Hey guys
I am new here in this community and I hope this is the right place to post a recording of myself…
I wanted to ask if someone could check my finger position and if you have an advice on how I could get my third finger closer to the fret when playing the D chord? Because in my case the third finger is always pretty close to the other fingers instead of closer to the fret where it should be…
I have pretty small hands as well so I was wondering if I should get another guitar or if this one is fine?
Hi Betti, yeah, firstly, it is very nice to meet you, and yes, this is the place to post. Give it a few more minutes, and you will receive a lot of advice. Cheers HEC
great you put up a video with your question. That helps a lot, even though your pinkie is quite good at hiding your fingers down there.
First of all, the chord is ringing out just fine. If you want to train your fingers to get as close to the fret as possible, you really need to do this mindful and extremely slow in the beginning as in Justin’s “Chord perfect”-practice. Place all of your fingers and adjust the position before you strum the chord.
I have quite small hands myself. I can assure you, as your fingers will get used to this and other chord shapes and are getting trained by certain practice items later one, it will work out. For now, the fingers just want to be close to their buddies, but with practice, independence of the fingers will increase. It just takes time.
Cheers from another German fellow. Have fun and enjoy the ride!
Lisa
Hello Betti and welcome. Your sound, all strings ringing that should is excellent. Watch Justin’s video on playing without looking nearer the end of grade 2. It was most helpful to me. When I play without looking, I hit the chords more often after 1.5 years into my own guitar journey. Everyone has chords that give them fits. Switching between D and A used to give me fits. Now I can play them without a problem, at least most of the time. Also, try other finger shapes for the A chord. I have bigger hands and short, stubs for fingers. I found I can make/sound out a better A chord by putting my index finger on string 2/fret 2, and use my middle finger to hold down strings 3 and 4 at fret 2. On occasion I can eek out an A chord with 3 fingers, but not as quickly and accurately as I can with 2 fingers. Also try the 1 finger approach to the A chord. Justin has that in a video as well. You use your index finger across all 3 strings, avoiding string 1 by muting it with that same index finger. Lots of options. Keep at it. You’re doing fine by the sounds of things. One day it just all clicks and you’re doing it without thinking about it. Enjoy!
Hi again, Betti,
Lisa already said helpful things.
And there will be finger excercises coming up in Justin’s lessons which I then put in my practice routine. (Did you find it in your “Dashboard”?) They help a lot over time.
And it can help to angle your hand a bit so your fingers come a bit from “above”. I’m not sure now where, but later on, on some chords or fingerings it might even be necessary…
And then… yes, another guitar can help. But if you can learn on this one and it works ok and you don’t feel like giving up, maybe continue the way you can…?
The problem is that at first, it’s not easy to go to a guitar shop and really feel what is right for you. It’s easier when you’ll have played a bit… I think.
But once you’d like to try something else, maybe a guitar with a shorter scale length and a bit narrower fretboard could be easier.
Enough talking,
cheers from another uhm… half german
PS. Oh, in the meantime, Jim replyed, he is probably closer to those difficulties starting with a D chord and had some better tips!
Hi Betti. Great that you’ve posted a video to help get answers to your question.
Why does your video have the sub-title ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’? What’s that got to do with learning guitar?
This forum is non denominational non religious.
Because I posted the video on my youtube channel in order to upload it here… I tried to upload it before without posting it on youtube, but it was not possible, that is why… Greetings!
I was wondering though if my hand position is correct, because to me it feels like my hand is too far away from the fret board? I mean if I need to put the palm of my hand closer to the fret board, because it is kind of floating in the air I feel?
Also when I did play the song practice it really felt uncomfortable, like a cramp or something…
In order to reach that fret, you want to slant your hand more. It’s difficult to explain, but your palm should not go perpendicular to the neck, but more from the body towards the headstock. This way your finger will rather have to stretch to reach that fret instead of spreading. I hope that makes sense. Also moving your palm closer to the bottom of the neck will give your fingers more space. Experiment with different finger and hand positions, and find out what gets you where you want to be.
Oh, that’s not how it should feel like! It could feel a bit stretchy at first, but shouldn’t feel totally uncomfortable.
Did you try angling your hand a bit more like on that image… it was in another thread, can’t find it at the moment.
But also try to shift the position a bit around like LadyoftheCastle suggests or watch a few more videos on holding the guitar or how to do the D chord (it’s ok to watch someone else than Justin ) and then try to find a more comfortable position.
Don’t give up!
Me, when I’m fed up… I mean practicing and not seeming to advance, I sometimes work even harder - or sometimes, I just take a break and most often, it goes better after the break.
Thanks so much for the detailed response!! Yes, I guess I need to check out another video on how to hold the guitar, because it does seem a bit complicated to me to explain here online Many thanks!
