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THE "A" CHORD
When we begin playing the guitar we are all eager to be able to play a song that everyone knows as soon as possible, however, one of the beginners chords that gives people the most trouble is the A chord, in fact some people find it so awkward that they find it hard to believe that it is a beginners chord.
Just in case you can’t remember or haven’t come across the A chord yet it is formed by holding down the D, G & B (2nd, 3rd & 4th) string at the second fret.
What is it that causes this problem? It cannot be because we have to press three fingers down to form the chord, after all there are several other beginners chords with three fingers used in them that give us nowhere near the amount of trouble as an A chord so the only thing it can be is that all three fingers are close together, all on adjacent strings, all at the same fret and if you are someone with larger fingers you will find the A chord even more difficult.
THREE TIPS
1) Try using your first finger to hold down the forth and third strings together, bend the finger at the first knuckle to bring the rest of the finger away from the second and first strings, then place your second finger on the second string, this may help as you only have two fingers forming the chord instead of three.
2) Try using just your first finger to hold down all three strings. By using this method you will see that the tip of your finger will not be used, you are in effect creating a "BAR". The problem with using this method is that your first finger cannot help but fret the first string at the second fret which of course we don’t want. A way around this is to play down as far as the second string and then try to quickly arch your plectrum outwards away from yourself so you can avoid playing the first string. This is considered very awkward for quite a while but as with all things to do with guitar playing, the more you practice it the more success you will have until the day will arrive that not only can you play it without catching the first string with your plectrum you will, dare I say it, find it easy.
3) Tip three is classed as a very advanced method but the sooner you start trying this one out the sooner you will be able to play it. I would suggest you just try to form this shape just two or three times in each practice session. To begin with you will hear nothing but a muffled muted sound but don’t worry about that because even if the chord doesn’t sound clear you are still making progress because you are making the muscles that are needed to form this chord stronger and stronger with each attempt. The shape is as follows;
Place your first finger across all three strings (just the same as in tip 2) but this time it doesn’t matter if the finger is touching the first string because we now stretch our forth finger (pinky) all the way up to the fifth fret on the first string, to begin with this shape will seem totally impossible but with regular practice you will improve. One final word on this, the shape is still called A as the note on the first string at the fifth fret is an A note.
Happy practicing. |
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