The E- Chord - Is there an alternative?

devilishlypure said:
Ohh, this thread makes me feel so much better. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has issues with E. I'm motivated to test out a few of these alternatives and maybe even go back to trying to bend my ring finger in unnatural positions. You guys are awesome. :)
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Revisiting fingerings that were formerly impossible can often have surprising results. As your hand grows in strength and dexterity you will find things that used to be impossible merely difficult and things that used to be difficult not so bad.

Just keep at it.
 
ihavenotea said:
Revisiting fingerings that were formerly impossible can often have surprising results. As your hand grows in strength and dexterity you will find things that used to be impossible merely difficult and things that used to be difficult not so bad.

Just keep at it.
Click to expand...

This is actually the best advice, just like everyone else I was a beginner to, and I still consider myself as such. But I was at the point where B was a horrible enemy and I just couldn't hope to hold it no matter what, lol it seemed every song I tried to play there was that one chord that I could "never" do. Few months of practice those chords got easier to get to. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does get you darn close lol.

Anywho, I like to use 4442 for my E it works almost all the time.

Also for anyone that might not have heard of it

http://www.ezfolk.com/uke/chords/E_Major/Em/em.html

I use that site for all my chord shapes :) it really does work for four string ukes hasn't failed me yet.
 
as a guitarist for 27 years (since I was 12), my ring finger first digit was already used to flattening out over three strings making A type barre chords. That's how I play it on the uke. I play G, Bm, D and E as barre chords. Makes it really easy to do chord changes with just moving a finger here or there and not resetting all my fingers. If you just start doing it, every day your finger will get more limber. Try exercising it as well with stretches, and such.

I know how hard it is to get that digit limber enough to do that and I watch my wife, who just started playing guitar, struggle with it at 38. I'm so glad my first guitar instructor insisted I learn barre chords and not use the three finger shortcut to an A type chord!
 
I was playing the ballad of curtis lowe yesterday with dbeal and he played an e by simply barring the fourth fret. It didn't sound any different than the e that I was playing.
 
haolejohn said:
I was playing the ballad of curtis lowe yesterday with dbeal and he played an e by simply barring the fourth fret. It didn't sound any different than the e that I was playing.
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That notes out to be roughly an E6 or C#m7/E

That would probably, with that C# in there, work well with the key of A or D but not so much with others.

I just barre the 2nd fret, then partial barre the 4th fret G C E. Then drop a pinky on 5th fret to make it a 7th
 
flyingace said:
That notes out to be roughly an E6 or C#m7/E

That would probably, with that C# in there, work well with the key of A or D but not so much with others.

I just barre the 2nd fret, then partial barre the 4th fret G C E. Then drop a pinky on 5th fret to make it a 7th
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Yeah you just lost me. The chords in the song were a d e and f something. I play the e as 2444 or is it 4442? To the untrained regular ear his barre sounded good. Not as good as my traditional e but heuy were not professionals.
 
My way of playing the Uke (left-handed but with the strings in the right order) makes the the E-Chord really easy! :)
 
Many months on....My E-chord is just about getting better - but often muffled and always problematic for swift changes - but I still keep practicing. E7 is my fall back. I reckon it works 60% of the time - but does sound damned weird the other 40%

Stuby
 
BarbaryBill said:
Many months on....My E-chord is just about getting better - but often muffled and always problematic for swift changes - but I still keep practicing. E7 is my fall back. I reckon it works 60% of the time - but does sound damned weird the other 40%

Stuby
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E7 is my fall back as well, lol. Glad to hear E is getting easier!
 
I break it down to the bare essentials and go for X442 eventually the finger will build up to do the full 4 string chord 4442 but for now just play three strings and mute the G or 4th string
 
I was definitely struggling with the e for the last few days. But when i tried it today i nailed it! Just like what everyone else was saying just keep at it and you're fingers will get used to it
 
Listen carefully for I will say this only once... Practice a D chord by puting your third finger on the E string at the second fret then push you second finger on to the C and G strings above. You will notice that your index finger is not doing any thing but is in a perfect position. Now you have a D chord slide that same shape to the fourth fret keep pushing the strings but drop your index finger on to the A string second fret and strum.
I found in learning moving from the D chord to the E chord was less effort than creating a climsy E chord. Also practice pushing your second finger flat against your thumb or a flat surface it should not hurt but will give your fingers some idea as to what is required. Train your fingers well.
 
I use 4447, It's as easy as the C-chord. I always prefer barre-chords and movable chord-forms, so I don't have to memorize hundreds of chords and if I bumb into a strange chord, I don't need any chord chart for it.
 
cpatch said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this already (unless I missed it), but if you're barring the 2nd fret with your index finger and trying to do a partial barre on the 4th fret with your ring finger then it doesn't matter if you accidentally mute the first string with your ring finger...the first string is doubling the B on the fourth string (especially if you're playing with reentrant tuning in which case they're the exact same note). In fact, if it's easier for you to do a partial barre with a different finger you can just barre the 4th fret and lazily bend your finger so the first string is muted...you still have an E chord (444X instead of 4442).
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Exactly how I play the E chord. I find transitions to the other chords much easier + I let the barre finger do the pressure work to keep good contact on the A string. And since I prefer to barre most chords, I already have most of the positioning set up for a smooth transition.
 
i'm wayyyyy late with this, but you can do what i do and cheat. bar an E7, and just mute the A string if it sounds off with your progression. with my strumming style, it's hard for the listener to pick out a difference. when i'm fingerpicking i try to avoid E altogether. it's a bad habit that i need to break eventually.

sorry if this was posted already. i didn't have the patience to sift through 8 pages. :p
 
I Ukulista said:
Listen carefully for I will say this only once... Practice a D chord by puting your third finger on the E string at the second fret then push you second finger on to the C and G strings above. You will notice that your index finger is not doing any thing but is in a perfect position. Now you have a D chord slide that same shape to the fourth fret keep pushing the strings but drop your index finger on to the A string second fret and strum.
I found in learning moving from the D chord to the E chord was less effort than creating a climsy E chord. Also practice pushing your second finger flat against your thumb or a flat surface it should not hurt but will give your fingers some idea as to what is required. Train your fingers well.
Click to expand...

This is what I have been doing as well. I just approached it as forming the D chord and sliding that chord down two frets and simply dropping the index finger on the 1st string at the second fret.
 
Being pretty much a novice, I use the bar cord method. Since I have played acoustic guitars for a long time, I found this method was very easy for me.
 
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