try rotating your wrist a bit to allow finger three the ability to stretch out a bit to the fret. You don’t need to have your fingers coming in perpendicular to the length of the neck.
See Ontime’s pictures just above. He looks a little cramped because his thumb is not as Justin wants on the back (i do the same), but notice his angle. That angle lets his third finger stick out toward the fret.
Thanks so much, I will try that out.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say in your other thread, saying “coming a bit from above”. And you can see it well in Ontime’s upper image. Did you try it like this?
And - if the chord sounds fine, the problem is not majhor for the moment - I think that you’ll get this better with that angling of your hand and with finder excercises over time.
In the long run, it’s better to try and work your way towards having the fingers closer to the frets… like when later playing a different guitar, it could sound worse than on your guitar now.
But then, probably, you’ll have other chords where you won’t be able to place your fingers perfectly - as for me - I often can’t with my not so long fingers and most often, chords sound fine… (or not 
I still have a long way to go too…)
is it me? or am I in a sort of twilight zone? i see pictures of people doing the D with the 3 finger reasonbly diagonal on the snare. but isnt the “flesh” of your 3 finger touching the 1 snare? even ever so slightly? Or am i missing something? 
snare? that’s a new one…
Your finger sits flatter than mine does, so spreads out more. I am pressing the string using the tip closer to the finger nail.
Rubenb is Dutch. Snaar is the Dutch word for string.
Thanks Els @LadyOfTheCastle! I was wondering the same thing! Makes total sense now. 
haha yes sorry, snare…i meant string. allthough in my defense i used to play drums where you have a snaredrum with snares…
hmm, nope. no good. 
Not accepting that excuse…
Unless… maybe when playing slide and not pressing hard enough (like I tend to do). 
Hi everyone!
I’m an absolute beginner and I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 weeks, I’m currently in Module 5 of a Beginner Grade 1 course.
I’ve noticed that when I play a D major chord, my middle finger (finger 2) tends to straighten out and press down on the first string. Is this a bad habit that I should correct?
I’ve tried everything to keep my middle finger bent, but if I don’t straighten it and apply pressure, I can’t get the chord to sound right.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Hi @spraythatfins, looking at your picture, there are a few things you would want to work on.
First of all, make sure to put your 1st and 3rd finger really close to the fret. In your picture, they are too far back.
Secondly, the same goes for your 2nd finger. Try making little adjustment, like half a mm, to find the spot where you can get it to ring clear with the least amount of pressure. If you really have to press, something’s off. But it really often is just a question of sliding your finger a fraction more back or forward.
Your hand position looks pretty good. work to get finger threee stretched toward the 3rd fret a bit. This will take some time. You might be able to scoot your whole hand and get a lot of the distance - i can’t quite see finger 2 well enough.
You ask about finger 2 pressing on string1, but that is what it is supposed to do, so I wonder if you mixed up the string.
If you are concerned about finger 1 or 2 touching string 2, then it is fine here, but later you will find chords that you need the fingers to truly be in the center so you don’t mute adjacent strings.
You don’t want finger 1 touching string 4 because that string is supposed to ring out. again, it is fair in this case to scoot down and touch string 2 if you need. I recommend trying to find a good center position and get used to that when you are doing detailed practice, but when playing a song, let it touch string 2.
Your fingertips look like they are still soft,. Your body will adjust and holding these chords will improve as your fingertips harden. This takes weeks and will happen as you practice.
As far as finger 2 wanting to go straight, there will be exercises in your future that help you gain better control over these muscles that you probably never used like this before. Those exercises will help you keep finger 2 slightly bent and that will give you control you want with more difficult grips. You are gaining this with the air changes (module 7) and the strength will take time like any strength training will. In grade 2, there will be some detailed exercises for fine control.
The final thing to get your mind around is to not hold your finger 4 out so tight. This won’t help your chord here, but it is a waste of energy so generates fatigue and also it takes more time to get it in position when you need to use it. If it is just out of the way for the picture, then great!
edit: As I look closer, finger 2 is bottoming out on your finger nail and the string looks like it is under the nail. See if it needs to be on the tip of the finger and get the string anchored on the fret instead of needing to press hard due to it slipping under your nail.
Good advice above. By “middle finger” I expect you’re talking about the middle of the chord shape - string 2 - which is actually depressed using your third finger. One more important comment: you’ll want to get that pinky finger under control. I’m speaking from experience here…it’s much easer to work on controlling it now, before it becomes your default movement! This screenshot from Justin’s lesson shows good position.
Ah, thank you! I think I get it now. I’ve realized that when I get my finger 1 really close to the fret, I’m somehow “blocking” my finger 2. It stays bent because it doesn’t have the space or the need to straighten out. I’ll work on that. Thanks so much for your help!
Thank you for your feedback! It’s so interesting because with the D chord, it’s almost funny how when my finger 2 straightens out and isn’t all bent up, the chord sounds good almost every time. 
But I really need to get rid of this tension. I’m afraid it’s going to really slow down my chord changes. I’m going to try moving my index finger closer to the fret, since that seems to be what’s “blocking” the second one.
And you’re totally right about the fingertips… they’re still way too soft, and the strings end up touching my nails. I think that’s also because I’m pressing too hard. I’ve got a lot to work on with these things!
Hi! I’m just starting and trying out the D chord. I find it really difficult to put my fingers down in the order given, but find it pretty easy to do if I put the 3rd finger down first and then the 1st finger and then the 2nd. Is this OK to do instead of doing 1, 2, 3 in order? Is there something important about doing this 1, 2, 3, order?
Thank you!
The end goal will be to drop all fingers at the same time, but you are not at that lesson yet. Order now is whatever is easiest for you. Be sure to get a clean ringing on the strings.
Thank you!
I can get it clean most times now if I can place the 3rd finger first. I can see how this would be fine because it’s getting and holding all the fingers in the right position that counts. I guess soon the muscles in the hand will get used to doing this.
I think my guitar is a bit more challenging as I accidentally bought a 3/4 size guitar (they didn’t tell me) so the nut is narrower than a full size and the strings are a bit closer together. I’m looking for a regular size guitar now.
Thanks again!
no matter what I do, i just cannot for the life of me, get the G string to ring with my index finger. it’s just muted. i can play it with my 3rd fnger but the index just wont make a sound. it’s day 3 of me trying to get it right but i dont get it. my nails are almost non-existent, i’ve trimmed them that much. and my 4th finger has trouble stretching too. This is the 2nd time i’ve picked up guitar and im starting to think maybe it’s just not for me
See if you can get a picture of your fretting hand for us. That will help a lot. Try to not let it slip when you take the picture.
It does take time to get both stretches and muscle control working for guitar. Don’t give up! you should be able to get there!
