[bamagirl]

I thought I knew what callouses were, and thought I was beginning to get them on my left fingers. Now I've started your lessons on chords and ahhhhhhhh my fingers, my poor fingers!! The first three have a ridge on them and oh yeah, I can see there are going to be major callouses there. Which I'm looking forward to because isn't it supposed to help press the strings better using the frets?

I am having a hard time with my chords that have three strings right together. Notably, the D and A chords. The A chord, I just can't seem to get my fingers on three neighboring strings on the same fret. The top note always vibrates because my finger is too close to the fret above it. My problem with the D chord is I can't seem to get clarity in my F# note. One of my other fingers always touches it just a bit. I can get it right after several tries, but then when I'm playing and try to change to these chords, it is impossible because my fingers are all bunched up. I thought my nails might be a problem, even though they weren't super long, so I trimmed them. Didn't help.

The fingering you have demonstrated for the G chord, is there room for variation? I often read advice that I need to learn the fingering, etc., right or it will be hard to un-do and learn correctly. But it is easier for me to use.. let me get a visual without my instrument in hand... pinkey finger on high G, first finger on B, then second finger on low G. Whereas your demonstration has the pinkey not being used. Every time I try it, it is just so much easier when I finger it this way.

[randomaire]

The only thing I can think of is your hand position on the fret board.. pay close attention to how you position your wrist. Unless ... have you cut your nails down short? Usually a good placement is your third finger as close to the fret as possible, the second finger in the middle, and the first finger close to the fret by the nut.. you should try to hit the strings with the middle part of the tip of your finger. Sometimes it takes time, and then some ppl have large mits, just depends. Also try to place your thumb near the center of the back, that way you can get max elevation when you bend your fingers over to hit the A chord.

And its actually third finger on high E and second finger on low E, and 1st on B for the G chord. Thats one way of playing it, I sometimes use 2nd finger on B, 3rd finger on low E, and pinky on high E. This allows for easier switching to say a C or an A minor or E minor. Its all up to you, and whatever feels comfortable, I would experiment with both though.

Main thing is though keep working at it, its always hard initially then you get better, D still bothers me sometimes when Im switching fast. Most of it is wrist thumb and hand placement though, get a comfortable grip early... kind of like the whole posture thing, sit up straight, don't slouch etc.. same kind of thing for guitar.

I love my callouses btw

[allthumbs]

There are lots of ways to play chords. It is more a matter of where you are going next rather than right or wrong fingering. You can use your pinky fingering for the G chord though it won't make it any easier to grab a D chord. However it does make smoothly grabbing an open C or E chord easier because your index is free to move while your still holding the G chord. You will still need to learn the standard way to finger the g chord at some point.

D chord. It sounds like your fingers are not at 90 degrees to the strings so the finger on the second string is leaning into the first string. Try sliding your thumb further under the neck to bring your fingers closer to the 90 degree angle. You can also use your baby finger on the second string for the same advantages as the alternate fingering on the G chord. Depending what notes you are adding to the chord, each position has advantages. You can also just bar the D chord and add a finger to grab the second string 3fret or D.

The A chord Is tough to play with your fingers in a line. Try this, put your second and third finger in place first the put your index beside and behind the first two and slide it up to the fret wire. The advantage of this is you can slide the index down to grab an A minor without lifting your fingers. You can also make a pyramid with your fingers, Two fingers for the base and the index finger tucked in tight behind the first two on the G or 3rd string. You can also bar the 3 strings with your index finger. Hope some of that helps.

[allthumbs]

Har. I see you beat me to it while I was typing my reply rando. Great minds think alike. We're humble too

[Stratrat]

Jus' keep pluggin along, Bamagirl - those D and A chords will come to you! It's more finger placement than anything else, no matter if you've got big ol' fingers like me or little skinny ones. Once you start getting used to the finger positions, you'll be amazed at how naturally your fingers will find their places.

