Tony’s Acoustic Challenge – The New Way to Learn Guitar › Family Forums › Community Support › Problem forming clear cords
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Problem forming clear cords
Posted by Dimebag on April 24, 2021 at 8:27 pmI have been playing for awhile, but mostly on a regular basis since I started TAC in January. I have very fat finger pads on my middle and ring fingers, so I have a really hard time with muted strings when I fret the C cord. I have found that I can form the cord with the side of my fingers and usually get a clear cord most of the time. I have good callouses on most of the tips but not on the sides.
Are there any other options.
I have basically come to a stop, because I am trying to build my callouses up to get clear cords, or figure out how to form the cords without muted or buzzing strings.
Dimebag replied 3 years, 9 months ago 5 Members · 7 Replies -
7 Replies
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@Dimebag I think you might want to try some some adjustment to the position of your fretting hand. Try rolling your hand just a little under the neck when you are fretting your chord(s). This will position your fingers out away from the strings and allow your fingers to make contact using your fingertips more directly on top of the string at your desired fret. This should avoid some of the muting and eventually the buzzing too as you land your chords more cleanly where you want them to be. No need to press too hard. A lighter touch may be all you need. Good luck working this out. Somehow eventually you will get it. 🙂
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Hi @Dimebag first… Great name. Dimebag Darrell was a terrific guitarist!
Forgive me if you already know and have done so… But getting a proper setup on your guitar can help with this. Think of your finger as a beach ball and the strings as a couple sticks. If you put the sticks on the ground you can get them close to each other without touching the beach ball… If you lift the sticks too high, then they touch it .. that is kind of like the string action with your fingertips.
As far as using the sides of your fingers… I’m no expert but that doesn’t sound like a good long term solution. If it is still a problem with a well setup guitar, you could consider a classical or flaminco guitar. They have significantly wider string spacing. Willy Nelson uses a beat up old classical guitar and it sounds amazing.
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Hi @Dimebag, I agree with Alfred on the classical guitar. I picked up one so I could get in extra playing power without killing my fingertips. Talking about fingertips… that what should be holding those strings down. I saw that on one of Tony’s videos. Also… Is the width wide enough on your current guitar for your fingers? I know my Cordoba guitar(1/2 size) is a little wider than my full size Martin. One last idea, maybe drop down to a smaller guitar. I’m a girl (ok, old girl), so my Martin can be overpowering big at times. But, a parlor guitar is a tad smaller, then to continue sizing down is the 3/4, 1/2, 1/4. I have a full, 1/2 and 1/4 size. The 1/4 size is great for picking up when I’m at my desk. Right now I have my eye on a Taylor GS Mini which would be a 3/4 size. I played one at the guitar store and it was a perfect fit for me. Never thought of that before I joined this group. Don’t stop playing! Go to the guitar store and pick up the various sizes and give them a go (it’s free to try). Remember, you can do this.
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Some good advice here, something you can try is put a capo on the 5 th fret this will simulate a smaller guitar and if you are able to form the chord here easier (I recently went through this and came to the conclusion it was guitar/setup as no matter how hard I tried I would get a slight buzz but then didn’t when I had the capo on. Then I went through the thought process I needed a wider neck more space but if I could do it further down the neck why not at the top which led me to looking at my hand position instead of getting a new guitar (( which I will do eventually just not yet)) when I started making subtle changes to the positioning of my wrist this would push my fingers more upright so less contact and this has fixed it. For me I’m I’m ok with a standard c chord but when I’d try and introduce hammer ons with the middle I’d always mute the string but it has got a lot better now and once I get that new guitar with a better set up I’ll have much better form and technique from working this through. Don’t get me wrong I went through a tough time with with this to the point of stopping enjoying it but I’m through the other side now. Video yourself on your phone it can give you a real insight into what your hand is doing. Sorry to ramble just sharing my experience which might be different to yours but I had success working it through before spending £££
Good luck
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@Cadgirl i only thought of it as it is something I have recently gone through. I even came to the conclusion it was the guitar not me but being in lockdown and not being able to go out shopping for a new guitar made me work through it. Not saying that this is the case here for @Dimebag he might just need a different guitar because of setup/ physiology, just sharing my experience.
Can’t wait to get a new guitar tho I will definitely be getting something a bit smaller with a lower action and after wrestling with my basic entry level guitar for so long I’m hoping it will bring a new level to my playing.
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Really good comments. I started out playing on a Epiphone with a standard setup. I have a step-son who has been playing for close to 30yrs. He has gone through most of all the things mentioned. He has sat down with me on hand positions, thumb position, guitar position, and he has had me play both of his Martin’s.
When I roll my hand more then the palm hits the bottom of the neck and I tend to mute the high “E”. We tried changing the position of my thumb to put more of a arch in my hand. I struggled with it and I have watched the bend of my fingers, making sure that I don’t make them too stiff and am up on the tips like Tony instructs.
Now on to the guitar, I have gone to the Music store, I have looked at the orchestra guitar. I didn’t like the feel of the strings or the sound. I asked them about wider necked guitars and they told me that other than the orchestra model they don’t make wider necks. Well, I searched the internet and I finally found Zager guitars. The necks are wider and the spacing of the strings is wider, and I still have the problem with my fingers. I love the feel of the neck and there is more space between strings but no relief on muting. So, I haven’t really tried the putting the capro to the 5th fret. I guess that is next. 🙂
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