G to Gmaj7 or G9

[motojunky]

Hello AGFers,

I'm a beginner player. I'm currently enjoying playing along with songs to help work on getting my strumming sorted out. As I'm adding songs, I'm running across new chord progressions. Last night I decided to try "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles. The song contains a G-->Gmaj7-->C progression that I can do OK, but it just doesn't feel ideal.

I generally play my G with my pinkie on the high E string at the 3rd fret, middle finger on the low E at the third fret, and index on the 2nd fret of the A string. I alternately play it with the pinkie on the high E and middle finger on the low E muting the A string so that I have my index finger free for a hammer on.

I'm finding that I can play my G the 2nd way indicated above and use my index for the high E at the 2nd fret for the Gmaj7. It works OK, but just doesn't feel "right." I'm also not getting the B note (A string, 2nd fret) when I play the Gmaj7 this way. Can anyone suggest another fingering that works for you when changing from a G to a Gmaj7?

I do the G-->G9 progression with the same fingers and it's a little bit more of a stretch. I'm again muting the A string when I may not want to.

Thanks for any input!

[mr. beaumont]

I think unless it's picked out specifically as part of a pattern or riff, the A string can always be left out of any "G" type cowboy chord.

Pinky/Middle seems odd for a two finger G. You might want to train your hands to do pinky/ring, or ring/middle for that G--Gmaj7 move (I haven't played this song in ages, but that's how I'd do it, and definitely no A string note...)

[Bingoccc]

I often think G sounds better with that 5th string B left out. If your hands are large enough, try using a thumb wrap. Your thumb on the 6th string with the tip muting the A string. Grab the 1st string with your first finger on the 2nd fret and the middle finger on the 3rd fret. That will give you a G chord. You just have to lift the middle finger and you have your G maj 7th.

[stanron]

You might want to try

3 X 0 0 0 3 as suggested above or 3 2 0 0 0 3

then

X 2 0 0 0 2 which is Gmaj7/B (or G maj7 with B in the bass) and leads nicely into

X 3 2 0 1 0

[motojunky]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I think unless it's picked out specifically as part of a pattern or riff, the A string can always be left out of any "G" type cowboy chord.

Pinky/Middle seems odd for a two finger G. You might want to train your hands to do pinky/ring, or ring/middle for that G--Gmaj7 move (I haven't played this song in ages, but that's how I'd do it, and definitely no A string note...)

It certainly sounds fine to me without the A string, but I'll be the first to admit that my ear is not very refined.

I first learned the G chord with the pinkie on the high E, ring on the B, middle on the low E, and index on the A string. It seemed natural to just lift the ring when I realized that I didn't always want the B string (d note) in my G. It feels natural again to just mute A with the middle and lift the index when I need it to hammer. I think I'd like to work on doing pinkie on high E and ring on low E so I have middle and index free for other things.

Thanks

[motojunky]

Originally Posted by Bingoccc

I often think G sounds better with that 5th string B left out. If your hands are large enough, try using a thumb wrap. Your thumb on the 6th string with the tip muting the A string. Grab the 1st string with your first finger on the 2nd fret and the middle finger on the 3rd fret. That will give you a G chord. You just have to lift the middle finger and you have your G maj 7th.

That's interesting - I'll give that a try. I don't do much with my thumb other than cheat and mute the low E when playing a C chord when my strumming gets sloppy (a lot). I have used it for an F# note over a D chord (don't know what that's called) though I don't recall what song that was for.

Thanks,

[Bern]

Yeah, the middle finger on the low E at the third fret is not very versatile. It's mostly used for doubling up the D on the B string with your ring finger. Although, if you could play the G on the high E/3rd fret with your ring finger you could get the F# for the Maj.7 on the 4th fret on the D string with your pinky. There are so many ways to play G to Gmaj7.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by motojunky

That's interesting - I'll give that a try. I don't do much with my thumb other than cheat and mute the low E when playing a C chord when my strumming gets sloppy (a lot). I have used it for an F# note over a D chord (don't know what that's called) though I don't recall what song that was for.

