Skip to content
Big Fingers Causing...
 
Notifications
Clear all

Big Fingers Causing Problems

17 Posts
13 Users
0 Likes
3,858 Views
(@ryanxp)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  

Hi, i'm extremely new to guitar - i've only recieved my first about a month ago - and though i've been practicing as much as I can, I can't get many chords to sound properly at all, and i'm beginning to think that its not just my positioning (as I can sit for 10 minutes placing my fingers in the proper place and they're still touching other strings no matter what) and that the large fingers are to blame -_- Any suggestions? I'm not really sure what to do at this point...


   
Quote
 geoo
(@geoo)
Famed Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2801
 

Welcome to GN RyanXP!! Its actually pretty common to think that. I felt that way too.. You may be right but I have seen some pretty fat fingers guitarist play extremely well. Best suggestion I have is to look around for a teacher. Take your one free lesson and see what he says about the way you are holding the guitar. Alot of places will give you one free.

Good luck
Geoo

“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)


   
ReplyQuote
(@niklas)
Reputable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 248
 

I'm sure it would be easier to help you if you say exactly wich chords you are having problems with and we maybe can give you alternative fingerings (you can example try to barre the A chord).

Maybe it's an idea to get a guitar teacher in the beginning that can see exactly what you're are doing right/wrong.

And a big welcome to GN. To be honest, it's the best place on the internet to get help about everything guitar related, so be sure to visit freqently :wink: .

Edit: Geoo types faster :lol:

"Talent is luck. The important thing in life is courage."


   
ReplyQuote
(@biker_jim_uk)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 536
 

also are you using the tips of your fingers instead of the pads? And what sort of guitar are you playing on? For eg Gibson necks are narrower than Strats and therefore strings are closer together


   
ReplyQuote
(@ryanxp)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  

the guitar i'm playing on is a no-name, as i've yet to purchase one for myself (it was a random gift when I mentioned that I wanted to learn a new instrument). I'm using the tips of my fingers and not the pads, and i've experimented holding the guitar a ton of different ways to try and make it so that they can arch correctly. I'll have to try and find a teacher in my area I suppose (and I know for sure that the next guitar I buy will have a wider neck :P). Thanks!


   
ReplyQuote
(@the-dali)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1409
 

Hey Ryan, I think most people feel like something about themselves won't work with guitar - or any instrument. I thought I had small hands for the instrument, but I went to a teacher and he quickly squashed that excuse. With practice anything is possible.

In some instances the big hands might be usefull (for certain chord shapes or even Barre chords).

I agree with the rest, see a teacher - even if for only a few lessons - and I'll bet he or she can get you fixed up.

-=- Steve

"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"


   
ReplyQuote
(@uno-pulgar)
Trusted Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 38
 

Hi Ryan, My hands are small and fingers thick. I started in January, following a teach-yourself book, and spent eight weeks learning the notes in first position and one-note at a time songs. When I got to Chaper 9: Major Chords, I nearly quit. I had to use my right hand to place my left hand fingers on the fret. Long story-short I kept at it and Finally got it.
It wasn't quick or easy but now when I come to something that I just know I'll never be able to do I just remember that first time trying a C-major chord and keep trying.

Avatar- Correy Harris 8/12/2006 Heritage Music Blues fest, Wheeling WVa


   
ReplyQuote
(@jcjxxl)
Trusted Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 44
 

Ryan, keep up the practice man. I've been playing for about 2 months now. I consider my fingers thick. At first it seemed impossible, especially the A chord - how the heck do you squeeze all 3 fingers in there? But eventually it comes. It could be a couple of things, it could be the location of your thumb, it could the bend (or lack of) in your wrist, it could be the position of the fingers,etc,etc. It could be several things. Sometimes it's just a matter of ever so slightly tilting the tip of your finger just a hair to get the other fingers to "fit". Don't give up. I'm 5'9 and 230+ pounds. My background in my physical development is wrestling and bodybuilding, so of course my fingers are a bit thick, but you know what? After practicing I can nail all my chords perfectly the first time about 95% of the time, even the A chord. So you'll get it. It just takes a bit of patient, practice and positioning.

Have you tried simple a simple chord like Em? It only requires 2 fingers. That might be a nice starting point to get kid of get the feel for how making the slightest adjustment in your fingers will allow you to clear all the other strings when you strum.

I've also discovered as the muscles in my fingers develop or get use to fretting, I am able to control them better as far as positioning goes.


