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Greetings and Question About Chord Fingering

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(@bluebug)
New Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Hello and Happy New Year! I have been visiting here for a long time, but this is my first post. I know a lot of chords, both open and barre type. I also understand a lot about chord construction and scales, so I guess that I am an advanced beginner. I prefer fingerstyle playing and I am working my way through some of Little Brother's instructional material. I have one nagging problem with chord fingering that I am struggling with and I wonder if anyone here can help me. In many chord progressions involving an open G, it is more efficient to finger the chord 2-3-4. When I try this fingering, my ring finger wants to pull my pinky away from where it needs to be and I cannot seem to fret the first string when 2 and 3 are in position. Is there some specific exercise that will help train my fingers? I have average to slightly large size hands and I have plenty of hand strength. I see others play a 2-3-4 G with no problem, including people with small hands, so it must be something that I am missing in technique. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.


   
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(@coloradofenderbender)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1106
 

First, welcome aboard! Hope to see you posting regularly.

To answer your question: yes, there are many exercises to strengthen and stretch your fingers. A quick search will reveal lots of them. Or, you can make them up yourself. Here is one to try:

Start as as high up the fretboard as needed, for example: play this on each string one string at a time, 12th fret with index, 14th fret with middle, 16th w/ ring, 18th w/ pinkie. Once that becomes easy, shift it down one fret - starting on fret 11. As you move closer to the nut, the frets are bigger and you will gradually stretch your fingers.

Try that one, or make one up yourself.


   
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(@nexion)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 525
 

1) Welcome to GuitarNoise and Happy New Year to you as well.

2) I may have misunderstood your post, so I will just post a picture of how most people fret G:

Hope that helps!

"That’s what takes place when a song is written: You see something that isn’t there. Then you use your instrument to find it."
- John Frusciante


   
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(@coloradofenderbender)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1106
 

Nexion:

Bluebug is talking about a different fingering of the open G chord - middle finger on the 5th string, ring finger on the 6th string and pinkie on the 1st string. That fingering leaves the pointer finger "free" and potentially makes it easier to move to the next chord - depending on the next chord.


   
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(@greybeard)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5840
 

There could be any number of reasons, but without seeing what you're doing, it's difficult to tell exactly.
There are, however, some things that you can try.
First thing, is to ensure that the guitar is at right-angles to your body - many (particularly self-taught) players tend to push the neck forward and have the guitar body resting on the right hip. Worse still, they need to see what they are doing, on the fretboard, so they tip the guitar, so that they can look.
Both of these things will cause unnecessary stretching of the fretting arm and bending of the wrist - 2 things guaranteed to make those sort of fingerings a real pain (literally).
Stand in front of a full-length mirror and check the way you hold the guitar - this is also good for practicing, in general.
Another thing could be, that you have your fretting hand too far into the "Baseball-bat" grip. Holding the neck to closely (i.e. palm resting on the back of the neck and thumb hanging over the top) will result in restricted movement of your fretting hand. Try adopting the classical grip, particularly for rhythm playing. Form a chord (any chord, it's the hand position that matters) and put the ball and first joint of your thumb in the middle of the neck and located, horizontally, in the centre of your finger span, so that you can exert even pressure with all fingers.
It's also possible that you are tensing your arm and making it inflexible - just relax.
If none of those help - post a few pics of your playing position and we'll see what to do.

I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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(@noteboat)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4921
 

To get my students used to 234 G fingering, I have them switch back and forth between the G and G7.

Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL


   
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(@bluebug)
New Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Thanks. I will try the single string exercises. The G-G7 switch will be a good exercise once I get the fingering down correctly. I guess that I am bad about tilting the neck to see my fingers when I have trouble and I am sure that this just makes it worse. :oops:


   
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