[randomaire]

Well I know the basics of the chords, that is prolly what Im good at, now the finger picking, oh thats coming along miserably, but couple of those lessons I got pointed to our really ramping me up quick. I even put up a recording of my chord practice playing.
But its like anything else keep practicing and you will eventually not even think of where the fingers are going you will... will them there.

If you have problems with the whole A-D-G thing, try this one to really get angra! haha ... start with a d strum down twice, down once, up once... shift to A Strum down twice Shift to G Strum down twice repeat as fast as you can.

If you're wondering thats a song most of us know well and you will quickly realize what it is. Good luck to you.

Oh almost forgot a good point about finger nails.. put your guitar on a flat surface now with your left hand, stick your fingers out straight and with em still extended put the tips on a flat surface.... if your nails hit the flat surface than your nails are prolly too long. Thats the way I judge my nail length. (Beauty Tips 101) lol

[bamagirl]

Wow, thanks to all of you for your tips! I did trim my nails, just so that a bare amount of white is showing. So there is no nail sticking out to get in the way. Funny to look at my hands; my right hand has nails (for finger picking) and my left doesn't. Lol, probably nobody would ever notice but me.

I did try the pinkey finger on the D in the D chord, and that was a bit easier, but still there was trouble with it. I am intrigued at the idea of the pyramid formation with these three fingers on the strings. I can't wait to try that. Also, my curiosity will win out and even though I'm about to keel over (2 hours sleep last night at church lock-in), I probably will have to try that.

I'm terrible at barring the strings. Tried it, still get that dull sound instead of a crisp, clean note. But I will work on it, because there have already been tons of times it would have been useful to me.

As for thumb placement, the illustrations in the lesson on chords had his thumb showing behind the instrument on all of them. Maybe it is just because his hand size is larger and so I probably need to come down with my thumb to the middle of the back. That's how I had been positioning my thumb until I saw those illustrations.

It seems like so many other things I've read on here, a person's technique is mostly made up of the way fingering SHOULD be, but also some modifications because another position just works better. I'm getting the hang of it.... slowly but surely.

OH and I've been meaning to ask. Somewhere (I think it was on here) I read that you could get a practice guitar; it seemed to not be a complete instrument, but instead be used to practice fingering with. What is that, and is it something I could use without having to posture properly? I.e., while sitting back on the couch? My back aches sometimes when I have played for a long time. I don't slouch, so you wouldn't think it would but it does. And my right upper arm.

[Matt_11]

Bar the a chord with ur first finger if u cant make them go in a line.

[Matt_11]

srry for double, this is A maj right?

[randomaire]

Lets take this in parts:

Welcome to the world of uneven nails, short on left long on right, its like the identifying mark of a guitar player.

I'm not so sure about the pinky for the D, the main thing you need to remember is that by using the inside fingers 2 and 3 you free up your outside fingers to stretch and hit those other notes that add to a chord. I would recommend keeping the 1st finger on the 2nd fret, 3rd string.... the 2nd finger on the 2nd fret 1st string (high e), and the 3rd finger on the 3rd fret second string, may feel uncomfortable but you will get used to it, just trust me lol.

Barre Chords... yeah, hate em, but need em... can't really give you much on that one.

The thumb: traditional says keep it in the middle of the back... well if you have smaller (shorter) fingers you have to go lower on the back, if you have bigger (longer) you usually have to go up on the back... now mind you some rock guitarists will tell you to hell with the traditional way... alot of them wrap the thumb around the top to allow an well not to sure on this but I would say a better low E base line? But if you're shorter fingered you need to go lower with the thumb in the back, remember you don't need a death grip on the neck. Once the callouses build up and such, the strings become easier to push down (or should I say less painful).

Every guitar player is different, use whats best for ya, but In my opinion you should learn the right way to do it first, before you experiment to find another way, could lead to hard habits to break later on.

The only thing I can think of that comes close to what you're referring to is maybe a backpacker guitar? Other than that I couldn't really tell ya.

