I know that feeling of getting obsessed with some technique problem!
With me, it starts with the thought “This keeps happening, and I’m sick of it, and I’m going to keep grinding away until I solve it!”
Sometimes this works, and I see noticeable improvement in a few days. But other times, there is little or no progress, no matter how much effort I put in. This can be very frustrating, and I’ve learned to put it aside for a while when I start feeling that frustration…much as you did.
Usually success comes when I find or invent the right exercise that directly addresses the problem. That’s what worked in this case.
Glad to see the improvement in your finger control.
I have only rarely experienced the sort of pinky “lock up” visible in your original video, and that was pretty much due to stretching too far with that finger.
When I play an open G, it’s almost always the weak G version, so I gave it a try and observed my open C to G to C changes. The differences I found between your latest video and how I played the changes were the following:
I always try to relax my pinky in the open C grip as much as I can. As a result, it’s neither stuck to my 3rd finger nor bent towards the 1st string. When you say you are crooking your little finger, do you mean you actively curl it back?
Maybe it’s due to the camera angle, but when you change to the weak finger G, your 1st and 2nd fingers seem to be hovering 1 string up, whereas my fingers seem to “raise up” perpendicular to the strings. What I mean is that those fingers remain quite close to the point of contact with the strings when playing the C chord. If you’ll manage to make less movements with those fingers, the changes may get quicker and easier.
Also, I keep my thumb behind the neck (I can’t reach over the neck with my thumb on any of my guitars), so that may partially account for these differences.
I tried to make a video with my phone in one hand, so it’s not top quality, but I hope what I wrote about is visible:
Yes, that’s correct. Otherwise, my pinky would tend to lock up in an intermediate position when moving to the e string. It’s a strange feeling - like there’s a danger zone between pinky being extended and being fully flexed (“crooked”). Good mobility and relaxation at the extremes, but paralysis in the middle.
I adopted it because it seemed to solve the problem, and I’ve seen other guitarists do it - notably Justin and Ryan Lendt. But now I’m having second thoughts.
Bingo! You are absolutely correct - index and middle fingers want to follow ring finger as it moves to big E string, rather than hovering over B and D.
I tried to slow it down and really focus on this, and immediately noticed feelings of tension and trembling, which is a sign of increased awareness, in my experience.
Seems to be mainly a problem with finger independence. I need to be able to extend ring and flex pinky (contrary motion), while index and middle hover in place.
This fine motor control sure is complicated…for me, at least.
As you gave a lot of helpful advice in my thread about how to get a more relaxed fretting hand, I came back to your thread.
Apart of a flying pinky, I have the same problem you had with a kind of paralysis or locked 4th finger. It got obvious as I came to the C7 Chord. I have big trouble with the pinky, which sometimes freezes completely while switching to the C7, I just can’t move it anymore. Good to see, that you obviously got your finger under control, so I’ll try this too!
I have a combination of both . Pinky flies or is braced and it freezes, completely locked, even when I concentrate, I can’t move it, especially when switching to C7.
IIRC, when this would happen to me, I would relax my hand, but leave my fingers lightly resting on the strings in the chord shape. Then try to unlock the pinky.
This would often take several seconds at first, but got faster with practice.
Any point in learning this G when I’m super comfortable with changing to the regular one already? Like I can do G to C 60 times in a minute and coupling that with how much effort this G takes makes it feel a bit obsolete for me. I imagine it could help with dexterity since it’s such an awkward fiingering but I’m not sure.
Hi @futer - welcome to the community! Fellow beginner here. I had the same thoughts when I encountered the weak finger G. For me, it’s been good to have in my toolbox. Sometimes a song has a chord sequence that I just have trouble getting under my fingers, and sometimes there’s other stuff going on (strumming pattern, rhythm) that requires extra thinking. One can always replace the weak finger G with the regular one as they continue to work on a piece. Also, I’ve noticed for some songs (especially on an electric guitar), the weak finger version just sounds cleaner to my ears. Finally - using that fourth finger is a great exercise in itself. I’m interested to read the comments from other more experienced folks!
Justin has “chord explorer” lessons (maybe starting Grade 2?) where you are trying out different fingering options around the various open chords creating SUS, diminished, etc. versions. The weak finger G is good to have under control when you get there. I like the sound of many of things he shows us in the G Chord Explorer lesson.
Id suggest you keep it in your toolbox.
It can create a better sound in many cases, without the low B, plus it opens up many very quick changes and embellishments that are part of many songs.
I would make this point though: you could just skip this for now but keep it in mind, be aware of it, and drag it out and learn it when you actually need to. Maybe you’re learning a fast song that has a lot of G-C changes. Maybe you need to perform an embellishment with the index finger or switch between G and G7. When the regular G is not good enough in a particular situation, then learn the weak finger G.
That’s one way to approach this sort of thing if it seems pointless to learn a certain chord grip.
Anyone else have the pinky finger, when doing a weak finger G, sort of go to the side away from 3rd finger? I have no issue getting the first string down with a clean sound though. I can bring it close to the third finger so it sits straighter but I have to really focus. Since it doesn’t cause any issue to splay out, it is more of an issue of aesthetic issue I guess. I was curious if anyone else has this issue.
I have a similar issue with the little pinky finger. My finger tends to move away from my ring finger and even be almost lying downs sideways sometimes. Really annoying but it still seems to work. It only happens in some chords though, not all the them.
I think it’s a bit weird but it doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere else:joy:. Guess I’m stuck with it.
Thank you @ArizonaAngie ! It is good to know I’m not alone. lol. I can muscle it to stand up and I’ll keep working at it from time to time but I’m not too bothered by it. I am probably stuck with it too lol. For sure I will not let it stop my from practicing. My guitar is always close at hand and I’ll pick it up whenever I can :-). Thank you for replying. Much appreciated and great to know I’m not the only one…lol
Has anyone else struggled with being able to make an air-change for this AT ALL? It’s not a speed thing. My fingers 3 and 4 simply will not separate far enough on air for me to make this shape fast. I need to have one of the fingers in place for the other one to reach its proper note. If I try to just rest my fingers ove the note, without pressing it will also simply not happen. Not trying to be fast, not even trying a chord change. It doesn’t happen.
If I’m using 2 and 4 it’s super fast and feels actually useful, so I wonder if I should just stick to that indefinitely.
Independent control of those two fingers takes some work. It took dedicated practice for me to gain a small amount of independence over them.
In short , I spent a few weeks placing all fingers on their own fret (about fret 5 for finger 1) and then trying to lift and split fingers 3 and 4 onto opposing strings (so fingers 1,2 on string 3, finger 3 on string2, finger 4 on string 4). then I’d trade strings with fingers 3 and 4, trying to set them down at the same time.
this is hard to do. Just do it a little bit for a while and you will eventually get enough independent control to get the G chord working like you hope.
Move slowly, keeping track of both fingers going where you want. This will likely take a few weeks, so don’t get too impatient.
. Pinky flies or is braced and it freezes, completely locked, even when I concentrate, I can’t move it, especially when switching to C7.