Ticket To Ride

thebreeze

This might be a bit rudimentary but any tips gratefully received.  

When I play the main guitar riff (the one that begins the song and is in the verse) I play it in the open chord position (A) with my two fingers, one on the A (G string, second fret) and one on and off the C sharp/B (B string, second fret) and pluck the open E accordingly.  My problem is that the A always sounds horribly out of tune (sharp).  I've tried playing with my finger as close to the fret (2nd) as possible and using different guitars but it doesn't sound right to me.  Is the answer to tune the G string down a bit or is there something wrong with my technique?  I think George Harrison used a 12-string but I don't have one of those and I was wondering if this is where the problem lies?  If I tune down the G will this not make the other chords in the song sound weird?

Many thanks for any advice.

viz

No way round it with straight frets. You either have a sharp A or a flat G on a standard guitar. You might have a particularly sharp 2nd fret maybe. 

thebreeze

Cheers Viz, that's reassuring then.  I was even wondering if my nail was too long.  Do some guitars come with a special fret then?

tone1

Maybe worth checking that the Nut isn’t cut too high...

Danny1969

Try this 

...............0.........................................0        and repeat ...... same notes but will intonate better 
......................................0...
.......................6.....................
.....7.......................7.....................
................................................
...................................................

viz

thebreeze said:

Cheers Viz, that's reassuring then.  I was even wondering if my nail was too long.  Do some guitars come with a special fret then?

Yes, look at truetemperament guitars