The upper right arm pain.. could be a couple of things, do you have and acoustic or electric... acoustics are bigger and if you are leaning to much into one of em could cut off blood flow, try dropping the guitar lower? The other thing it might be is your strumming style... are you moving the whole arm? The wrist? or the lower arm? Use the lower arm like a pendulum, while the upper arm stays in place, try to maintain a solid wrist posture without too much movement. Strums should be a smooth up and down motion, not a whole body effect thing... yeah I know they do it on stage... thats for show, not good over a long period though.

Back ache: sorry the only way I get back ache is by slumping over the guitar or being too tense while playing, relax and breath.


Almost forgot, the A chord.... the way I do it is by making a slash outta my fingers 1st finger high, 2nd finger middle, and third finger low.... 1st finger near the fret towards the nut, 2nd finger in middle between frets, and 3rd finger near the fret going towards the right hand. Pyramid sometimes works also, but I've got comfortable with the slash like this \

[allthumbs]

This is going to sound strange. Find a junker guitar for as little as possible and unscrew the bolts or cut the neck off depending on what guitar you get. Glue a dowel to the cut end as a handle for the right hand. Now you have a neck with no body to practice on that you can take with you. You can cut it down to the 12th fret and cut off most of the headstock. You would end up with a neck that was about a foot and a half long.
There is a product on the market that is about 8 inches long made out of some kind of rubber. It looks terrible and only offers you a five or 6 fret span. About the only thing going for it is its' small size.

[EFinFLA]

That does sound strange. No strings? I don't see how it's much help w/o strings?

[coldethyl]

[quote=allthumbs]This is going to sound strange. Find a junker guitar for as little as possible and unscrew the bolts or cut the neck off depending on what guitar you get. Glue a dowel to the cut end as a handle for the right hand. Now you have a neck with no body to practice on that you can take with you. You can cut it down to the 12th fret and cut off most of the headstock. You would end up with a neck that was about a foot and a half long.
QUOTE]


That's sounds like a really good idea!

[bamagirl]

I experimented and was amazed at the difference it made when I placed my fingers pyramid-style on the A chord (oh and Matt, yes it is Am). WOW. I was able to get my fingers closer together, alleviating the problem of one of my fingers (which was the topmost one) touching the fret above it and not giving a clear note. Or no note at all sometimes. I can't believe what a difference that made.

My guitar is accoustic-electric, so yes it is bulky. I will never jam out with a rock band, so even though the thinner models appealed to me they weren't what I needed. I love the one I purchased though. It is thin for an accoustic - thinner by several inches to some of the others in the music store. It is made by Alvarez. The only reason I purchased one with the electric option was because it was more comfortable to handle because of the concave dip on top where it can be plugged into a sound system.

I've never purchased a strap and tried to stand with it, but I bet that would help my back pain. Although I can't picture myself practicing in my living room while standing! Randomaire!! Oh wow I could just squeeze you right now. I dropped my right leg that the guitar rests on a little bit and it turns out that I WAS hunching to get over it. Amazing advice, thank you a thousand times over!! This didn't happen as much when I wasn't having to look at my hands, but chording is a new challenge for me and the ENTIRE time I am working at it, I'm looking at my left hand. I lowered my leg a bit, then tried just tilting it a bit toward myself to look at my left hand and correct before straightening it back upright and trying the chord again. Huge difference. Thank you so much.

I have long fingers. When I played piano I could reach further than any student my teacher had ever had between two notes. I'll take your advice on learning the correct fingering and getting it down before experimenting with others. I just can't see myself ever getting the A chord with the / positioning. There's not enough room for my fingertips. But I'll keep plugging away at it; like you said it will come natural to me later on.

[coldethyl]

Originally Posted by bamagirl

I have long fingers. When I played piano I could reach further than any student my teacher had ever had between two notes.

Long fingers is a definite advantage when playing guitar or piano!