[jammerz4life]

I started "playing" the guitar last night. I cant seem to get my fingers to memorize the 4 chords in the beginner section and its driving me nuts. Every time i try to change chords i always hit other strings and it doesn't sound right. What other techniques could i use to get my fat fingers to stay on only the one string i need them to be on?

[Lcjones]

Hey jammer!

First and foremost, it's going to take "some amount of time" to get your hands and fingers to "know" where you want them to go without thinking about it. Right now your brain is telling your hands OK, I'm playing a G chord and now I want to play a C chord. Your hands are saying, OK, no problem. But just where the heck is a C chord and how to I get there. Your brain is signaling your hand but your hand can't keep up with your brain just yet. I'd say in about 3 to 4 weeks, you'll be comfortable in switching between the most common major chords. IF you practice!

You have to build up muscle memory. It's like when you first started writing cursive. Your pen or pencil was all over the place. But with practice you soon learned to stay inside the lines. Your hands and fingers "memorized" how to make the curly-que E.

Same with guitar. You have to spend some time practicing chord changes. Its just like everything else you have learned to do. By practice.

Yep, it's that P word. Practice!

And do not spend time worrying about whether your fingers are to fat. They aren't. There are plenty of chunky fingers out there making the tunes. It's a matter of learning where to place your finger tips and how to "curl" or "arch" your fingers so not to interfere with the other strings. Unless you have an extremely narrow neck, 1.75 or smaller, you'll be fine.

**
LC

[allthumbs]

Welcome. Try this lesson.Playing Chords

[starsailor]

Just take it slowly at first and gradually build up your Chord changes, never get in a position where you become frustrated, if you do walk away and have a break, it takes time, I'm getting better as I go along but still a long way to go, just set yourself realistic goals and challenge yourself more as your confidence grows, and Welcome to the Forum jammerz4life.

[eCowboy]

Originally Posted by jammerz4life

I started "playing" the guitar last night. I cant seem to get my fingers to memorize the 4 chords in the beginner section and its driving me nuts. Every time i try to change chords i always hit other strings and it doesn't sound right. What other techniques could i use to get my fat fingers to stay on only the one string i need them to be on?

Patience is the way that we all learn to play. If you could learn to play guitar "overnight" we wouldn't need this wonderful forum.

[Europa]

1 night isn't a long time to memorize and play stuff correctly. Give it a bit more time.

Welcome to the forum.

[Woodnome]

Hi Guys,

Been attempting to play for a few weeks now and am slowly getting to grips with the chords but having a little difficultty on the Barre Chords.

Can anyone help ??

Cheers

[jammerz4life]

Originally Posted by Europa

1 night isn't a long time to memorize and play stuff correctly. Give it a bit more time.

Oh i was planning on 2 nights

Yea i know it will take practice ive been practicing "Hey There Delilah"
Its 4 chords and its fairly basic strumming. I was just seeing if anyone had pics of the chords. I try and mimic what i see and the beginner basic pics are of the back of the hand so i can only see the shape of the first knuckle. So if anyone has some pics from the players view that would be most helpful

[justinthyme]

Welcome to the forum, jammerz and woodnome.

Have a look at this lesson for info on barre chords ...

Barre Chords for Beginners and Beyond

There are some photos of hand positions there too, jammerz - not sure if they'll be of any use to you - but its a great lesson to go through anyway.

Cheers

Ian

[jammerz4life]

Originally Posted by justinthyme

Welcome to the forum, jammerz and woodnome.

Have a look at this lesson for info on barre chords ...

Barre Chords for Beginners and Beyond

There are some photos of hand positions there too, jammerz - not sure if they'll be of any use to you - but its a great lesson to go through anyway.

Cheers

Ian

What are barre chords? Im still learning the terminology.

[jammerz4life]

Hey, Im trying to play a C chord and my 3rd finger keeps interfering with my 2nd fingers string. I cant bend my finger tips very well so its making it very tought to play it. Can anyone offer some advice?

And are all 3 of your fingers supposed to go on the same fret for A chord or can i use only 2 fingers?

[allthumbs]

Make sure your thumb is under the neck so you get a good reach for the 5 and 6 string. Other than that, it is just practice.

[justinthyme]

Originally Posted by jammerz4life

What are barre chords? Im still learning the terminology.

Sorry, jammerz - the bit about barre chords was for woodnome.

[Woodnome]

Thanks Ian,

When the kids allow me to have some spare time to myself, I'll try the link out for the barre chords

Cheers

Paul

[AX7221]

Originally Posted by jammerz4life

What are barre chords? Im still learning the terminology.

Barre chords are when you use a finger to fret multiple strings. Most common is when you use your index finger. The thing is with barre chords is they take more practice than other chords, so don't give them up if you're having trouble with them, we all did/do

As for fretting the A chord, you can do it however you like. I'm not sure how you're fretting it but one idea that comes to mind is I play a D chord (xx0232) by barring the E and G strings with my index finger, but now I'm trying to relearn it by using 3 finger instead of 2 b/c now I'm trying to learn a song that I open the E string but keep the G string fretted. I'm not saying its bad to play an A chord with 2 fingers, just that from now on when I learn chords I try to think about how the way I'm fretting it can make things easier or harder for me down the line.