G chord

[petelanger]

@dewilsonarbgmail-com how long have you been playing guitar? When someone reports that they just can’t get a clear X chord, we really need a bit more context and background story to give a good reply.

When I started i learned the E, E-, A, A-, C, G, B7 somewhat in that order. The first 3 I got down pretty quickly although I later realized I was doing some muting on the E minor that I had to correct. The C and G gave me trouble for a long time, it was probably a good 4 months before I could play a clear G chord and at least 3 months on the C.

When you practice, are practicing transitioning between chords? If not, you might as well start because that’s what guitar players do. We rarely hold down the same chord for a very long time.

The G, the Cadd9 and B7 are very similar and I would practice transitioning between those. It does take a good amount of time for your fingers to get used to forming the chords

[dewdah54]

Thanks for your reply. I am a raw beginner. Just bought the guitar as a Christmas present to myself so I have been practicing less than a month. It sounds like I need to just keep plugging alon

[petelanger]

That’s great! And welcome to TAC @dewilsonarbgmail-com you will find people here are very willing to help. It might take a day or 2 for many to chime in so try to be patient!

To get back to your initial problem: small hands. Almost every beginner things there is something physically wrong that is holding them back. While it’s possible for there to be an actual issue, in many cases people’s hands are just fine. If there is a real handicap, there are all sorts of ways to overcome most any obstacle.

At this point I am capable of most of the shapes to be more than adequate, but I often think my fingers are waaaay……..slow! I’m staring my left hand down as it’s crawling like a snail from the folk G to A minor, and my brain is giving the hand the what for (hand you better get your act together!) I’m sure I’ll get faster although I’m not going to be shredding like Eddie Van Halen.

Some pointers that could help:

1. Positioning: you want to get your hand in the optimal position to form the chord that’s giving you trouble. If you feel your hand is too small maybe you aren’t getting your palm far enough under the fretboard. Pushing the palm forward so you get the palm further allows you to wrap your fingers better, so they’re coming at the fretboard with a better angle. You want to get as perpendicular as possible. Often it’s helpful to raise the neck even up to eye level: it can be more comfortable, more favorable for many of the chords and easier to see.

2. Are you keeping your fingernails short? I trim my fretting hand nails about 3 times weekly. Some players just file them every day but I prefer the old clippers.

3. Warm up exercises, take a look at this mini course: https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/guitar-players-daily-stretch-guide/

4. Don’t press more than you need to. When fretting any chord, get as close to the fret wire as possible. Experiment pushing down and then letting up while you pick the string. Feel the pressure when the note is no longer clean, now press just a bit harder. Beginners tend to press WAY TOO HARD and this causes pain and poor technique.

[jorgemac]

String arrangement are

1st Treble E string

2nd B string

3rd G string

4th D string

5th A string

6th Bass E string.

So if i suggest treble E/3 thar would be the 3rd fret of the treble E string fret for fingering position.

I started so long ago that I can’t remember if G was a hard one or not. Pete gave you excellent advise. Because there are 4 g notes available in the 1st 5 frets there are various ways to play the G chord.

You can play a G5 chord on E/3, B/3 and the open G string.

Another G chord is G/3, B/3 and G/4. There are other ones too . But It is importsnt to learn the 1st “folk” versions.

G/3, A/2 and Bass E/3 was the first one I learned