I'm also a newbie (been at it since Thanksgiving). I was having a lot of trouble with the classic 3-finger approach to the A major chord. I bought my electric guitar second hand and thought something might need adjusting. Then I had my guitar "set up" be someone whose been in the business a long time and new what they were doing. Also had my strings replaced at the same time. The result was playing the A major is now a breeze for me with 3 fingers on the 2nd fret.
Like someone said previously in this thread, if your action is too high, then the required pressure to properly fret the D,G, & B strings may also cause you to come in contact with the surrounding strings.
The setup on my electric cost about $60 at the local shop, but it was totally worth it. Plays like a dream now :)
HTH,
Irv
