I struggled with this a lot at first…search for “pinky lock” in this thread for details.
It took a while, but now I use it all the time…especially when changing to/from C. It’s much more efficient.
I probably still lead a bit with either finger, so it’s not a pure air change, but it works fine for me.
That said, if it’s not holding you back for the songs you want to play now, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you find that limiting in the future, you can revisit, and it will probably be easier because of your increased skills.
I did something similar by holding a C chord, then fretting with my pinky on e, B, G, and D strings…up and down at the 3rd fret. IIRC, I included this in one of my videos upthread.
Really seemed to help, and taught myself some C chord embellishments as well!
It finally clicked for me. After struggling for 2 weeks - finding it considerably harder than the big F - what changed the game for me was focusing more on making the movement as minimal as possible instead of focusing on a big air change like I was trying before.
Tnx for this one. And voor the perfect timing of adding Sweet Sixteen to the app. Love the song and a really nice way to practice transition to F and G and C.
For me this weak G is easy, the C is more difficult. And the F, off course.
Hi Fyona @Sofie75, welcome to the community! If you have a minute, visit over here and tell us a bit about your guitar journey.
It’s always interesting to see what different people find easy and difficult. The stretch on the weak finger G is difficult for me, even after over 6 months of practicing it! But I agree, it’s much easier to transition to C. Like you, F (in all its forms) is still a challenge for me, but I persist!
I have been practicing Casey’s Last Ride - Kris Kristofferson for this G practice. It has all the changes Justin suggests using this G for plus being a beautiful song.
I’m sure this question has been asked somewhere, likely more than once, but I can’t find it so I will re-ask it.
I could play what I think of as the “regular G chord” (320003) before I discovered Justin’s courses and I can switch to it pretty fast - ie I haven’t encountered a song in which getting to G would be an issue while there are several other chord changes that are ore limiting for me. Which makes me wonder, should I still be working on the weak finger G since the course says so, or better to work on the chords that are limiting my song playing (Em to Dm, Em to B7, Am to F)?
(I know B7 and fast changes to a full F chord are not something that was assigned so far, but I am kinda working on them regardless because of the songs I want to play…)
That would be up to you. If you have limited time to practice then I’d suggest skipping the Weak Finger G for now. But and it’s a big But. It’s called the Weak Finger G for a reason. Justin teaches it mainly to help strengthen your pinky and work on it’s independence. The pinky doesn’t get much of a workout in the beginning then all of a sudden there are 7th chords, Barre chords, etc that use the pinky then people have trouble with them.
Hi Maciej, welcome to the community forum. The lesson is very similar with the same chord shape for the G. The “G chord hacked” lesson introduced the 2 3 finger version of the G chord, leaving out the index finger on the 5th string and muting instead. This lesson, uses the 3 4 fingers for the chord. Some people have trouble using the pinky or 4 finger, so this version was introduced later.
I don’t find the two fingered g chord particularly useful. I started my guitar journey with a free 10 day guitar course and open chord song lessons on YouTube. I find the three or four fingered g chord much easier, especially for mostly open chord songs like Every Rose Has its thorn when you have g to cadd9, cast no shadow with a similar chord progression and R.E.M’s The One I Love.
To me, it’s great that ya find the 3 or 4 finger G easier as they use 3 or 4 fingers to fret as opposed to 2.
You may find the 2 finger G useful in the future though. There are places where ya might want to use your index finger to fret other notes other than the 3rd.
So imho, keep at it man. There are many chords I find difficult to play. Chords I don’t use often. But there are times when they are the chord I need to play whether I find them easy or not.
Also, keep in mind. There are many forms (ways to play) of a G chord (any chord for that matter), I’m finding these alternative chords have their place in this song or that song. It seems to me it’s good to be versatile.
Keep on jammin man! It’s a long journey.
Enjoy the community, as we’re all on the long journey here,
You are on the right track if you look at what you are learning and try to see the benefits for yourself. I find that the two-finger G can sometimes make it easier for you to change chords or start a bass line. For example, I struggled with “Sittin on the dock of the bay” for a long time when I tried to add a little bass line on the A string until I learned the two-finger G from Justin. Fingers 1 and 2 are immediately available after the G and I personally find it more comfortable this way. You can see the playing style in David Pots’ video for “Sittin On”. I don’t know if I’m allowed to post the YouTube link here.
Niether do I
I am a 2+ year beginner and from the beginning I learned the full 4 fingered G and it is now much easier to play for me as 2 fingered G chord.
But lately I am trying to add embellishments to my rhythm and it is hard to do that with full G. So now I am learning and forcing myself to use 2 finger G more often.
It is going ok so far, but I really much prefer the sound of the full G… maybe because I am more used to it, I guess…
Anyhow, you have to master both (all) fingering
