Justin,
You just saved me again. You showed me how to properly play the D chord. I was having so many problems with this chord and one comment on this video put me on the right track again. “always start the chord formation using the first finger”.
Thanks again.
I can’t play the chord with my thumb in the position it’s supposed to be in. It’s not hanging over the top but it isn’t in the middle and definitely isn’t straight. It’s stressing me out now.
I also can’t get my finger at the end of the 3rd fret. The strings aren’t buzzing on my electric though. I’ve tried reading other comments with suggestions of how to get correct placement but I can’t tell what they mean.
Also where can I find this “Chord Perfect” video or exercise.
Also, is it possible I’m sat wrong? When I put my feat up and the guitar is slightly higher than my natural leg position I can play the D cord easily with the correct hand placement and finger placement but it would require me to have slightly elevated feet every time.
I can’t due to arthritis in my hand. Don’t worry about it. it will come.
Instead of this as it feels really unnatural. In the other photo my thumb still isn’t over the top but I can’t do it straight like this.
Your seating position can make a big difference. If raising your feet (I’m assuming you are resting them on something, not holding them in the air!) makes things easier, I would suggest you trust your feelings and learn that way…at least at first.
Sitting in a lower chair might have the same effect.
Classical players use a foot rest under the left foot…I played that way for a while. You can use a stack of books, if you want to experiment with this.
Many of us play with a strap when sitting. It can be much more comfortable, and the guitar does not move around so much.
I’ve owned 5 guitars over the years, and none of them felt comfortable to play without a strap…not one.
Hey everyone!
I began learning a week ago. Here’s the link (edit: I don’t know why the age warning was added automatically , please ignore if you see it) to a video and photos of me playing the D and A chords. I have a few questions about positioning and practice:
Is the angle of my wrist and the placement of my hand ok? Finger pain is not an issue since my calluses have begun developing. But sometimes, my wrist tendons and shoulder joints have mild pain while playing.
My pinky’s orientation is a bit unusual, it straightens when playing A and moves far away from the fretboard when playing D. Should I change that?
In the 10 minute song practice video, the last song (the 140 bpm one) feels really hard to do. I almost never get a clean D chord. Should I skip this song and focus on “perfecting” one minute changes first? I can manage 30-33 changes but not all the chords sound clean.
I looked at your images, like you iv only been playing a bet short time but I would say your left arm needs more freedom to move. It almost looks like you’re trying NOT to move or change your wrist from A to D. Give your arm some movement to places that make the chords easy and comfortable for you as everyone is different.
R.
Hello Rana and welcome to the Community. You should change the angle of your wrist for sure. I imagine after playing for a longer period of time it might be painful to you which should not be the case. Try using middle of your calluses next to frets and straighten this wrist out, push it forward slightly to avoid muting strings below.
With the fast paced song if it’s too fast try to slow it down to lets say 100 bpm and slowly day by day add some bpms until you reach your goal. That’s my word of advice 
Welcome to the forum Rana
It looks like you have long arms try using a strap and move the guitar body closer to the center of your body and lift the neck of the guitar up on a bit more of an angle. You should try and keep your wrist as straight as possible.
Yes, I would focus on bending your active fingers more, and your wrist less.
For the D chord, try getting your palm more parallel to the neck, by bending your 3rd finger more, and rotating your forearm so the underside is facing the ceiling more.
Also, relaxing the pinky…seems especially tense on the A chord. I had a problem with this, and found if I “crooked” my pinky, it really helped. I’ve seen Justin and other good players do this as well.
Hello all, I could use some more explicit guidance about how to approach the neck as well.
Looking through the thread, I’m having the same problem I see a few other people having. Depending on how I hold the neck, the problem that I have most often is that my #3 finger will be too flat and end up slightly muting the #1 E string. Depending on the angle of my fretting hand, also, at times my #1 finger won’t be pressed firmly enough and I will get a flat note from the #3 string.
I notice that my impulse when picking up the guitar is to have my thumb on top of the neck, with my palm fully wrapped around the back. This is what seems to cause problems. I guess I am subconsciously still trying to physically support the neck with my fretting hand, although I am wearing a strap both standing and sitting, and using my strumming arm to support the guitar body as Justin suggests. It seems like I will have these problems whenever my thumb is placed anywhere above the top half of the neck - my palm will be too close to the neck and I won’t be able to stretch my hand enough to place the fingers in position to get clean notes.