   
ReplyQuote
(@ryanxp)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  

Em i've got down - it more or less seems that anything beyond two fingers becomes muddled. I've messed with a wide variety of thumb placements (my wrist isn't flexible enough to have it sit perpendicular to the neck, however). It's not that I can't fit 3 fingers in there, but rather that because my fingertips (and fingers in general) are so wide, they always nudge other strings and kill the chord :P

Finding an instructor might have to wait til I go back to campus, as in my city I can't seem to find any places within range that offer beginner lessons... but i'll keep looking, as it can't hurt to keep an eye out.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it, and i'll stick around the forums and see what I can pick up :)


   
ReplyQuote
(@artlutherie)
Noble Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 1157
 

I'd say it's a problem with your set up this is the strings are too high. Hit a guitar store with some hihger priced guitars and see if that's the problem. If it is a setup or new guitar is in order. 8)

Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear!
ChuckNorrisFactsdotCom


   
ReplyQuote
(@mikey)
Reputable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 329
 

It is possible that you are pressing too hard on the strings with your fingers. Causing the fingers to mash down flat and expand, touching neighboring strings. Once you develope callouses on your fingertips you won't need as much pressure. Use only as much pressure as needed to make the string contact the fret and make the note sound.

Technique. Is the last joint of your fingers as close to 90 degrees from the fretboard as possible. (picture a pencil standing on its end on a table). If your fingertips are too much at an angle they will hit other strings. Where is the palm of your hand. Is it behind the neck? The meat of your hand needs to be out front. Try repositioning your guitar. Lift the headstock so its between your shoulder and ear, or there abouts. This will change the angle of how your fingers meet the strings. If your fingers are as wide as you say they are the angle to the strings might make a big difference. Try moving your elbow in and out from where it is towards and away from your body. (This is all pretty confusing I'm sure, best to have an instructor show you what this all means)

Practice. It will come, even the dreaded F chord. Even the barre chords. I for one will never be able to get 3 fingers to play an open A chord. So I either use 1 finger or 2. Depending on which chord I'm coming from and which chord I'm going to. Many chords have alternate fingerings. Beginners books are made of paper, nothing is written in stone.

Best of luck
Michael

Playing an instrument is good for your soul


   
ReplyQuote
(@jcjxxl)
Trusted Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 44
 

Excellent suggestions Michael!


   
ReplyQuote
(@dylan6776)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 124
 

I had exactly the same problem when I first started playing - and my fingers are pretty 'normal'. If I played an Am, I would make the A string buzz and the G string would mute - every time! It drove me mad! I still cannot play an A chord with three fingers, and learned to barre it with one finger. However, how I finally got going was this:

First, use a capo. If you place the capo on the second, third, or even fourth fret, you'll find it much easier to play chords cleanly because the neck is wider further down the guitar. I would not play without a capo for two years. Once I'd built up a technique, I gradually moved the capo further and further back up the neck until I was playing without one - and hey presto! No buzz, no mute!

Also, it really does help to have a quality guitar with a slightly wider neck. I've owned five guitars; three of which I still had problems because the necks were just too slim. I finally brought a guitar with a slightly wider neck (Simon & Patrick Spruce 6) and it is the first time in four years of playing that I've finally played all my chords cleanly without a capo. I've been to hell and back with this problem and found that it really is down to the guitar itself. Go to your music store and try everyone in the shop until you find one that you can play cleanly.

Hope this helps :)

Never assume the other fellow has intelligence equal to yours. He may have more.


   
ReplyQuote
(@alangreen)
Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5342
 

Panic not.

I have a student, who I shall refer to as "Sausage-fingered Mick", because he has fingers like a pound of Tesco's pork and beef specials. He started playing when he was 62 and last week he was rattling out REM's Everybody Hurts; not only was he getting the chords down but he fingerpicking the arpeggios using a really good p-i-m-a-m-i pattern.

Best,

A :-)

"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk


   
ReplyQuote
(@chuckster)
Prominent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 938
 

Thanks for that Alan. Great timing.

I'm battling with Everybody Hurts at the moment. My fingers aren't particularly large so if "Sausage-fingered Mick" can do it I'll take some inspiration from him.

Couldn't have come at a better time. :lol:

I've had a lot of sobering thoughts in my time.
It was them that turned me to drink.


   
ReplyQuote
Page 1 / 2