What is the proper way to fret (R-3-m7-9-5) chords (on the fifth string)?

Question

I'm sorry about the somewhat vague title, but my knowledge of chord notation is somewhat limited.

I've always had some issues when it comes to fretting this type of chord. If I leave the fifth out then no problem because I can just use one finger to fret each of the notes. Now, in this particular case I want to keep the fifth at the top but I can't seem to find a good way to fret the notes. Obviously, I can't use the same approach as before because I don't have enough fingers. I've seen blues and funk guitarists using their ring finger to bar the first three strings. I've tried doing that but no matter how I do it I always end up muting one of the strings. Usually the first or the fourth. If I really try I can get all the notes to ring out but I'm forced to put my fretting hand in a really awkward position which really gets in the way if I need to change chords even at moderate speeds.

The alternative is using my little finger to bar the strings, which seems to work a little better when I use my ring finger to put some extra pressure on the little finger. But that isn't good enough either because if I need to move the chord shape around (usually in a chromatic fashion) I start to mess up the sound because I don't have enough strength in my little finger.

My question then is, is there a 'proper' way to fret this chord shape other than one of the alternatives I mentioned above?

Answer 1

First based on your description I believe you are referring to a 9th chord but you left out the 9 between the b7 and the 5, so R 3 b7 9 5, right? Let’s say a D9 for example, from low to high: D F# C E A.

The way to finger this chord is x54555, fingering 21333. You can use 21444 instead but like you said it’s not ideal when you have to change chords. It takes practice to play it clean, you have to get used to flattening 3 but keeping 1 and 2 on the tips. This will help you avoid muting strings. I suppose you can try 21334 till you get better at it but with some practice I bet you’ll eventually be able to play it clean with just the 3rd finger.

Answer 2

Adding to John's excellent answer, the strength in your little finger isn't as important as using your whole hand for leverage. By extending your thumb maybe over the top of the fingerboard, your palm becomes the fulcrum point, and this puts more pressure on the pinky, without using its own strength. Let's face it - fingers themselves have little intrinsic strength, possessing no muscles of their own. So we have to resort to other means.

Answer 3

You are asking about the fingering for a dom7 chord yet saying that you cannot use one finger. Others have pointed out that you may be referring to the 9th chord which has the common voicing (x, 1, 3, 7, 9, 5), fingered (x, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3), an example of the frets for C9 would be (x, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3). If you don't want the 5th on top you can finger it (x, 2, 1, 3, 4, x).

As for the 7th chord in the title one possible fingering for that voicing is (x, 3, 2, 3, x, 4) which is (x, 1, 3, b7, x, 5). You would need to "mute" the B string with your 3rd finger by letting it touch the B string enough to avoid buzzing but not enough to fret the note and hear it.

EDIT:

I am adding to my answer to address the other issue mentioned in the OP. As for NOT muting when barring this takes time, patience, and practice. I am going through this with one of my beginner students. I don't know if you are taking lessons but there are a few very simple exercises that you can do to teach your hand to bar correctly. First you need to be able to execute the bar on command and not after several seconds of adjustment. To do this you need to first know what a bar "feels" like. One method is to flatten out the finger so it is almost bending out, away from the palm, rather than in. This is fairly easy to do with the index finger but harder to do with the others. Many folks will hyper extend the ring finger to allow it to flatten but that will usually cause the finger to not touch the high e string. That, however, depends on proper posture, and placement of the finger. I'm playing right now and have no problem getting all 3 top strings down with one finger and no rotation. Another option is piiperi Reinstate Monica's rotation that effectively turns the finger on its edge. Some folks do this with the full bar chord rotating the other way. Once you get it right you can try something like toggling between an X9 (if that is indeed the chord you want) and an X(b9, b5). This will require you to flatten the ring finger then rotating on its tip and flatten the index. It may be uncomfortable at first but it should not be painful and in time you should be able to execute this movement quickly and without extreme movement or pressure.

Answer 4

So you're trying to play a 9 chord? John and Tim explained it well, but I'll add one more tip with a video example. Instead of trying to squeeze the neck between your palm and your fingers by pushing down with the fingers, rotate your wrist like this. The rotating motion is exaggerated to show what it's about

If you rotate instead of muscle-squeezing, you get much more leverage. By using a rotating motion you can play a nine chord, or a minor-seventh with the ring finger doing multi-string barres very lightly. IMO this technique works without using almost any muscle force on even a heavy 12-string acoustic.

Particularly if your wrist is like when playing open C or F chords, and you try to extend your fingers to the x54555 chord grip, you'd have to do an impossibly hard squeeze.