It seems like Justin starts out each video relaxed in something close to the thumb on top/palm at back grip, but then shifts when it’s time to fret notes. I’d appreciate it if anybody could lay out a “rule of thumb” (lol) for what to do with my fretting thumb/palm in these beginner stages. I’m guessing I want to focus on having my fingertips perpendicular to the fretboard? I’ve seen a couple of other sites give suggestions along these lines, but it’s a bit confusing, and I didn’t notice anything specific on this topic in the module 1 videos here. For what it’s worth, I’m doing better standing than sitting right now. And when I’m getting good notes, finger pain is less of a problem than wrist/lower forearm pain.
Hi Ian,
I’m a fellow beginner, mid-way through Grade 2. I have had (and continue to have) experiences similar to what you describe. This is part of the journey - we’ll always have something to improve!
I’ve had exactly this problem. My guitar-playing brother-in-law saw my fingerings and suggested two things: (1) consciously curl the fingers in order to (2) use the tippy-tips of the fingers to press the strings. I’m pretty sure this isn’t meant to be “the way” to think about fretting - indeed it’s sometimes not physically possible – but rather a way to develop good habits as a beginner AND to stretch (maybe contort is a better word?) and exercise the hand. Speaking of exercise…
While eventually this might be a good way to hold the neck, I’m pretty sure Justin advises keeping the thumb behind the neck as a beginner (at least through most of Grade 2). The reason: he wants us to strengthen some specific muscles in preparation for “the dreaded F chord”. I can’t find the exact place he advises this at the moment, but I’m sure you’ll encounter it soon. I’m a bit jealous…I have small hands, and am fearing the day I’m SUPPOSED to be able to wrap my thumb around the neck to mute the E!
Thanks for posting this! I’ll be following the responses you get from more experienced folks. 
Judi
Edited to add:
I just noticed the advice below from @stitch in another thread, so take my words for what they are - those of a beginner! 
Well, one problem I was having is that I was holding the neck too far out! I have mainly been practicing sitting, but now I’ve tried it standing a couple times and used the belly cut on my Stratocaster to make sure the neck is rotated much more closely to my fretting side. A remarkable ergonomic design, so I will definitely have to get a feel for this before I tackle an acoustic or a proper slab-body Telecaster. It’s not a cure-all, but gets me a lot closer.
I think this might be the end of my time learning the guitar I can’t seem to not mute the button string with my fat short fingers I have almost smashed this guitar like 3 times now out of frustration I try and try and try it is does not work
Welcome to the community, Eric! This is exactly what we’re here for. 
So first - please don’t smash your guitar, it makes playing much more difficult. I’m a beginner with small hands too, and feel frustrations as you do. There are many folks on this forum who can provide better advice than I. If you haven’t yet, spend some time scrolling through this topic. I suspect you’ll find some advice that you can try out to see if it helps! Also, can you take a photo of your hand forming the A and D chords and post them in the forum? This allows others (who are more experienced than I) to see what’s going on, and perhaps make some suggestions.
From one beginner to another, here are a few things have worked for me at the beginning: first is to use the tippy-tips of the fingers to press the strings. That might help minimize the amount of your finger that makes contact with the neck. Second: Curl your fingers. Third: keep your thumb behind the neck. That will change eventually, but for now it’s preferred to improve hand strength. Here’s an image of Justin forming D:
I’ve been playing a little over a year now, and I still muck up D (and all the others too)! We are not expected to be perfect as beginners. If I just can’t get something I sometimes allow myself be as good as I can at the time and move on. Usually when I come back to that thing in a week or two (or more), I’m doing it much better because of the new things I’ve been working on. Also: you’ll encounter in an upcoming lesson a good hand stretching exercise…that exercise will help in ways I can’t really explain but did experience!
Hope there’s something useful in what I’ve written! Keep us posted…
Oh do NOT give up. I was simply convinced i was not going to ever get 1-2 chords, adn just went on and started playing along with songs that had those chords (did that in place of 1-minute chord changes) and suddenly, i was hitting the chords correctly. Maybe i was more relaxed, wasn’t thinking too much. But please take my word for it - it happens. You will get there!!!
Please don’t give up. As the others have said, just keep trying. My D’s are still a bit of a mess and it’s only been a month. I rewatched Justin’s video on how to do them, and I am going to spend quite a bit of time on them tomorrow.
