Hi @999avatar999, you’ll just have to get used to using the pad of your finger a bit more 
You might find that the 5th string starts buzzing when you do that. If that’s the case, slide your finger a bit further towards the fret. With this fingering, you might have the idea/feeling that you’re pressing the string at the right place, while you’re effectively just a bit too far back.
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Since you are blessed with long fingers, you could try muting the sixth string by resting your thumb on it (assuming you have a proportionally long thumb 
).
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I spent several weeks trying to make 6th muting work with my ring finger, but I eventually gave up and started doing thumb muting.
I have long fingers, but I think my guitar also has a wide neck, which led to my difficulties. It was a big change to my technique, but worth it at the time…for me, at least.
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It sounds like you are still in grade 1, so my advice is to not worry too much about the string muting. You should focus more on changes between the C chord and the other chords you have learned and playing along to songs. You will work more on string muting when you start grade 2 in module 8.
I don’t always get the C chord muting correct and I am starting grade 4. I focus on starting my strum on the 5th string, where you are playing the low C root note of the chord. If you happen to hit the 6th string, which is the low E, it is not a serious error, since that note is part of the C chord. Later you will learn that is a valid alternative way to play the C chord and useful in some songs.
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yeah, thumb muting the low E is pretty easy for me, and I can also somewhat consciously skip that string while strumming, though that’s not a 100%. I was just trying to wrap my head around muting with fingers other than the thumb, cus I assume that’s a technique that’s applicable to other chords as well
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yeah thumb muting works for me really well too. Idk if my guitar has a wide neck or my fingers are too thin lol but yeah, it’s a struggle trying to do it with the index finger
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Why is it that only the C i have to put more pressure to make it ring than any other chord. good callused fingers still get sore.
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Do you have to press more with all fingers or just one?
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I find the stretch in the C chord makes it hard to keep adequate pressure with my ring finger, causing the second string to buzz sometimes.
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One and two but more so on one.
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Perhaps the stretchy nature of the chord means you aren’t getting your fingers up as close to the fret as you usually do, Bruce. That could lead to needing a little more pressure.
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You might be concentrating so hard on the stretch that you ‘forget’ to pay attention to your other fingers. It could be your fingers aren’t close enough to the frets, but it could also be that, while stretching to reach with your third finger, your other fingers slide forward ever so slightly, placing them too much on top of the fret. Try analysing what exactly you’re doing and where your fingers end up, and try taking it from there.
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Hey Bruce, from a different Bruce
I think @DavidP and @LadyOfTheCastle are on to something. I used to have that too, but have been pretty good about doing finger stretching https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/finger-stretching-exercise-te-101, and now the C chord doesn’t feel quite so stretchy. Before I was struggling just to make it to the three frets, now I’m more able to work on how I’m making it there.
Bruce
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How long did it take you all to fully integrate the C chord and get it playing in songs correctly? I’m a few weeks into having learned this chord and it still sounds like garbage even with my practice sessions focusing on it.
Well, everyone has different sticking points. With only two weeks into practicing the C chord (assuming at least 5 minutes a day), I’d say you should not be worried.
At some point in your practicing, you will get it “pretty good”. At that point, it’s probably OK to move on, as you’ll continue to get more practice on the C when you start doing 1-minute changes with it.
My biggest problems with C were getting my 3rd finger close to the 3rd fret, muting the low E with the tip of the 3rd finger, and accidentally muting the B string when fretting the G string with my 2nd finger.
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Ha Ha I have yet been able to play ANY song cleanly and completely. 5 months in
I’m three years in and I still haven’t perfected it.
My third finger mutes the thick E string, so that’s good, but sometimes it’s a good mute and sometimes it’s not. That length is also a stretch and sometimes I buzz the string because I don’t always achieve the stretch up against the fret.
I find that my second finger likes to mimic the third finger, so I’ll find it’s trying to mute the string above it, which then results in poor position and a buzzed note there too.
And my first finger usually does a good job, I don’t seem to have problems there.
Maybe 70% of the time the chord sounds good, but many times it sounds bad to my ear, but then I check my positioning and each string is ringing out properly. So part of it may be mental where if I feel my fingers didn’t land right my mind thinks it doesn’t sound right.
Also the longer my practice, the more tired and sloppy my hand feels.
I started about 16 months ago; can’t remember exactly when the C chord was in that, but probably something like a year ago. When Justin first introduced the C chord, I couldn’t get my ring finger down to where it needed to be no matter how hard I tried. (Small hands.) For maybe three weeks I was super frustrated and not having fun, when my husband suggested that it was ok to use my pinky if I needed to. That made all the difference, and within a few weeks I could do 1-minute changes plus lots of songs with C (“Lola” is particularly fun and great motivation for C chord changes).
About three months ago I started working on the intro to Dust in the Wind, where you have to do C with the ring finger, the pinky is busy doing other things. Oh no!! But it turned out it was no problem at all; C was a familiar chord now, and my fingers had gotten more flexible, so I was able to switch to playing C with the ring finger the way everybody says you’re supposed to.
I’m still not as fast as I’d like when transitioning from some other chord to C, but it’s fast enough for most of the songs I’ve learned.
The moral is: if you have trouble with a chord, see if you can modify it somehow so you can play it. Don’t worry if it isn’t the “right” way; get the chord working any way you can, and you can always learn later to play it a different way if you need to.
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C to Em changes: Is it ok to use finger 2 as an anchor and play Em with finger 1 on the A string and finger 2 on the D string? Or will this cause problems later?
Hey Nico,
I do see some beginners taking the gos option, but I personally prefer the finger 2+3 option when playing the Em.
Here’s why:
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When playing Em with finger 1+2, sometimes finger 1 mutes the high E strings.
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Playing Em with finger 2+3 helps prepare and condition these fingers for the E major and Am chords.
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Playing Em with fingers 1+2 might feel like a quicker, easier win, but in the long run you’re to need to “air” change to the C chord anyway - from a G for example. So I think you might as well start working this change to the C chord as it’s a tricky one that requires plenty of effort and practice.
I hope this helps
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