Bluegrass G

[rllink]

I've noticed that a lot of Bluegrassers are fretting both the high E string and the B string at the third fret when playing an open G chord. Some are using the pinkie and the ring finger to fret the strings, others are getting them both with the pinkie, leaving the ring finger to wander off and play other notes when they are flatpicking.

I've been doing it in the latter method, just holding both strings down with the pinkie and it is working. I'm even getting halfway good at it. But I don't really know why I'm playing the chord that way, I'm just doing what other people are doing. I wish that I had a better understanding of what I'm trying to accomplish when I do it.

[mr. beaumont]

It would seem to me that the way they'd be doing it is with the ring finger grabbing the 6th string, and the pinky up top, allowing the index and middle to add embellishments, no?

[Tnfiddler]

I started playing mine like Brian Sutton a couple of years ago, with the middle finger on the E while muting the A, ring finger on the B and pinkie on the E. That’s the ONLY way I think a bluegrass G sounds good to me now. I use my index finger for G-run hammer-ons and pull-offs. I use my pinkie and ring fingers for the 6 and 1 when I’m playing Contemporary Christian music and it does allow my middle and index fingers to add lots of embellishments and play chords like a Gsus with a better tone.

[Skarsaune]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

It would seem to me that the way they'd be doing it is with the ring finger grabbing the 6th string, and the pinky up top, allowing the index and middle to add embellishments, no?

If you can fret the 1st string and the 6th string between your ring and pinkie fingers, you sir have an impressive stretch.

That bluegrass chord is I believe a Gadd5 and makes a nice, different voicing. Very common in bluegrass as you've noted.

If you use your ring on the B string, it also makes a nice anchor/pivot for changing to D and Cadd9. IE, the ring stays put while your index and pinkie move around.

[rick-slo]

One example of use from one of my compositions:

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Misc/Happy2.wav
Tab of this recording below.

With pinky on the third fret first string and ring finger on the third fret second string.
Then on that G chord you have the ability to do pull-offs and hammers on the inner
strings using either the index or ring fingers. I use it here as a melody line.

[rule18]

I've been playing open G that way for a good few years now, I think it sounds more interesting. For me it's 3rd finger on 2 and 4th finger on 1. Agree that it's a good anchor for moving to other chords.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

If you can fret the 1st string and the 6th string between your ring and pinkie fingers, you sir have an impressive stretch.
.

Try it, I bet you can do it. It's very common--nothing superhuman.

A nice chord embellishment is to play the G this way-- just the two outside G's, not the D on the B string--

3x0003

And then use the index and middle fingers to get a kind of "suspended" sound by adding the E (6th) and the C (4th)

3x2013

[Tnfiddler]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Try it, I bet you can do it. It's very common--nothing superhuman.

A nice chord embellishment is to play the G this way-- just the two outside G's, not the D on the B string--

3x0003

And then use the index and middle fingers to get a kind of "suspended" sound by adding the E (6th) and the C (4th)

3x2013

Agree 100%! Very easy to play a G this way.

[Mandobart]

Ever since I started playing guitar in the 70's its ring finger on the G note on the low E, middle finger on the B note on the A string, pinkie on the G on the high E string and covering the D on the B string. The index is free to roam and do the first few notes of the G run.

I've worked hard over the years to develop independence between my fingers. It really helps being able to fret, hammer-on and pull-off with all fingers equally well

[Italuke]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

That bluegrass chord is I believe a Gadd5 and makes a nice, different voicing.

Hmm, I know what you mean but there's no such thing as a Gadd5. That's like saying "Gadd root," because the 5 is already a member of the foundational triad.

What this is as most people play it, muting the A string, is a G with no third. In the rock world it's called a power chord, although voicing may be different. A triad with no third can be heard as either major or minor, although I'd bet in bluegrass it's heard as major 99.9% of the time.

Now, that's what it is, but I too have often wondered why (mostly) the bluegrass world developed a preference for a G with no 3rd.

