Richard I can also confirm Justin shows the G hack as fingers 2 & 3 and not the pinkie in this lesson. Just completed my Grade 1 Review this evening. I was expecting to see the 3 & 4 fingered G, so was surprised it was the 2 fingered version I often use, unless I’m going G to C. 
1 Like
Hey, just shows it happens to the best! 
1 Like
That’s in Grade 2 module 10 https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/weak-finger-g-bg-1001
2 Likes
is it cheating if i use my pinky instead of my ring finger on the E string
cause my damn ring finger keeps on bending
1 Like
No. It’s fine. No cheating 
If it feels better for you, playing like this, please go for it.
Your pinky will be on the thin E string anyway when you learn the “Big G”. Similarly the pinky is on the thin E string in the “weak finger G”
2 Likes
I use my pinky a lot for this. Also makes C>G changes easier.
2 Likes
Also useful for the stuck 3/4 (Oasis) chords when you get to the Deborah so go for it. It would be worth continuing to practice using finger 3 though imo but don’t get hung up on it.
1 Like
Hi Deborah,
To me it looks like your ring finger is bent… that is something you should try to avoid… it may take a while so don’t stress if it doesn’t work right away (I had to work on my pinky for a long time befor it didn`t do that ) but maybe is this only because of the photo… in that case have fun and good luck with all possible G possibilities,
Greetings
Edit:
That’s exactly what you’re saying here, right? 
and you don’t mean’ the vinger bend the string’ (because that happened to me very often and for a very long time)
1 Like
I actually use a different way to play G depending on the song. Weak G with pinky or ring finger on E, stuck 3/4 muting the A string or playing it… if it sounds good then it’s good.
1 Like
i tried several grip on the neck but the ring finger keeps on being too straight
i can t use only the first joint of the finger and if i force its not natural at all or comfortable
since the pinky is used on the E string for the big G
i thought i might use it here too
works way better , it just needs a little bit of practice
3 Likes
When I have had my hand shape be off a bit, it wound up being a problem later.
In your case here, it looks like you have low strength and probably poor control over bending the ring finger. I recommend doing some exercised to improve that. I’ll bet you have some trouble grabbing string 5 with that finger without it flexing into string 4? If so, that will come back and bite you later 
Also, there will be some embellishments in your lessons soon that will require either pinky or ring finger free to move around. If your finger is weak or poorly controlled, those techniques will be difficult until you get your strength and dexterity up.
Take a look at stretching as well. Often I have found that I had trouble because I was fighting a lack of mobility. Couple that will a lack of strength and you just cannot get into position until both are improved.
If you want to play a song, then you can use the grip that works, but keep improving on the other until you can start to use it instead. At least that way you are not waiting to learn a song.
1 Like
not at all but i do have neurological issues and was not even able to hold a pen 10 years ago
If django reinhardt could play without his fourth and fifth finger , i think i can manage to overcome and find alternatives to my problems
2 Likes
Ah, yes. then you get to experiment your way around the problem. I watched a couple play at Christmas. Both of them had suffered hand injuries years ago and it was quite interesting to see how they handled playing.
1 Like
exactly what im trying to do … i ll never play a G until my retirement if i wait for my fingers to get trained properly
I ll do it slowly and try alternatives
2 Likes
i asked a guitar teacher to help me on this issue
2 Likes
I seem to naturally graduate to using ,3rd finger=A string , 4th finger =low E and 5th finger (pinkie) on the high E !! Don’t know why it just seem that that’s the way my fingers naturally migrate to the G chord !!
Greetings from Cyprus!
Even though I like the simplified version of the G chord because in my opinion it sounds better, I would highly recommend different fingering, even for beginners. Instead of fingers 2+3, I would consider fingers 3+4 - it’s a much much better fingering in my opinion, for the following reasons,
1 => Even though the stretch is a more difficult one, almost all of the chord changes I can think of, are much much easier and quicker, which is very important for beginners. You can use your pinky as an anchor when changing to a D chord and all of the other open chords, are easier because the fingers you are going to use are either free, or closer to the position they need to be to form the next chord.
2 => Fingers 2+3 are free to do other stuff/embellish the song
3 => Finger independence between fingers 3+4 and pinky strength, are things that you are going to have to work out later on and as someone who struggled with those two things, I wish I had started work on them sooner. G chord is a nice way to start, because the fact that it’s alright to flatten the 3rd finger a bit because you want to mute the A string anyway, makes the stretch a little bit easier.
Yes, it’s a harder fingering, but it’s not THAT much hard because of reason number 3 and either way you’ll have Justin’s recommendation as a backup until you learn the different fingering.
Cheers!
1 Like
I’ve been playing for a bit more than a year, but still can’t smoothly/accurately land a G, 3 finger or 4. Unlike most of the other beginner chords, my fingers don’t land on the strings simultaneously. Pinky and 3rd finger land before middle and pointer.
When playing slowly, all is well. But, when I try to pick up the pace, I can’t land my fingers for a clean sound, i.e. without muting adjacent strings, causing buzzing, etc. I’ve tried to practice chord changes in slomo, to no avail.
Does anyone have a practice suggestion so I can make solid G landings?
Thanks all.
Some of us have had good results by changing the order in which we landed our fingers. Do a few reps landing your index first, then a few more reps landing your middle first and so on.
Then practice trying to land them all at once. Not sure why this works, but it sometimes does.