# Elusive chord fingering, help requested **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 12, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127 "2024-07-12T22:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/1 "2024-07-12T22:47:07Z")
I hated to start a thread just for this but it’s driving me crazy. [In this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuaQHrXHKg), I can’t figure out how to make the F#dim chord he’s making. It’s at the part where he sings, “right”, somewhere at the 0:17 and also at 1:10 mark. One way [is like this](https://riffspot.com/files/chords/guitar/f-sharp-diminished/f-sharp-diminished-1.png), which I can do but he’s not doing that. His fingering looks [more like this.](https://www.fachords.com/guitar-chord/f-sharp/dim/) However, it looks like he is employing his pinky. And if you watch his strumming hand it looks like he is strumming the top (thinner) strings which the above diagram doesn’t allow. It sounds like it too. Regardless, when I make that variation, it doesn’t sound like when he plays it. It may just be my lack of skill, but I’m hopeful someone here can help. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/2 "2024-07-12T23:00:15Z")
I was going to ask hubster, but the videos won’t play. I get Forbidden. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/3 "2024-07-12T23:17:43Z")
If it’s F# dim 7, he could be using the open E on the first string. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/4 "2024-07-12T23:34:08Z")
To me it looks like he’s basically doing this: [![](https://fachordscdn-16d90.kxcdn.com/static/chords/images/f-sharp/dim7/f-sharp-dim7-pos-5.png) ](https://fachordscdn-16d90.kxcdn.com/static/chords/images/f-sharp/dim7/f-sharp-dim7-pos-5.png) I don’t think he’s playing the middle strings. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/5 "2024-07-13T04:06:47Z")
Yes, if you freeze it it _looks_ like that’s his fingering (but to me it looks like his 4 finger is on the 5th fret), regardless pick up your guitar and strum the chord in the pic you posted. Does it sound like what he’s playing? I can’t make it sound anything like that. That’s what drove me to post this, it looks straightforward but I can’t make it sound right. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/6 "2024-07-13T13:36:45Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > If it’s F# dim 7, he could be using the open E on the first string. > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Yes, if you freeze it it _looks_ like that’s his fingering (but to me it looks like his 4 finger is on the 5th fret), Then it would be F# half-diminished 7, or F# min7, flat 5 ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elusive-chord-fingering-help-requested/1004127/7 "2024-07-13T21:09:53Z")
I’d say you’ve got the bottom three strings correct, but I think he’s using his fourth finger to play the A on the first string followed by the F# on the first string. I don’t hear the D# in that chord the way he’s playing it.