Hello all,
I bought a cheap acoustic guitar in my local music shop on an impulse (they had a sale on) about a month ago. Always fancied giving it a go but for one reason or another never got around to it. I've never even strummed a guitar in my 32 years until this month but it's going pretty well.
I bought myself a book and after a lot of pain and buzzing I've pretty much nailed E Em A Am G D and C, I'm still fighting with F but i'm sure it will come.
Here's my problem: I can play all these chords cleanly and am picking up speed switching between them, except.... when it comes to D! I've read on here that C to G is a problem for a lot of people but with me it's hitting the D. My index finger tends to slip for some reason, the more I try a groove develops in it and it falls off centre making the chord ring flat. I've been trying to do half an hour a day and have fairly decent calluses now so it's not that and i've tried rubbing my fingers flat on a table but problem keeps happening.
Any adivce?
PS. My wife's expecting in 6 months so I've only got that long to learn basic proficiency!!! Roy Harper lives down the road from me, maybe I should ask for lessons :D
Hi Andyhunt and Welcome to GuitarNoise.
Well, I'm sure you don't want to hear the ole just keep practicing advice.
I would continue to try to fret the D chord in the traditional manner, in time you will probably get it and wonder why you ever had a problem with it.
But you could also try holding a barre with your index finger over the E, B, and G strings at the 2nd fret and then fretting the D note on the B string at the 3rd fret with your middle or even ring finger. Many people prefer this method.
Everybody is different and their hands are different as well. Sometimes you have to hold a chord in your own individual way. As long as you can move to the chord quickly and fret it clean, there is nothing wrong with doing it your own way. I have known some people who hold chords in very unusual and non-traditional ways, but they could play very well.
But keep practicing anyway. :D
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I'll give it a try. Thanks.
The bad news is that other than practice, I really dont have much advice. But the good news is that I am like you. C to G wasnt really that bad. But I have been playing over a year and I still occasionally have trouble hitting the D. But it is getting better.
Nothing that you cant do with practice. Keep it up!!
Geoo
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I fret it with the middle finger on the G, ring on the e and pinkie on the B. I've never had a problem with it.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
I personally never quite liked the ´regular´ way to grab an open D-major. I play it using my index on the first string, ringfinger on the 2nd and middlefinger on the 3rd. That also makes it uber easy to make D-G or D-Cadd9 changes, which are not that uncommon. As a final bonus you can easily play Dsus2 (yeah, shut it proffessors!), Dm, D, Dsus4 (only changes are in the first string, in order: open, index on 1st fret, index on 2nd fret, pinky on 3rd fret)
I personally never quite liked the ´regular´ way to grab an open D-major. I play it using my index on the first string, ringfinger on the 2nd and middlefinger on the 3rd. That also makes it uber easy to make D-G or D-Cadd9 changes, which are not that uncommon. As a final bonus you can easily play Dsus2 (yeah, shut it proffessors!), Dm, D, Dsus4 (only changes are in the first string, in order: open, index on 1st fret, index on 2nd fret, pinky on 3rd fret)
So how do you finger your Cadd9?
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D [x x 0 2 3 2] [x x - M R I]
Cadd9 [x 3 2 0 3 3] [x M I - R P]
G [3 2 0 0 3 3] [M I - - R P]
So basically the ringfinger remains static and your hand kinda pivots around it. You can even do the switch in two parts between D and either Cadd9 or G by playing the G5 [x x 0 0 3 3] in between.
I personally never quite liked the ´regular´ way to grab an open D-major. I play it using my index on the first string, ringfinger on the 2nd and middlefinger on the 3rd. That also makes it uber easy to make D-G or D-Cadd9 changes, which are not that uncommon. As a final bonus you can easily play Dsus2 (yeah, shut it proffessors!), Dm, D, Dsus4 (only changes are in the first string, in order: open, index on 1st fret, index on 2nd fret, pinky on 3rd fret)
That makes sense to me. But if you played Bluegrass and Country Western like I do, D to A7 is one of the most often used changes. The so called regular way makes that easier. It's good to be able to finger a chord several ways. :)
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
.... But if you played Bluegrass and Country Western like I do, D to A7 is one of the most often used changes. The so called regular way makes that easier. It's good to be able to finger a chord several ways. :)
I agree with a lot of the comments here, but play a lot of Bluegrass & Country like Tim, so "conventional" fingering of D is my choice....also, while in D, I need my pinky free to play melody ( scale) notes in the fourth fret, on strings 3,4,5....a lot of these fourth fret notes are hammer-on notes when flatpicking bluegrass.
I also play some other types of music, as in bluesy or jazzy stuff, or old 20's and 30's pop songs, and still find "conventional" D fingering to be easiest to move out of to Dmaj7, D9, D7, Bm etc.
I was lucky in a way, when I first started guitar, the friend who showed me my open chords started with D chord, and didn't move me off it until I had a clean sound...took a while...I almost quit, but didn't.
One thing that I eventually figured out was holding me back, I had a tendency to "turn" the neck up toward me, to "see how I was doing"....this puts strain on the back of your hand and leads to dead notes as your fingers "lay over"...it works a lot better to keep the neck as vertical as possible, and bend your head down if you need to check your fingers.
Arjen, that is an interesting approach moving from your D fingering to your Cadd9, and sounds both user-friendly and logical.
I am "blessed" with large fingers, so for x32033, I can nail both top strings with my ring finger. I usually use a different fingering for Cadd9, either x30010 or x32030. With songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" moving from D to Cadd9 to G, I find it equally important that the fingers be "ready" to go into G.
Anyway Andy, good luck with your choice of finger positions, and best wishes to you and your wife for your growing family.
"A child of five could understand this...send someone to fetch a child of five !"--Groucho Marx
Since posting my query I've tried a bit of messing about with different fingerings as sugested. I stumbled upon this: Fretting the conventional way if I fret my middle finger deeper on the E string (ie. right close to my fingernail) instead of in the middle of my finger tip, I've found that the other two fingers come down a lot cleaner. Caused a bit of pain on the middle finger at first but seems to do the trick. If any other novices are having trouble with D give it a try.
I personally never quite liked the ´regular´ way to grab an open D-major. I play it using my index on the first string, ringfinger on the 2nd and middlefinger on the 3rd. That also makes it uber easy to make D-G or D-Cadd9 changes, which are not that uncommon. As a final bonus you can easily play Dsus2 (yeah, shut it proffessors!), Dm, D, Dsus4 (only changes are in the first string, in order: open, index on 1st fret, index on 2nd fret, pinky on 3rd fret)
right on! I totally agree - Im self taught and to me this way of playing D is the most logical for folk/pop/rock music.
