Fingerstyle guitar - How to fret this arpeggio?

Question

I recently found this arpeggio. How can I fret all the notes?

I see two options, one involves using thumb on high E string, and other using index finger to fret octave on strings E and D which is quite difficult.

    T
    1
    4    1
    3  2 3
E|--7--------
B|--8----8---
G|--10---10--
D|-----9-----
A|-----------
E|--10-------

    1
    2    
    4    2
    3  1 4
E|--7--------
B|--8----8---
G|--10---10--
D|-----9-----
A|-----------
E|--10-------

Answer 1

I'd make a sort of barre with index (1st) finger,across the lot on fret 7, then use ring on (bottom, not top) E. G string with little finger, leaving the middle finger for the B string. Thumb is an option, frowned upon by classical purists, and is o.k. if one's hand is big enough, but may slow down the change for the next bit, as the thumb puts the whole hand over the top of the fingerboard for lots of folk.

Answer 2

I would play the first chord as shown in your second option:

10 X X 10 8 7   with fingers   3 4 2 1

Then I would leave the 3rd and 4th finger where they are and lift up my 1st and 2nd finger to play the following notes:

10 X 9 10 8 X   with fingers   3 2 4 1

Answer 3

What you're creating here is a G7 sound. You're fingering is a subtle variation on a traditional dom7 fingering that alternates bass notes between the 1 and the 5 of the chord, like this.

E|------7------7--
B|------8------8--
G|-----10-----10--
D|----------------
A|--10------------
E|---------10-----

Yours just moves from the 5 to the 3 of the chord, more like this.

E|------7------7--
B|------8------8--
G|-----10-----10--
D|---------9------
A|----------------
E|--10------------

In either case, I finger the bass line exclusively with my ring finger in this scenario. In the end, there is a lot less gymnastics, over all. It will be helpful for you to visualize the whole chord and remember it as an all-purpose dom7 fingering that you can use anywhere that calls for it.

Try visualizing it something like this.

E|-----------7---7---7---7---
B|---8---8---8---8---8---8---
G|--10--10--10--10--10--10---
D|---9---9-------9-----------
A|--10------10------10-------
E|------10--------------10---

The fingering in your example is only one of many for this situation. Generally chord inversions are interchangeable as long as the melody stays correct. For example, you could completely change your fingering to something like this and it would still work sonically because the melody stays intact and the bass line is still made of chord tones.

E|---7-----3---
B|---6-----3---
G|---7-----4---
D|---5--3------
A|-------------
E|-------------

Anyhow, sorry for changing topic. The short answer is to either use your ring finger for the bass notes or to use Matt L's suggestion. The only important consideration is which one leaves you in the best place to finger the next chord in the song.

Take care!