BC-005 • Five More Chords (Am, Em, Dm, G and C)

[justinguitar]

Questions...

[amymeilin]

Dm and D sound VERY alike... almost the same?

[WrexTheDragon]

Try playing     Am Dm Am D

[justinguitar]

well they are kinda similar - doesn't one sound happy - and one sound sad to you?

J

[Coxon]

I have made it through the chords lessons(strum, pick, strum ) ... i made all them including lesson of Am,G,C...but i have a big problem with changes between chords... kind of reeeeeeeally slow and then when i try do it faster i begin to buzz or mute strings

Any hint?

Editing

Ok I just found the one minute exercise... Im actually doing it

[Kyron]

Hi, I have a question about playing G chord.
I believe I read somewhere on this site that using fingers 2,3,4 for tab 3x0033 is used in a lot of rock like Guns N' roses etc.
since this is the sort of music I would mainly like to ultimately be able to play, should I learn and practice that version?
or should I do the standard one shown 320003.

Great site btw, really great lessons.

Thanks

[Yakow16]

Hi, I have a question about playing G chord.
I believe I read somewhere on this site that using fingers 2,3,4 for tab 3x0033 is used in a lot of rock like Guns N' roses etc.
since this is the sort of music I would mainly like to ultimately be able to play, should I learn and practice that version?
or should I do the standard one shown 320003.

Great site btw, really great lessons.

Thanks

I heard about the 320033 version, not about the one your talking about.But if you want to play it that way you should probably learn both ways. Because you wont be playing guns and roses all the time.

[Tourniquet]

3x0033 isn't a full G chord, GxDGDG.... The B note is being muted making it a G5 variant I guess.

As said, Learn 320003 and 320033 (3x0033 is easily played from there), they are both useful.

[Hos988]

I have been playing for about two months now, and just noticed some things while going over these old videos...

I've gotten in the habit of bringing my thumb over to mute 6th strings for chords like Am and C, and when I do this my palm is mostly touching the neck.  I'll often leave the thumb up there for chords like D and E also (but not touching the 6 string for E), just out of convenience.  Is this a bad habit I should stop, or is it acceptable?  I don't seem to notice any difference in sound, but in the video for D Justin says it is important not to have your palm touching the neck.  I also read an article here where the guy says bringing the thumb over is perfectly fine. 

Can someone clear up this confusion?

[PhillD]

Strictly speaking its ok as the notes are all there, but it makes life awkward and will slow you down in changing chords. Very useful for fast playing though as you don't always have time to pick and choose your strings and playing a 6th string on a D can sound awful.

Personally I don't do it because I like that natural gap - which makes sure I don't end up muting the top E string when I move or play. However some of the best players in the world suffer the flying thumb syndrome and they cope - so don't worry too much.

[ilovemusic]

about the thumb, its perfectly fine. In fact, my private teacher told me to do that(to stretch my thumb. it'll come in handy with some chords) while i was doing the basic chords. about the palm touching the neck, its fine too.

[RetZ]

I can’t for the life of me play G major comfortably.

My first attempt is to lay down the ring finger first, and then the index and middle fingers.



Looks okay, but sounds terrible. The problem is I can’t stretch the index and middle fingers far enough, so they mute the fifth and fourth strings:



So my second attempt is to place the index and middle fingers first, ensuring they don’t mute anything. To that end I’ll raise the hand slightly (compare with the previous pictures):



Now, however, I run into problems when laying down the ring finger:



As is more easily seen from the side, the ring finger isn’t able to press right down at the string. The tip of the nail reaches the fingerboard “first” and prevent the finger from pressing further. The nail is also too close to the second string, causing buzzing.

So here’s what I’ve ended up with thus far, which is both inconvenient and uncomfortable. I raise my hand even higher and bend the ring finger backwards, leaving a huge “gap” between it and the middle finger:



Obviously, this inhibits rapid chord changes. So what do I do?

Here’s a final picture of my left hand. Could there be something wrong with my relative finger lengths?

[Kyron]

Try to position your thumb behind the neck so it points upwards towards the sky. Also the palm of your hand shouldnt be touching the bottom of the neck.

Look at the pictures in Justin's lesson, and see how his hand doesn't tocuh the bottom of the neck, but comes round underneath it. http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-005-FiveMoreChords.php

This will bring your hand further forward and will make it easier to fret without unwillingly muting strings.
 

[RetZ]

Kyron: thanks for the reply. Do you mean something like this?



I still can’t get “clean sound” if I bend the middle finger. It “leans” too much forward and touches the second string, causing buzzing:



Again, I end up with a straight/slightly inverted middle finger:

[Kyron]

Not sure what else I can suggest, before trying stretch your fingers (http://www.justinguitar.com/en/TE-007-FingerStretch.php)
A little more flexibility might help you position them better.
And also make sure you aren't getting buzz due to not fretting hard enough / too far from the fret.

Otherwise just try to get a position that works for you, no matter how strange or uncomfortable it seems, eventually it will feel natural, comfortable, and easy.

Just strum, pick out the notes individually, and make any necessary corrections, and repeat until you get each string sounding clear.

Soon enough your hands will get used to it and you will be able to move to that position more easily.