Originally Posted by: axe2i play my G CHORD the same as slippin lizard,frettin both b &e strings.i do belief thats a g with an added 9.whats up slipin lizard,how u doin.....

Gadd9 adds an A note, which with an open G chord, you would add the G string (4th string) second fret.

Last night for grins I was messing with the open G as I've always played it (3 finger/string version) and the 3 finger/4 string version where the B and E strings are fretted on the 3rd fret. The difference in sound isn't glaring, but there is a difference. I thought that was interesting. Also, if you look at this shape, it's a combination of the common 3 finger open version of the G chord and the barre chord version on the 3rd fret.

I was introduced to playing the open G shape with with fingers 3-2-4 when I had to play a Gadd9 and a Gsus4 in a song. With this fingering, finger 1 is free to add either the 9 or 4 for Sus 4. It's interesting to switch between the two for add some color to the chord.

Chord transitions is another advantage - Outx40 mentioned transitioning to a G7. Transitioning to a C (a very common chord change similar in shape to a G7) also becomes much easier.

It took me a while to get used to playing the open G chord with fingers 3-2-4, but now it feels natural.

I'm not sure that one version is more "proper" than the other. As you advance in your playing, you'll have to adjust some of your fingerings. Barre chords are a good example. You don't normally fret an open E chord with fingers 3-4-5, but when you use it as a barre chord, you have to.

Playing around with these fingerings helps your pinky dexterity. You'll always have your "goto" fingerings that you'll use 99% of the time, but it's good to have the flexability to deal with other situations as they come up.