Help with smooth transition from open A to D

[Deliberate1]

Friends, I would appreciate any suggestions as I try to improve the transition from open A to D. I find that, as I make the move, my ring finger tends to follow my middle finger (echoing the A fingering) and "falls" off the fret board . And I end up dong a two point landing - the index and middle finger at the same time, and then the ring finger in tow. This definitely slows the transition. I have tried slowing things waaaaay down. But mostly, that just seems to make the phenomenon more obvious and frustrating. I have tried having the finger follow the string down, but I do not want to develop a skidding habit. I also focus to keeping my hand more parallel to the fret board to keep the finger positioned over the string.
Thanks for any words of wisdom. Such a simple thing.....
David

[thechariot1x]

How are you fingering your A chord?

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by thechariot1x

How are you fingering your A chord?

Index - 4th string
Middle - 3rd string
Ring - 2nd string
All stacked on second fret.

[Riverwolf]

Check out https://www.justinguitar.com/

His beginner course covers this.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Check out https://www.justinguitar.com/

His beginner course covers this.

Thanks. Will check it out.

[DWKitt]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

Index - 4th string
Middle - 3rd string
Ring - 2nd string
All stacked on second fret.

Well, here's how I do it FWIW.

Index - 3rd string
Middle - 4th string
Ring - 2nd string

All on the 2nd fret of course.

In transitioning to the D chord, the index finger doesn't move, leave it be. The middle finger drops down to the 1st string 2nd fret and then the ring finger moves to the 2nd string 3rd fret. In this way you're only moving 2 fingers instead of three. Plus it's a little easier fitting all 3 of you fingers on the 2nd fret for the A chord.

When transitioning from the D back to A just move your middle and ring fingers to bracket the index finger which is still on the 3rd string and hasn't moved at all.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

Index - 4th string
Middle - 3rd string
Ring - 2nd string
All stacked on second fret.

Slide ring up 1 fret - don't take it off the string. Middle goes behind to 1st string, index to 3rd.

[rick-slo]

And you could half barre the D chord (index barre on strings 1-3 and middle finger on string 2.

Also try forming the chord shapes in the air. So for example fret the D chord. Then lift off the D chord 1" and then fret the chord again without looking. Cycle that. Then go for a two inch lift off cycle again without looking. If you can pre form chord shapes in the air it won't much matter what chord came before.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Also try forming the chord shapes in the air. So for example fret the D chord. Then lift off the D chord 1" and then fret the chord again without looking. Cycle that. Then go for a two inch lift off cycle again without looking. If you can pre form chord shapes in the air it won't much matter what chord came before.

Thanks. I do that exercise with mixed success. This afternoon, I did find that keeping my fingers closer to the fingerboard helped to keep the ring finger from wandering so much.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Slide ring up 1 fret - don't take it off the string. Middle goes behind to 1st string, index to 3rd.

As a matter of technique, or etiquette, is it considered bad form to slide the finger in that way? A crutch, if you will.

[DukeX]

I've always played:

Middle - 4th string
Ring - 3rd string
Pinky - 2nd string

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

As a matter of technique, or etiquette, is it considered bad form to slide the finger in that way? A crutch, if you will.

Not at all; on the contrary, that is a valuable technique in many applications.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

As a matter of technique, or etiquette, is it considered bad form to slide the finger in that way? A crutch, if you will.

Absolutely not . Economy of movement is the rule. Whatever gets the job done in the most efficient and ergonomic way. Silly to take your finger off a string if you don't need to.
It might depend on whether a slide is audible, and whether you like that sound or not. In any case, if that is a problem (I can't see how it would be) it's easy enough to release the pressure a little without taking your finger off the string.

Of course, one is not always to changing from one chord to the same next chord, which is why it's good to have different fingering options for each chord where possible. As I say, whatever gets the job done easiest.

In fact, all guitar technique - including the strictest classical technique - is designed for maximum efficiency. There's no sense in making things unnecessarily difficult.

[YamahaGuy]

I play my A with my index finger covering the 4th and 3rd string and my middle finger covering the 3rd and 2nd string. That way, my ring finger is already free to go right to the 3rd fret, second string and the index finger barely moves. While the middle and index only have to move over a little bit. Works well for me. I have only ever played my A that way -- or play a barre A at the 5th fret.

If you can get away with D5 instead of D, just use the 5th fret. Major barre shape is your A, while just playing the 5th, 4th and 3rd strings of the minor barre shape will give you D5.

[DenverSteve]

Just pick a chord shape/technique (like the one you're using) and practice, practice.... practice. Muscle memory comes from......you guessed it......practice.