I’m probably in the minority here, but I’ve found people that obsess over their fingering for a certain chord/arpeggio/scale is time better spent elsewhere. You want to have a decent idea of what the most efficient way to finger them are, hence why I put my suggested fingerings on my PDF’s. It’s just that they’re not the only thing you should really focus on. Visualizing the chord/arpeggio/scale is probably the most important aspect, regardless of fingering.

That’s not to say they never matter, just that fingerings tend to be subjective. You can finger an “A” chord how I have noted or another way. They’ll both give you the same notes, the same sound. I only encourage to keep things consistent while you’re getting familiar with it. Once you feel comfortable and if you want to change up the fingering because you found a more efficient way to move between chords… more power to you!

Here are few ways to get familiar with the general rules of fingering a chord/arpeggio/scale:

1) Finger to a fret

2) Never use your ring finger and pinky in succession

1) Finger to a fret

Finger to a fret is good basic rule. If you have a scale/lick spanning from the 5th fret to the 8th fret you typically want to have your index finger on the 5th fret, middle finger on the 6th fret, ring finger on the 7th fret and pinky on the 8th fret.

2) Never use your ring finger and pinky in succession

Never use your ring finger and pinky in succession is just an observation I’ve had on really fast players. If you ever watch a very fast and technical player, you’ll never see them use their ring and pinky in succession. Even my PDF’s don’t have this noted because typically my PDF’s are used as a learning tool and I think getting familiar with the shapes as a finger to a fret tend to be a good way to start learning that new arpeggio/scale.

So what do you do for something like 5th fret – 7th fret – 8th fret lines? Use either your index, middle and ring or index, middle and pinky. You’ll have a bit more of a stretch between your index and middle, but you’ll be surprised at how much more speed you can get!

By all means, experiment! Some people have shorter fingers, others have longer fingers, the best way to do it is going to be up to you.