[Robin, Wales]

I'm sitting in bed reading this thread and can't, for the life of me, remember what fingers I use for the standard G chord or the bluegrass G chord. Yet I hammer both out every day. Hell, I rarely look at what my left hand is getting up to; it just does its stuff while I sing along.

[birdsong]

The short answer is the sound. That D note you are adding, and the B note you are eliminating, creates an added interval of a perfect 5th; a sound that many of us prefer especially in this instance (G being the tonic chord). For an answer that goes way deeper into the weeds, read on……. Ha ha.

I’ll start with the basics. The “folk” or standard G chord on the guitar is, low to high: GBDGBG. The G-B is an interval of a major 3rd. The G-D a perfect 5th.

While all this stuff below is "weedy" and theoretical, I think it can help understand the sound of music. And so I'm writing this with the conviction that even if you (they) know nothing of music theory, it applies and can help understand why someone plays what they do.

So with that I will say this: The interval of a perfect 5th is the most constant sounding interval to the human ear/mind, at least in Western music. (ignoring the Octave interval).

For many of us, the interval of a major 3rd can be a bit pesky, unrefined, out of tune. Indeed, that interval is fairly out of tune in equal temperament tuning (which is the type of tuning we use): the tempered major third is a long way from a “perfect” interval (e.g. the perfect 5th)– it is almost 1/6 of a semitone beyond.

So, in your standard G, you have not one but two instances of the major 3rd.
The G chord you are now playing is often done not just by adding that D note, but also deadening the B note (2nd fret, A string). This yields a full G5 (as noted earlier, it’s not really a Gadd5; in simplest terms, to add a note to a chord leaves the other intervals in place; but in our G chord case, we are eliminating the 3rd). Again, sorry to get so far into the weeds...... but......

Now, what I play is GxDGDG. All intervals of a perfect 5th – a most glorious sound to my ears. [I use my ring finger for the D note on the b string]

I will assume you are referring to a song in the key or key "shape" of G (so G is the tonic chord). For myself, and many of my bluegrass colleagues, we prefer the “power chord” sound of the G5, especially when it is the tonic. I’m sure for some players, the physical aspects are the reason (ability to use other fingers on other notes). Of course, as already noted, some like the sound of a standard G. I don't dislike it....... but......

.... for me, I often prefer the “cleaner” sound of a x5 chord, and the “drive” it creates. I don’t hear that with chords that contain a major 3rd. I still use plenty of major 3rd’s when I play but there are times, like in a driving bluegrass song/fiddle tune, where I prefer the x5 (again when it’s the tonic chord).

I generally play the 3rd’s for the chords built on the other scale tones (so for the C/D chords of a song in G, I play them straight). And I will keep the major 3rd in the tonic chord on many “folk” tunes. It just depends on the song, the melody, the “feel” of it, and then how I react to the sound of those major 3rd’s. In the end, I encourage you to listen close to each type as you play them, and see how you “feel” about those sounds. What do your ears tell you?

[Mr. Jelly]

Being a flatpicker/fingerpicker I finger the same chords differently depending on where I came from and where I am going. Often, I only use partial chords and double stops. And then there is the sound consideration as to what may work best in the situation. Like playing a passing F chord. Why? Just use a note, partial chord or double stop. Music is fluid so let it flow.

[rllink]

I had to read trough your explanation several times and I had just barely enough music knowledge to see it the third time through. So now I have a lot more knowledge than before and I thank you for taking the time to do that. My fingers are happy to know why they are going where I'm sending them and so am I.

[rllink]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Being a flatpicker/fingerpicker I finger the same chords differently depending on where I came from and where I am going. Often, I only use partial chords and double stops. And then there is the sound consideration as to what may work best in the situation. Like playing a passing F chord. Why? Just use a note, partial chord or double stop. Music is fluid so let it flow.

I'm just starting to realize that.