Ha! This is true. I’m strumming Fields of Gold while my eyes are reading this post.
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Out of curiosity, what do you mean by “you aren’t consistently playing the chords as they are intended”? Is it about finger placement or the actual notes you play?
As others have mentioned, these exercises are the foundations of a very big part of guitar playing, especially if you will want to focus on strumming and rhythm playing. If you are practicing the open A chord, it’s natural that the grip will feel awkward at first but if you start slowly and make each attempt as perfect as you can (following Justin’s demonstrations), chances are that the chord will ring out clearly and the finger placement will become easier in a relatively short time.
However, if you practice so sloppily that you actually play a different chord than intended, let’s say, an Asus4 instead of A because you somehow fret the 2nd string at the 3rd fret instead of the 2nd fret, then you will be heading for trouble down the road. You will not practice playing and recognizing the nature (major, minor, sus, etc) of the particular chord you are supposed to be playing and later on it’s much more difficult to unlearn incorrect things and relearn them properly.
So be patient and practice the chords as perfectly as you can. Before you are definitely familiar with the grips and where your fingers are supposed to be placed, I wouldn’t worry about the one-minute changes.
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Yes that makes sense @CATMAN62 and agree that you can practise getting really good at doing the “wrong” things.
Thanks @Jozsef. I’ve been working hard at finger placement using Justin’s videos for A and D chords. My finger placement for D chord is improving (dexterity) and I’m getting a more consistent ring from each string. Not always, but some of the time after I’ve gone through the finger placement checks.
For A chord I have used the same approach but have just not been able to get, particularly string 1 / E, to ring out at all. I can see that in most cases finger 3 is touching string 1 / E and when I try to adjust that my finger 1 palm / knuckle seems to be touching it (it maybe touching it anyway, it’s difficult to see).
That would lead to trying to arch the fingers and hand more, but I’m not sure if that is physically an option or I just don’t have the suppleness / dexterity at the moment and need to practise more.
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@tweim1
I have been meaning to come back and link to previous conversations around this subject that may contain useful comment for you.
@Richard_close2u thank you so much for finding those. I will read through later today. Much appreciated
This sounds like you may be resting the guitar neck in the palm of your hand or possibly on the inside knuckle of the index finger. You should position your hand so there is a fair amount of space between the neck and your palm.
Basically, your fretting hand should only be touching the neck with the pad of the thumb on the back and the tips of the fingers on the fretboard.
You can see here how Justin’s knuckles are quite a bit below the guitar neck and there is ample space between his palm and the neck.
From this position you can make small adjustments to the position and angle of your fingertips without worrying about your palm muting string 1.
@jjw thank you. Not sure my hands are big enough to do that but will give it a try. Looks much better positioning with more space than I have though hand size is definitely a factor for me here
I barely get any clearance under the neck sometimes and depending on what I’m doing sometimes the neck does rest slightly on my hand at the base of the first finger. I try to keep that slight gap but sometimes it just fits better if I let it touch. I would suggest trying hard to keep the gap but not stress too much if it touches. The only alternative I’ve found is to bend the wrist, which I really really try to avoid, so I choose the lesser of two evils.
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@artax_2 thank you. Yes, maintaining a gap whilst trying to arch the hand and fingers is a challenge.
Good points from @artax_2. Just to be clear, my suggestion about keeping the gap between the neck and the palm was specifically for the A chord and @tweim1’s problem of muting the 1st string. For other chords, I find that I do touch the guitar neck with my palm or the inside of my 1st knuckle. Every chord is different and requires some experimentation in the exact position of the hand and wrist.
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Hi, Toni, you have all the help and advice above but I would like to add I am in the same position as you not with the guitar but with hands I have tiny hands and short fingers and I remember asking the same questions as you years ago, I didn’t have what we have now ie the community or internet so I was at a loss until one day a guitar teacher was the same as us, we do take the advice but rest assure in time your hands will find there own way of getting around playing I don’t even think about it now, in fact sometimes a bonus smaller and faster soldier on you will get there cheers Hec 
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