Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey there gang. Just thought I'd try to find out how everybody plays their G, A, and E chords.

In Roger McGuinn's Homespun 12-string video, he shows how he plays E and A chords with two fingers instead of three, since those RIC fretboards are so narrow. (He doubles up on adjacent fingers.)

I am also curious to hear opinions on the classic open G chord. Do you play the A string on the second fret, or mute it? And why?

Jason, I tend to play the A string (B) if the chord is arppegiated and mute it during strummed parts.

It also depends on whether I'm letting the high B ring out or grabbing the D...

I play E chords with 3 fingers - middle on the A string, ring on the D string, index on the G.

A is middle finger on D string, ring finger on G string, pinky on B string.

For G, I tend to switch it up depending on how fast I need to switch to it, or what other chords i'm playing. I play the roots with either my ring finger or my middle finger. And I always mute the A - why I started doing it, I don't have a clue.

I thought you were talking about something else, nevermind!

G and E chords I play with three, but the A chord is with two fingers.

I'll just answer the G question since I don't have a small fretboard. I rarely mute the A string because it provides that nice low-end major third to warm up the G chord. It needs to be there if you raise the B string to the third fret, or else you no longer have a triad chord (which also sounds cool, of course). But I think most people mute that A string because they learned the chord that way, usually from some whacky chord guide or a misinterpreted song tabulature, and it evolved into habit. Some people tell me they get to the chord faster that way, but when I challenge them to a showdown, they all flee in shame and humiliation.

E is either 2, 3 and 1 on A, D and G strings respectively or 4, 5 and 3 - depending on whether I'm going up the fretboard to a barre chord or not. In that case the latter applies.

Em is often 1 and 2 on A and D so that I can use 4 and the 'pinky' for Em7 and other variations.

A is either 2 bridged across D and G and 3 on B unless I'm going be playing a sus2, in which case it's 3, 4 and 5 on D, G and B.

G is always 2, 1 and 4 on E, A and E. I do this so that I can add 4 on B for that extra 'clang'.

I use three fingers for those chords, except for muting the 5th string in the G chord for Tequila Sunrise.

I use 2 on E's and A's and assorted other chords on my strat, 650, & Casino, 3 on G's and C's. On my 660/12 I'll try to get 3 on all of the above.

Interesting, JJ. The 650 should have a wide neck, right? I'm surprised you are using different fingerings on a 650 and 660/12. Or is it a 6-str/12-str thing?

Yeah, the 650 I can still finger in my customary bad habit way. I need to position properly on the 12 to clearly get the full effect.

Isn't using one finger to cover two strings fairly common and has nothing to do with the size of fretboard. After all, a regular F chord (in first position) requires a "mini barre" with the index covering the high E and B strings, right?

Jorma (with his large strong fingers) often covers two strings with one finger. Gives him more fingers left over to play something else. (I'm not joking.)

One other thing about Roger you'll see in the video - he usually plays the G, the "folksinger's way" with ring and pinkie holding down the G note on the two E strings. This position (if one can do it - I can't) makes it easier to transition to the C chord (the IV in the key of G).

As far as how I play the A and G -
I can't easily squeeze three fingers so close together so I lay my index or middle across all three strings at a 45 degree angle and make sure I mute the high E (not always successfully).
On the G, I mute the A string by accident because that's just how I play.
Also, it leaves the finger available to go up and down on the 2nd fret of the D string for a nice blues boogie beat.

I'm using my fingertip to barre the two strings, i.e., the b&e in a cowboy position "E".

fingers, strings, cowboy position.


What have I stepped into?

I play the G chord with 2nd (second string B), 3rd (first string G)and 4th fingers (sixth string G) and an A chord with the 1st finger barring the highest four strings and 4th on 5th fret e string.

If I need to do some A - Am or A -A7 then I use fingers 2 thru 4 instead.