Thumb-Over Minor Chords?

How would you all play a thumb-over-the-neck minor chord (root on the low E strong)? The only way I can think of is thumb for the low root (obviously), ring finger for the root octave (on the D string) and index for the top 3 strings. The index finger is what gets me. It's hard for me to do, so I just mute either the G or high E string (and that's on a good day when I can do even that much).

Anyone else have another way of fingering this type of chord?

sounds like you need some practice with a half-barre - try playing just the top 4 strings and work on getting that index finger clean. When you've got that sorted then try adding the low root.


Ted

Yeah, that does help, thanks.

Do you find that when you play this kind of voicing, your palm really presses agains the back of the neck, more so than with major thumb-over chords?

Edit: Never mind, I've got it now. The reason the palm thing was new to me was because I was used to doing major thumb-over chords with the thumb on the 6th string, and ring, middle and index on the 4th, 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Now I tried the same thing, but with the index barring against the top 3 strings, making it easier to include the 1st string. This make sit easier to transition from a thumb-over major to a thumb-over minor, which I have to do in the song I"m learning.

Thanks again for the tip.

Why would you play it that way? Use a full barre with your index finger. Yup' you need to learn how to do that. I will free you up to use your the rest of your fingers for other things...like other chords and other notes etc...also your hand shouldn't press against the back of the neck so much...to start like Ethical says is to start with strings 1 2 3 4 and use the ring finger on the 5th string to get a minor 7th chord or add the little finger to the 4th string for just a minor chord....hope that helps!

Yeah, that does help, thanks.

Glad to be of service.


Do you find that when you play this kind of voicing, your palm really presses agains the back of the neck, more so than with major thumb-over chords?This is probably due to a lack of finger strength and experience. As you gain finger strength and become accustomed to playing these sort of shapes you should find that your "touch" will become lighter and wringing the neck will be a thing of the past.


Ted

"touch"


yep, that's how you find the good stuff. once you figure out how *you* play, touch will get you the rest of the way.

Why would you play it that way? Use a full barre with your index finger.

I can already make those shapes without a problem, but the thumb-over chords actually give me more freedom. Typically, anyway. This is one case where the thumb-over way or your way can both work. I found a way to mute what I don't want using a full barre, but using the thumb chords seems more natural for me. Obviously not in the sense that it's easier for me to do, but in the sense that I gravitate toward that. You definitely gave me a new insight, though, and I'll keep it in mind in the future. Thanks!



This is probably due to a lack of finger strength and experience. As you gain finger strength and become accustomed to playing these sort of shapes you should find that your "touch" will become lighter and wringing the neck will be a thing of the past.

Ted

I think that's it. I kept practicing for a while last night, and the shape became easier to make (at least until my hand finally tired). Thanks again for the help.

Since I am not a good guitar player and am also not able to play normal barre chords I have had to find lots of "trick" ways to play chords.

For minor chords with root on low E, this is one of the "tricks" I use. And I only need two fingers - the thumb and the ring finger.
Let's use Am as the example.

How it's built:

The high three strings at the same fret is a minor chord (with the root at the high e).
The high three strings (barred with the ring finger) and the thumb wrapped over onto the low E at the same fret is a minor chord with the root on the low E.
The ring finger needs to push against the D string to mute it and the thumb needs to rest against the A string to mute.

5xx555

For am Am7, hold down the D string instead of muting: 5x5555.

those thumb over chords are cool...six string barre chords are usually way too many notes. i'm discovering as i get older, not only do smaller chords sound better, they cut through a mix better too. just leaving out that low fifth does a lot...

next time you're jamming with a bass player, try just the top four strings. see what you think.

those thumb over chords are cool...six string barre chords are usually way too many notes. i'm discovering as i get older, not only do smaller chords sound better, they cut through a mix better too.



Funny you should say that!

As I mentioned, I'm the world's worst guitar player. Only been playing guitar for about four years or so plus my fretting hand fourth finger was broken and also dislocated many years ago and its movement is limited.
So, anyway, I've come up with a bunch of these three and four string shapes cause I had to.
Well, one day my teacher says to me: "We're gonna cover something new - three-string movable shapes that you can use all over the neck. In electric guitar, with a band and a bass player, you don't need to play six-string chords. Three or four-string chords will cut through the mix a lot better."

Funny, that, huh?

Look at a lot of the chords Townshend plays ... three or four strings.

When playing Am7, alternating between strumming 5X5555 and then muting the chord with the slightly different sounding root on the open A-string (X0XXXX) sounds kind of interesting in up-tempo funk/blues things (Steely Dan's Night By Night).