Has Anyone Else Had This Problem Starting Out?

[BigBubbaBrown]

I've been trying to learn guitar off and on for the better part of ten years. I'll pick up my dad's old acoustic, look up a chord from one of his old books, then give it up when I end up dampening a string that shouldn't be dampened.

I keep my nails cut pretty short (in fact, a friend keeps telling me not to cut them as short as I do), but I can't play anything short of a simplified G chord. If I try, for example, a D minor my middle fingernail will hit the D string and cause it to buzz. The pad of my ring finger will dampen the E string and the nail will cause the G string to buzz.

If I move my fingers to where the pads and nails won't interfere with the other strings I can't keep sufficient pressure. I've tried different wrist positions, but none of those have worked.

I initially ruled out problems with the bridge (it started coming loose and had to be glued down, but I didn't have the proper clamp and the books I put on to hold it down while it dried didn't do much good) because it didn't effect the spacing of the strings, but they do sit slightly higher now. I know the bulk of it is in my technique, but could the bridge also play a factor?

And does anyone know of any sites where I can learn proper technique? I'm not quite sure how to hold my wrist and until I find gainful employment I can't afford to take lessons.

[Pretense]

Ideally, your arm should be parallel to the floor. Hold your thumb at the center of the neck, sliding along as you move your hand. If what I just typed out made sense enough for you to duplicate, then you'll see that your fingers are...erm, "circling backwards" onto the strings, so that only the tips of the fingers touch the strings themselves, and that your palm is parallel to the neck with the fingers going straight up instead of at an angle.

Make sure that you're fingering with the bottom of the fingertip, your nails should not be touching or even close to the strings. Once you've accomplished that: try this little bitty:

E(1st)|---3---4---1---2-

B(2nd)|-1---2---3---4---

and this one:

E|-1h2-1h3-1h4-2h3-2h4-3h4

Keep your first finger on the first fret, second finger on the second and so on.

The position should show you what you're doing wrong and help you fix it (unless you're all set on becoming the next Segovia, I doubt that you would choose to play like that, I know I didn't), the exercises will give you some finger positioning flexibility and strengthen your fingers. Also they will force you to use your pinky finger which will help you endlessly with chords.

Good luck!

[RodChandler]

The problem you are describing is one common to all beginners,myself included.While it is frustrating,the only thing to do is go slow and get your fingers into the proper position and do it over and over again until you build up the necessary muscle memory to be able to hit it without thinking about it.I know it seems like you won't be able to get it down,but then one day you'll be playing and never even realized you were hitting it perfectly.

Now if it is a problem with the guitar itself,then I think you have to try another guitar and see if the problem is still there.If it isn't an issue,then you know it is the guitar you have.If the same issue persists,then you know you need to go back to the woodshed and practice some more.A cheap way to do so would be to go to a local music store and try out a couple of other guitars and see how they feel and then you can go back to yours and judge between them.Good luck.

[Tambarskjelve]

Here is a site for you, containing very good video lessons:

http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php

[Joe51]

Ya don't give it up. Just keep fingers on the strings. The more time you have fingers on the strings, the easier all things become. It seems hard now, but when your tips are hard as stone and your hand is strong enough to crush a baseball, you'll wonder why this seemed difficult.

The baseball thing might be an exaggeration. Seriously, even if they won't admit it. Everyone that plays died a little when trying their first chord progression. If it was easy everyone would play.

[Appypollylogies]

I'm a casual guitar player, I don't have any aspirations to be a lead guitarist or anything like that, but I'm good enough that I can hear notes tell what they are, play the chord etc., the way I practiced was I would look up songs that interested me, but were'nt overtly complex, then I would find out what chords were in that song, then throw away the song, forget about it completely and just look at those chords, memorise the positions, and practice playing them in random orders until I was able to play it (relatively) flawlessly, then afterwards I would go back to the song and it would be really easy to play, and not only that but I also knew those chords, then I would pick another song, and repeat. That's how I started at least =p

[davidmichael]

Just remember you want to play on TOP of the strings !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The other thing is finding the sweet sot where YOU are comfortable.

We are all different and will play differently.

[guitarmaster73]

I have a site I go to from time to time that really helps in that area. Check it out.

Jamorama

[beatpoet]

It took me a long time to be able to play chords properly (well I still fudge them, but guitar isn't my first instrument). What actually helped me most was just sitting down with someone who could play guitar properly, or looking at other players and seeing how they mute certain strings. I used to be shocking at power chords!