loose or something, though it is still in tune. Do you guys know what is wrong?

[Trex2001]

check the bridge, maybe something is loose there (depends on type of bridge and type of guitar, electric or acoustic) Especially on electric guitars where each string is held individually, this might happen if the part on the bridge is loose...happened to me once...

[Bigley]

Well I did "raise an action" like someone on the guitar forum said to do but when I retuned it... it went back to normal.

it is an electic fender squire strat btw :P

[bunglo]

Wow, it's been an EXTREMELY long time since I last posted here... Any ways, the A chord can be a bit tricky when you're first starting out, I use the same fingering as wintermute, but if you really want to, you can just barre the first four strings with your index finger since you're not actually going to be playing the high e string. And if you're not sure what "barre" means, you're simply fretting all of the notes with one finger. Here's a chord chart when barring the A chord.

E|---|-I-|---|---
B|---|-I-|---|---x
G|---|-I-|---|---x
D|---|-I-|---|---x
A|---|---|---|---x
E|---|---|---|---

And the correct term is "raising the action" The action is simply the hight of the strings from the fretboard. The higher the action is on your guitar, the farther away your strings are from the fretboard, making it hard to fret in general. You adjust the action by raising or lower the bridge on your guitar. Since there are two main types of bridges, fixed and tremolo, there are different ways of adjusting the bridge when it comes to setting up the action. There are multiple fixed bridge types but they all pretty much use the same principle for action adjustment (one string at a time). Now, when it comes to tremolo bridges, there are two main types, floating and none floating. Since you have a squire strat, you have a none floating tremolo which isn't as tedious as a floating trem when it comes to the set up. And on none floating trems, such as the one you have, you can adjust the action on each string. Take a look at the pic below pointing out certain pieces on the bridge, I'll explain how to adjust a string's action.



To adjust the action of a string, simply take a allen wrench of the correct size and use the "screw holes" located on the string's "saddle" to raise or lower the saddle. Be sure to have turn both of the screws in the saddle equally.

Now, seeing as you have a "Squire", you guitar isn't going to play that great to begin with, making it harder to fret certain chords and will most likely have some buzzing of the strings in a few places. You can try raising or lower the action of the string that's giving you some trouble and see if that helps and/ or use the "barring" method I spoke of earlier. If you do eventually get into playing enough and get a much better guitar, you'll find how much cleaner you'll sound on a better guitar.

[Bigley]

wow that is awesome!!!

Thanks for the help man and the labels and stuff! that was really helpful.
String works now :P

[bunglo]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah_Bigley

wow that is awesome!!!

Thanks for the help man and the labels and stuff! that was really helpful.
String works now :P

No problem, mate. Glade I could help