Thanks,

That ain't cheating, that's using what's available.

[nhsdpl]

Originally Posted by stanron

You might want to try

3 X 0 0 0 3 as suggested above or 3 2 0 0 0 3

then

X 2 0 0 0 2 which is Gmaj7/B (or G maj7 with B in the bass) and leads nicely into

X 3 2 0 1 0

I was going to suggest this too.


Cheers.

[motojunky]

Thanks for all of the replies. I had fun tonight trying out the suggestions.

[footbeat]

For G to Gmaj7, I would start playing the G using the grand barre on the third fret. To transition I would lift the barre leaving the tip of my index finger on the low E string. I would rotate my hand counter clockwise (looking at my hand from the front of the guitar as if you were watching me play it) to move the other three fingers up a string and down a fret. My index finger would mute the A string and I wouldn't hit the high E.

For G to G9, I would again start with the grand barre on the third fret. To transition, I would move the pinky from the G on the 5th fret up to the A on the high E string.

This minimizes the motion involved. But if you want open strings, you won't find any there.

[Laird_Williams]

A tip as regards the G - Gmaj7 - C change. You can certainly use barre chords for this at the 3rd fret.
You can also play with open (root position) chords by altering the fingering of the G chord a bit...

Try fingering it like an extended "C". Use you ring finger for the 3rd fret-6th string, and your middle for the 2nd fret-5th string. This is a common fingering to use when moving back and forth between G and C, since the fingering on the 6th and 5th strings for the G is "parallel" to the fingering of the 5th and 4th strings on the C.
Then you can use your pinky at the 3rd fret-1st string for the G chord and your index finger at the 2nd fret-1st string of the Gmaj7 chord.
The cool thing about playing it this way is you just sort of "compress" that shape and shift the index finger to finish on the C chord.

...and just to be pedantic - some of you folks should realize that you are misnaming the "G9" chord.

An x9 chord is an x7 chord with the 2nd (9th) added. It has a dominant sound.
G7 = G, B, D, F
G9 = G, B, D, F, A

Adding an "A" to a G chord is called an "add9" chord, not a "9" chord. As in, "take a G triad and add the 9th".

G = G, B, D.
Gadd9 = G, B, D, A (no F!!!)

A major add 9 chord has a really mellow, extra peaceful major sound - and is nothing like a dominant-sounding 9 chord.

Just to complete the 9-ish chords...there is another that gets confused with the add9 all the time, which is the sus2.

A Gadd9 is a major chord with the 9 added. It SOUNDS major.
A Gsus2 substitutes the major 2nd for the 3rd. Since it is the 3rd of a chord that makes it major or minor, this chord is neither. It is "suspended" - hence the sus. In contact, it tends to sound, well, ambiguous - which is what it is supposed to be.

Gadd9 = G, B, D, A
Gsus2 = G, D, A

You can really hear the difference by playing them in succession. Here are a couple of simpler, open-position voicings...

Gadd9 - 3 0 0 2 3 3
Gsus2 - 3 0 0 2 0 3
G9 - 3 x 0 2 0 1

Again
- G9 functions as a dominant chord in the same way that a G7 does
- Gadd9 functions as a major chord in the same way that G and Gmaj7 do
- Gsus2 is ambiguous

[rick-slo]

On the G chord the B note (second fret fifth string) is not play in the guitar part of "Lyin' Eyes", so as others have said, leave it out.

[johnd]

How would playing the F# on the low E sound? Technically this would be G/F# rather than Gmaj7 but how would it sound (no guitar handy)?

[Laird_Williams]

Originally Posted by johnd

How would playing the F# on the low E sound? Technically this would be G/F# rather than Gmaj7 but how would it sound (no guitar handy)?

Technically, it would be Gmaj7/F#, a 3rd inversion. 3rd inversions tend to sound odd, unless the bass note happens to fit nicely as a passing tone in a chromatic or melodic baseline, in which case a 3rd inversion can sound GREAT. ;-)