BC-114 • Anchor Fingers for A, D and E

[justinguitar]

Lesson Link: http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-114-AnchorFingers.php

Questions...

[licksnkicks]

This was an awesome lesson!  I love the fact that this way is so much easier! I don't even have scramble to make the chord changes is just such a more logical way of doing things.  I'm off to see how many changes in a minute I can do and will record them so I can keep on challenging myself.  Thank you Justin for making my guitar practicing a lot more enjoyable and less complicated!!

Licksnkicks

[Bill_Evans]

Another good tip is to use your 3rd (ring) finger too as an 'anchor' when making the changes from D to A and back, although at the moment going from D to A like this is far easier for me than from A back to D. I'm still working on the most efficient way to make the changes D-A-E with the minimum of finger movement. And, when using the 1st finger as an 'anchor', I can only get the other two fingers down together when changing to E. It's still 2nd and 3rd fingers down separately mostly when I'm fingering the D and A chords. Any tips from anyone or is it just a matter of time before it all 'clicks' into place?

Keep on pickin' folks...

Bill

[licksnkicks]

What worked for me and my mindset was to move my second and third fingers as a unit.  They both lift at the same time and then are layed down on the appropriate fret.  That way I don't even have to think about the two fingers as they sort of become one if you know what I mean.  Especially going from and A to and E chord.

Licksnkicks

[justinguitar]

Another good tip is to use your 3rd (ring) finger too as an 'anchor' when making the changes from D to A and back, although at the moment going from D to A like this is far easier for me than from A back to D. I'm still working on the most efficient way to make the changes D-A-E with the minimum of finger movement. And, when using the 1st finger as an 'anchor', I can only get the other two fingers down together when changing to E. It's still 2nd and 3rd fingers down separately mostly when I'm fingering the D and A chords. Any tips from anyone or is it just a matter of time before it all 'clicks' into place?

We will be covering another trick later in the course - called "air changes". J

[heyjoe!!!]

hi grate lesson the only problem i had was when making some changes E back to D in particular i cant quite get my 2nd and 3rd finger down at the same time shud i just try harder or is thers any little tricks that may help?
   

[Kibuzo]

Hello.
Well this is my first post on this forum so a "thank you for the great work you are doing" is needed, as well as the congratulations for being so clear while explaining, it's almost a unique and precious quality you have.
Given that... i followed this course even if i'm not a complete newbie (i played for a couple of months a year ago and after that i stopped due to lack of time) and everything was okay. The part about anchoring fingers was clear too, but i used to do it another way i figured out by myself at the time when i started playing the same 3 exact chords. What i did is still to anchor the first finger but in a way that would have made me easier to pass from A to E. I played the A with 2nd 3rd 4th fingers in the second fret of the 3 playing strings AND the first one on the first fret, right on the back of the third one.
This seemed pretty useless but had 2 big advantages at the time
1) i could pass from A to E in an extremely easy way (actually easier than your way, for me)
2) i could have more space to let my fingers breath on the second fret. Yes i am one of the fat-fingered guys who have problems in keeping the 3 biggest fingers on the same fret: it's still doable but gives some problems.

Can i keep doing this way or is it something that later can turn out to be a prolem? (i can't even imagine how, but who knows? )
Thanks for the answer
Stefano.

p.s.: Oh yes and, by the way, English is not my native language, so if i made some mistakes or if you see some slip of the finger or what please feel free to ask what i wanted to say or to correct me so that i can improve ty.

[justinguitar]

@Kibuzo - Cheers dude. You do what you do best - I would try my way and see how it feels. But everyone is a little different so use what works for you. We'll be looking at another way to play A Chord later in the course that you will probably find easiest, using a mini-barre!

And btw - you English is probably better than mine!;)

[acurtis]

ya i did the d e and a chords with very minor problems and fixed them in about 30 seconds my problem is this stuff it takes me forever to set my fingers right and then i try and change and its again a minor problem such as in the a chord i mute the b string when i play the d chord i mute the e string any tips? or do i have to just keep practicing

[ImagineLED]

I'm having some problem with the A cord, the string with my second finger makes a buzz sound because it have it to much to the right. I don't know if it's because my fingers don't fit or I'm not pressing hard enough. I try to press as hard as I can but seems like my fingertips are not hard enough yet and the strings become one with my fingers

Btw this is my first post, I'd like to give you a big thank you JJustin, since I thought I was never gonna be able to play guitar since for economic reasons a teacher wasn't an option.

[ImagineLED]

Sorry I meant first, on the third string

[Kerstin]

Hey there
First I want to thank Justin for his great guitar website
But I have a really, really stupid question:
Justin has written: "You don't need to keep the pressure down, but leave it in contact with the string all the time."
When I change from E to A or from E to D I release the pressure on the G String because otherwise I would create an unwanted slide and I also think it's not necessary to keep the pressure down here.
But when I change from A to D I keep the pressure down, because my Anchor Finger stays in the same fret. Is this a mistake? I don't see any problems with this and I think it's even faster? There are more changes where the Anchor Finger can stay in the same fret (e.g. Dm to D, C to A) and I do the same here.
I only release the pressure when the Anchor Finger slides in another fret.
You see, it's a really stupid question and the answer may be obvious, but I don't want to practise something that's wrong.
Hope you could understand my bad English and my question

Kerstin

[BrenoAkiy]

is it ok to slide the 3rd finger between 2nd and 3rd fret or should I lift instead of sliding?
(A to D chord)

[irishalkies]

Both ways are absolutely fine. Practise both.

[Bootstrap]

Releasing pressure but staying in contact with the string enhances good placement on the next chord as you have a point of reference.

B