Example 1-4

most ChoRd books and diagrams will show a simple open E chord to be played like this (Ex 1). It’s an okay fingering and it obviously works fine. However, I personally never use it. I always use this one (Ex 2) where I play both the B on the A string and the E on the D string with my second finger. It is far more useful to me as it frees up fingers 3 and 4 to play other surrounding notes. If you want to play this open position E9 voicing (Ex 3) you have to do it my way. What about if the chord after the open E is an F barre chord? Ex 4’s fingering is a lot better for that as it allows a smooth transition between both chords.