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Thread: A / Am / A7 chords?

  1. #1
    Registered User belbein's Avatar
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    Default A / Am / A7 chords?

    Killing myself (on CGDA tuned tenor) over that 4 2 2 4 form and its permutations. [Whining] Isn't there something else in 1st or second position? [More whining] Its too haaaaard!
    belbein

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  2. #2
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Only use 3 notes. That’s easier.
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    40bpm 

  4. #3

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Play A 1,2,2,0
    Am 0,2,2,0
    A7 1,0,2,0

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    40bpm 

  6. #4

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Download Guitar Toolkit. Its an app that has many features but the one I use the most is the chord one. You can change the tuning to different instruments or even a custom tuning. Then use the chord finder where you can select chords and it will show them in all the positions along with the scales if you’d like, or you can indicate notes on the neck and it will tell you what the chord could be. Ive had it for many years now and its the single most useful app I have.
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  7. #5

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    belbein, I tend to favor using the fewest fingers possible for a given chord on mandola, mandolin and 5-course fifths-tuned cittern.

    For CGDA, my A major will often be 4224, with the "22" being an index-finger barre, and the outer strings fretted at the fourth fret being the middle finger on the lowest course, and the ring on the highest. The A minor chord of 4223 will reverse the middle and ring fingers. The seventh will still be barred, because trying to aim for just one strings is wasted effort; the pinky will press the D course at the fifth fret.

    Another set of A chords would be A 4677, Am 4577, A7 7677 and Am7 7577. Each chord only uses three fingers, with the two highest courses being barred.

    Call me lazy if you wish, but using barre chords like this means that the strings being fretted on the lowest frets don't have to be as precisely placed regarding avoiding string contact on adjacent strings. The adjacent courses being fretted on the higher frets make the contact irrelevant.

    Good luck!

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  9. #6

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Quote Originally Posted by bigskygirl View Post
    Download Guitar Toolkit. ...
    Are there any Android or Windows or Linux or Mac desktop versions of that particular app?

  10. #7
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Quote Originally Posted by JL277z View Post
    Are there any Android or Windows or Linux or Mac desktop versions of that particular app?
    I just downloaded this on my Android phone. It looks really cool.

  11. #8

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Guitar Toolkit
    Quote Originally Posted by Sherry Cadenhead View Post
    I just downloaded this on my Android phone. It looks really cool.
    Huh... can't find it on Google Play. There are some similarly-named things though. Maybe I just missed it. Oh well.

    I was just hoping for a little improvement on my existing Android chord app, although I seldom actually use it the last couple years because, among other things, it's missing some chords I need, such as "6sus".

    Lately I have to super-simplify many of my chords anyway, due to increasing arthritis. More open strings. (I don't play any genres that require 'chop' chords, so open strings aren't a problem.)

    Often I just start from scratch, by scribbling down a scale on whatever scrap piece of paper is handy (or trying to visualize the appropriate scale on a piano keyboard which always makes things easier), and then figuring out what notes to use for the chord. Sometimes that's faster than looking up an 'official' chord and then trying to figure out how to simplify it for arthritic fingers. In any case, it's a compromise deciding which notes to leave out, say in the case of a "9" chord, evidently what makes it different than a regular major chord, is the 9th and the flatted 7th (did I get that right?), so ideally *both* those notes would be included in my simplified chord diagram. But other notes seem more expendable, such as the root because one of the other instruments (guitar or bass etc) probably is already playing the root.
    Last edited by Jess L.; Jun-02-2020 at 4:23pm. Reason: Trying to fix double-post.

  12. #9

    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Quote Originally Posted by Explorer View Post
    ... I tend to favor using the fewest fingers possible ...
    Same here. I don't have a whole lot of choice, as arthritis reduces my options. Although I go for more open strings rather than barres.


    Quote Originally Posted by Explorer View Post
    ... For CGDA, my A major will often be 4224, with the "22" being an index-finger barre, and the outer strings fretted at the fourth fret being the middle finger on the lowest course, and the ring on the highest. The A minor chord of 4223 will reverse the middle and ring fingers. The seventh will still be barred, because trying to aim for just one strings is wasted effort; the pinky will press the D course at the fifth fret.

    Another set of A chords would be A 4677, Am 4577, A7 7677 and Am7 7577. Each chord only uses three fingers, with the two highest courses being barred.

    Call me lazy if you wish, but using barre chords like this means that the strings being fretted on the lowest frets don't have to be as precisely placed regarding avoiding string contact on adjacent strings. The adjacent courses being fretted on the higher frets make the contact irrelevant.
    I call that efficient, *not* lazy. Efficiency is good - lets you do more (and faster, if desired) with less effort.

  13. #10
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    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    A lot of the time I will work out my own charts to get efficient fingerings. My first lessons, years ago, were with Peter Ostroushko.....he really emphasized bass line chromatics. That lead to my learning a lot of inversions. One of the things I lean on for pivots are three fingered 765 for A7, 654 for D7, 543 for G7, 432 for C7, 321 for F7 and B7, 210 for E7 and Bb7. Then fill in if the song needs more. (in CGDA). No it isn't perfect...but it works for me.

  14. #11
    Oval holes are cool David Lewis's Avatar
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    Default Re: A / Am / A7 chords?

    Am and A major can be played the same way. Just hold down the G and the D string at the second fret. As there’s no third (either major or minor) it will fit in both. If you lift your top finger (the second fret on the g string) you have an A7). Or you could put your pinky on the third fret if the E string. Or both.

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