An "A" shape barre chords

[Black-n-Nan]

How do you manage to play them? With three fingers or just ring finger (or pinky)? I can play with ring finger, but in this case high e string is muted.

[srbell]

I usually just use the index and ring fingers for the major (muting the 1 string), and all fingers for the minor and various 7ths, which allows me to include the 1 string.

[Black-n-Nan]

Originally Posted by srbell

I usually just use the index and ring fingers for the major (muting the 1 string), and all fingers for the minor and various 7ths, which allows me to include the 1 string.

Yes, I mean major chords.
But sometimes I nee high "e" to ring. Is it a way to bend ring finger on such a way? I can't

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

Yes, I mean major chords.
But sometimes I nee high "e" to ring. Is it a way to bend ring finger on such a way? I can't

With an A shape barr chord if you include the first string with your ring finger (barring strings 4, 3, 2, and 1 with your ring finger and first finger on 5th string-root) that is a "sixth chord." That is not a major triad.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Bill Sims

With an A shape barr chord if you include the first string with your ring finger (barring strings 4, 3, 2, and 1 with your ring finger and first finger on 5th string-root) that is a "sixth chord." That is not a major triad.

I don’t think that is what the OP is talking about. He’s barring 4, 3, and 2 with his ring finger. 1 is barred with index but basically winds up muted.

[srbell]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

Yes, I mean major chords.

But sometimes I nee high "e" to ring. Is it a way to bend ring finger on such a way? I can't

While I can get the high E to ring out, its not comfortable so I usually dont do it. If I really need it I'll either use all fingers, or more often use a different voicing/shape.

[MikeBmusic]

Sometimes ring finger, sometimes ring and middle finger, sometimes just middle finger. More often - cheater style= thumb wrap for E and A strings and lazy ring finger , with high E muted.

[rick-slo]

I can have the E string ring clearly with a ring finger barre but it's more difficult to pull off than a index finger barre.
What piece of music are you playing that requires using a ring finger barre?

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

How do you manage to play them? With three fingers or just ring finger (or pinky)? I can play with ring finger, but in this case high e string is muted.

Muting the high E is OK, the chord is complete without it. (It's the 5th of the chord, and you have another 5th on the D string.)

Of course there may be times when you need to hear that 1st string. I have a couple of fingerings I use:

E index
B pinky
G ring
D middle
A index
E index (or just touch with tip of index to mute it)

This one may be easier if you have thick fingers:

E index
B pinky
G middle
D ring
A index
E index

... but then if you have thick enough fingers, you can get two of those middle strings down with one finger (any finger, any pair of strings you like).

Here's a slightly screwy one you might like to try (avoiding the need for an index barre):

E middle
B pinky
G ring
D ring
A index
E (mute with thumb)

This helps the ring finger avoid the 1st string, because you can bend up before there.

[Black-n-Nan]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

I can have the E string ring clearly with a ring finger barre but it's more difficult to pull off than a index finger barre.
What piece of music are you playing that requires using a ring finger barre?

Here, There and Everywhere. Fingerstyle version by “Shut up and Play”. There is Bb and F on the first string also needs to
be played.

[jim1960]

I can't get the e string to ring with any regularity with the two finger bar, but I can if I do an index finger bar, use my ring finger to cover both the D and G strings, and my pinky to cover the B string.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

How do you manage to play them? With three fingers or just ring finger (or pinky)? I can play with ring finger, but in this case high e string is muted.

Hi B-n-N

Sometimes I abbreviate the A-shape-barre to only 4 strings (strings 2-3-4-5). When playing an A shaped major chord using a barre, the root is usually on string 5.

It's not that I can't play a full 6 string version, but to me the full-barre E-shaped major chord is boring if repeated too often. I actually used to teach students about 6 inversions of each chord (including barres) to play with greater variety.

I play the root on string 5 (with index) I play the chord on strings 2-3-4 with the ring finger.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

Here, There and Everywhere. Fingerstyle version by “Shut up and Play”. There is Bb and F on the first string also needs to
be played.

You mean the 2nd bar of the intro? I have my own fingerstyle version of that tune, and I'd use the traditional fingering:

-1- index
-3- pinky
-3- ring
-3- middle
-1- index.
---

However, the same arpeggio can be played up on 6th position, with a melody line as follows:

Bb                 Am7       D....
------------------|-------------
---------6--------|-------------
-------7----8--7--|-7-----------
-----8------------|-----5----0--
---8--------------|---7---7-----
-6----------------|-5-----------

There is another Bb at the beginning of the bridge, which works better at 1st fret, but (in my arrangement) it doesn't need the full chord.

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan

How do you manage to play them? With three fingers or just ring finger (or pinky)? I can play with ring finger, but in this case high e string is muted.

I normally use my pinky--it bends easier than my ring finger, which tends to mute the high E string. My teacher frowns on this as the pinky isn't available to fret other strings......

[DukeX]

I've always played open A:
Middle - 4th string
Ring - 3rd string
Pinky - 2nd string

So it's easy for me for me to barre with my index as I slide up the neck.

That said, I usually just use the index and pinky. Sometimes I mute the high E, sometimes I let it ring out, depending on how it fits the music.