What can I do?
Sergio:(
Little hands difficult to finger bar
I too have short fingers and find barreing a challenge. I noticed and Neil also mentioned this on the TG live Thursday night that one of the things to do is barre so that about a half inch of your finger sticks out of the top of the guitar. I find this helps out a lot.
Keep Playing
Ric
Keep Playing
Ric
palo6049 wrote:
My wife has really small hands and her index finger is only a little more than 2-1/2" long. But the neck on the guitar is less than 2" wide even on a 12 string. Therefore, even my wife has plenty of finger length to form barres! This leads me to believe you have a hand position problem and not a finger size problem.
Make sure when barreing that you put your thumb on the middle on the back of the neck. If your thumb is over the top of the neck you've got bad position. Building up some hand strength might help also.
Finally, if your fingers are still just too short you may need to use partial barres (on the higher strings) or power chords (partial chords on the lower strings). I think most, but not all, songs can be played well with modified barre chords.
Happy playin'
Sergio- I've got the opposite problem, my hands are so damned big there isn't enough fretboard to put all my fingers on!What can I do?
Sergio:(
My wife has really small hands and her index finger is only a little more than 2-1/2" long. But the neck on the guitar is less than 2" wide even on a 12 string. Therefore, even my wife has plenty of finger length to form barres! This leads me to believe you have a hand position problem and not a finger size problem.
Make sure when barreing that you put your thumb on the middle on the back of the neck. If your thumb is over the top of the neck you've got bad position. Building up some hand strength might help also.
Finally, if your fingers are still just too short you may need to use partial barres (on the higher strings) or power chords (partial chords on the lower strings). I think most, but not all, songs can be played well with modified barre chords.
Happy playin'
Hey Guys,
I've heard people express difficulty with barre chords for a long time. I have to be honest here, I'm only playing a couple of months now, and until recently I had trouble with muffled notes on all chords, not just barre chords. When I solved the problem for standard chords, it was just as easy to finger clean barre chords. By the way, I have small hands too, and I don't think barre chord difficulty has anything to do with hand size.
I achieved this while the action on my guitar was still at factory height (you know, the height at which a gorilla couldn't get fret buzz if he was using a screwdriver for a pick). I fixed that, too, and I honestly find clean barre chords are not only possible, but with good action, they are absolutely no harder than first position basic chords.
Thumb position was the answer for me. When you finger a barre, position your hand in the good basic hand position as Neil taught us, but make sure your thumb is perpendicular to the neck, and that the hinge of your thumb is about at the center of the neck as BigBear noted. Your thumb should align very close to your index finger, or a little toward your middle finger. When squeezing the chord, exert the force through the hinge of your thumb. The top of your thumb should point away from the neck. Do not hook the top of your thumb toward the neck or exert any force through it.
I've learned a lot in my life by studying what experts do. I developed this tip by watching Greg Lake's YouTube video of the Sage. There was a split second view of his thumb position, and I noticed that my thumb was usually more parallel to the neck. Ain't the Internet great?
I hope this helps some of you who feel like your are squeezing the guts out of the neck, but still can't get clean notes. Good Luck.
wrench
I've heard people express difficulty with barre chords for a long time. I have to be honest here, I'm only playing a couple of months now, and until recently I had trouble with muffled notes on all chords, not just barre chords. When I solved the problem for standard chords, it was just as easy to finger clean barre chords. By the way, I have small hands too, and I don't think barre chord difficulty has anything to do with hand size.
I achieved this while the action on my guitar was still at factory height (you know, the height at which a gorilla couldn't get fret buzz if he was using a screwdriver for a pick). I fixed that, too, and I honestly find clean barre chords are not only possible, but with good action, they are absolutely no harder than first position basic chords.
Thumb position was the answer for me. When you finger a barre, position your hand in the good basic hand position as Neil taught us, but make sure your thumb is perpendicular to the neck, and that the hinge of your thumb is about at the center of the neck as BigBear noted. Your thumb should align very close to your index finger, or a little toward your middle finger. When squeezing the chord, exert the force through the hinge of your thumb. The top of your thumb should point away from the neck. Do not hook the top of your thumb toward the neck or exert any force through it.
I've learned a lot in my life by studying what experts do. I developed this tip by watching Greg Lake's YouTube video of the Sage. There was a split second view of his thumb position, and I noticed that my thumb was usually more parallel to the neck. Ain't the Internet great?
I hope this helps some of you who feel like your are squeezing the guts out of the neck, but still can't get clean notes. Good Luck.
wrench
Dear Neil (and a warm hi to all the list!)
Sorry if I disturb again about my little hands problem: it is the first time for me 1)to belong to a forum that is 2)in English (for I'm italian) 3)about guitar (it's the second month I have a guitars in my life) and...From the Beginning is really the first song I can play in a horrible way (the most difficult accord is after the main rif, when I have to push two strings with one finger: the index, if I don't mistake, and if I don't do that I can't find the space for four fingers, short and not so tin!).
Sergio
Italy
Sorry if I disturb again about my little hands problem: it is the first time for me 1)to belong to a forum that is 2)in English (for I'm italian) 3)about guitar (it's the second month I have a guitars in my life) and...From the Beginning is really the first song I can play in a horrible way (the most difficult accord is after the main rif, when I have to push two strings with one finger: the index, if I don't mistake, and if I don't do that I can't find the space for four fingers, short and not so tin!).
Sergio
Italy
Sergio,
I think you are saying that you have only been playing the guitar for 2 months. From The Beginning is one of the harder songs to play. Neil rated it at 7 out of 10 with 10 being the hardest. Even though you like that song, you will probably learn better starting with something easier.
You write in English very well, but if you also wrote your message in Italian, it might be easier to understand the details of what you are asking.
Mark
I think you are saying that you have only been playing the guitar for 2 months. From The Beginning is one of the harder songs to play. Neil rated it at 7 out of 10 with 10 being the hardest. Even though you like that song, you will probably learn better starting with something easier.
You write in English very well, but if you also wrote your message in Italian, it might be easier to understand the details of what you are asking.
Mark
Thanks to all your contributes to understand
the know how, but least but not last, how can
I improve my left hand strength? With an old
tennis ball or something like that? What are
the chances that, because of this, I loose my
left hand elasticity, already lost a little
after having had a broken bone (prior the last
tin finger)?
Thanks
Sergio
Italy
the know how, but least but not last, how can
I improve my left hand strength? With an old
tennis ball or something like that? What are
the chances that, because of this, I loose my
left hand elasticity, already lost a little
after having had a broken bone (prior the last
tin finger)?
Thanks
Sergio
Italy
Some people use something like a tennis ball to squeeze. I did that and many other general hand exercises. Mostly, I got stronger by squeezing chords on the guitar, like Neil says for a drill to learn chords and get stronger.
http://www.totallyguitars.com/target-ho ... ift-drills
My hand is now stronger and more flexible (elastic) from playing the guitar.
Mark
http://www.totallyguitars.com/target-ho ... ift-drills
My hand is now stronger and more flexible (elastic) from playing the guitar.
Mark