Different ways to play the open G chord

[Tahitijack]

I always try to play a Gmajor7 chord. Sounds more interesting to me.

[tbirdman]

I've been playing around 2 years. Trying to play a G chord is tough if you different hand sizes. I've been struggling for a year trying to learn Freight Train from Mark Hanson's book Travis Picking. The tough thing is using the pinky to play the melody when you are fingering both the G chord and the C chord. I still struggle with some the strings being muted as when I use the pinky finger especially for fingering the high E string. The other fingers have a tendency to roll down muting the adjacent strings.

Everyday I try to play this song a few minutes each day that maybe someday I will master it.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I've been playing around 2 years. Trying to play a G chord is tough if you different hand sizes. I've been struggling for a year trying to learn Freight Train from Mark Hanson's book Travis Picking. The tough thing is using the pinky to play the melody when you are fingering both the G chord and the C chord. I still struggle with some the strings being muted as when I use the pinky finger especially for fingering the high E string. The other fingers have a tendency to roll down muting the adjacent strings.

Everyday I try to play this song a few minutes each day that maybe someday I will master it.

Yeah, can be a bit of an issue depending on your hand size and pinky reach. Usually a bit of warm up handles it.

[TimberII]

Pinky here
TimberII

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

I always try to play a Gmajor7 chord. Sounds more interesting to me.

Hopefully not in the key of C!

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by JonPR

I always used to play G like this:

Here's one I learned from Bert Jansch:

x
3 ring
0
0
x
3 middle

It opens up a nice 2h4p2p0 embellishment on the 3rd string (Gadd9), using index and pinky; and similar twiddly stuff on the 4th string.

Nice one , it's also easy enough to start a phrase with 4th finger on 3rd fret 1st string then pull of to high E play the D under the 3rd finger and follow through with the hammers and pull ofs on the third.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Nice one , it's also easy enough to start a phrase with 4th finger on 3rd fret 1st string then pull of to high E play the D under the 3rd finger and follow through with the hammers and pull ofs on the third.

Jon's fingering example is like the fingering I use in my tune "Happy" with pull-offs used on strings two, three, and four.

[raysachs]

I usually play it with the ring finger on the high E. I learned that way 45 years ago and I can fly in and out of that position regardless of what chord I’m coming from or headed to next, even an open C chord. I play the Stones “Sweet Black Angel”, which includes a basically instantaneous D-C-G many times throughout the song and I can make that very quick move in and out of the G basically instantly, much faster than using the pinky. I use the pinky version only when the song calls for a quick transition between G and G7, or if it’s got a G4, which is rare, but comes up on occasion. I like both but using the ring finger is where my fastest muscle memory developed…

-Ray

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

I always try to play a Gmajor7 chord. Sounds more interesting to me.

Yeah, if you are strictly in the key of C, it would certainly sound "interesting".

For those not aware, Gmaj7 adds an F# note which will NOT sound correct in many settings which call for the G triad.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by janinep7

Just a casual survey... how many of you play the open G chord with your pinky on the high E string vs. the ring finger? I keep practicing with my pinky, but it wants to fold in on itself and it's not stable. I tried taping the first joint with some white first aid tape, but then it was too rigid.

Am I really going to have so many problems down the road if I don't learn the open G with pinky? I can play the alternate fingerings for other chords using my pinky but it must be something about the stretch between the top and the bottom of the fretboard that's not working for the little finger of my left hand.

Just for the sake of comparison, I flipped my guitar upside down so it was in L-hand playing position. Same issue if I fret and open G with my right hand.

This is something that resolves itself over time as your playing style develops.

I play the open G most of the time with the ring finger, but also quite a bit using pinky on first string third fret with ring finger on second string third fret. This makes for a fuller sounding G chord. I actually refer to it as "full G".

The "standard" three finger G chord leaves the pinky available for higher notes or for playing higher notes when quick shifts to another chord form will follow.

It's good to simply strum and alternate between playing "standard" G and "full" G. You'll quickly develop the muscle memory and ear to select between the two forms at will and as needed.

In many other tasks that we routinely perform the pinky is used less often than other fingers, so it's totally natural for it to feel odd or uncomfortable when incorporating it into guitar playing. Many players go their whole life without using it, but it's a valuable asset if you use styles of playing that use melodic note playing in conjunction with playing chordal accompaniment.

In other words, do what's comfortable, and cross the pinky use bridge when you come to it.

[tbirdman]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Yeah, can be a bit of an issue depending on your hand size and pinky reach. Usually a bit of warm up handles it.

I've tried warmups and stretching to no avail. I still need to get a better sound by fixing the fingers rolling issue. The good news is I have better control over the pinky since when I started to play 2 years ok.

[Sadie-f]

Originally Posted by janinep7

Just a casual survey... how many of you play the open G chord with your pinky on the high E string vs. the ring finger? I keep practicing with my pinky, but it wants to fold in on itself and it's not stable. I tried taping the first joint with some white first aid tape, but then it was too rigid.

Am I really going to have so many problems down the road if I don't learn the open G with pinky? I can play the alternate fingerings for other chords using my pinky but it must be something about the stretch between the top and the bottom of the fretboard that's not working for the little finger of my left hand.

Just for the sake of comparison, I flipped my guitar upside down so it was in L-hand playing position. Same issue if I fret and open G with my right hand.

I use 3 versions of G, the folk four finger flavor, I'll use 4th on e + 2nd/3rd on A/E, least often, and 3 on e + 1/2 is my go-to, I find it plenty fast for most chord changes, and more than adequate for playing runs (+ easy shift to the folk G).

The one place where so far the 4/2/3 stance is difficult is how my Strat is currently setup with a wide-spaced nut that leaves that pinky on g4 more likely to slip off. I'm probably going to make the final version of that nut have a bit more space below and above E, e.

Anyway, no shade on how anyone prefers to make a given chord, I make A with 1,2, I could probably make 2,3,4 work however what I got now works fine, so I'm not 'fixing' it ;-).

[Andyrondack]

For Travis alternating bass type picking a really useful G chord I find is 7XOOO7 and 7X00010 , combined with G at the 3rd fret it's easy to play melodies on the G chord almost the length of the fretboard.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

For Travis alternating bass type picking a really useful G chord I find is 7XOOO7 and 7X00010 , combined with G at the 3rd fret it's easy to play melodies on the G chord almost the length of the fretboard.

That first one is demonstrated by Mississippi John Hurt here:



0:55

[fpuhan]

When I first taught myself guitar, I learned the open G chord as using my third, fourth and fifth fingers, which left my index finger free to move to the next chord I'd be playing. I still play that to this day.

The downside I've found, is that I find it difficult to play a G using four fingers (pressing the B string on the third fret to make a D). My fourth and fifth fingers tend to get tangled a lot then.