[BarbaraM]

Hey Mark,

I’m no fan of barre chords, having small hands, but it depends on what your particular issue is with them. Others will chime in I’m sure with suggestions.

First, if you have large enough hands to physically reach, straight enough fingers to effectively barre, and long enough fingers to create a good arch so as to not mute other strings, is to go through the Hand Stretching course, and practice those stretches each time you play. (There is also a Better Barre Chords course.) Then practice positioning your hands for the chord, and play each string individually to be sure they all ring out clearly. Then practice picking up speed in your finger placement. If your anatomy allows, you will get there.

If not, and you have small, crooked fingers like me, you will have to find workarounds. For me, aside from simply avoiding barre chords, I find the triad that corresponds (without the barring finger), and just play those 3 strings. It’s not as full as the whole chord, but it will do most times when simply strumming.

Hope this helps!

[BarbaraM]

How does the neuropathy affect your hand movement? Lack of feeling? Finger strength? Stiffness? Difficulty getting your hand into position? I am 75, and started a little less than 3 years ago. I have small hands, some fingers with arthritis, so I know there are limitations on what I can do. My suggestion is to determine what you *can* do, then learn how to work around the difficulties. There is no law that says chords *must* be formed a certain way; as long as you can get the sound you want out of your guitar, you are doing it “right”!

[BarbaraM]

“My joints just don’t move that way.”

Mike, I feel your pain. I too have curved fingers, they look almost like a couple of sets of parentheses … ( ( ) ). I have found that some stretches will help, but mostly in the spaces between the knuckles so there can be more “spread” in that area. That said, I believe you are talking about a pinky that angles inward rather than being vertical/parallel to the other fingers.

So, for the G, I do it like @jorgemac described above, only I use my ring finger and pinky on the high e and B strings third fret. (If your middle finger can fold up that much–mine doesn’t–you can do it with your index and middle, like @jorgemac.) If the pinky is still an issue doing it that way, you can use your ring to bar the top 2 strings at the third fret, maybe the pinky can “help” the ring finger. See if that works for you!

[BarbaraM]

Hi, @baranenyahoo-com, and welcome to TAC!

I too have small hands. So 2 things I ended up doing. First was the finger stretching course (courses are on the left of your main screen). Then stretch before each playing session. It won’t create miracles, but it will help. The second thing was I made sure I was playing a smaller-scale guitar. My Zager Parlor has a 23.5″ scale length, and is perfect for me. That is measured from the bridge to the 12th fret then doubled, I’m told.

Best of luck to you, and have fun on your guitar journey!

[BarbaraM]

Hi @Zuri,

I have not experienced this, so I can only throw out some suggestions. How are your calluses? After 24 years of not playing you would have had to redevelop them. Is it both hands or just your fretting hand? Have you been checked out for neuropathy? Any similar sensations in other places, such as toes? If I were you, I would explore a medical issue. If it’s not medical, you can get a product called Rock Tips on Amazon that you paint on your finger tips to protect them from damage and pain while you build up calluses. Good luck, and I hope you find the root of the issue and can fix it!

[BarbaraM]

Hi @shellwishgmail-com, and welcome to TAC!

I too have short fingers, and I’m 75; started here about 2-3/4 years ago. At first I was despondent about learning because of my short fingers. I ended up trading my original guitar for a parlor size (23.5″ scale length, but only 12 frets to the body. There are other small guitars that have 14 frets to the body and even cutaway styles, if your funds permit.) A youth size guitar can also work, if the neck isn’t too narrow for you. My fingers tend to be fat, and will touch other strings. I have one but it needs restringing, and since it doesn’t really fit me it hasn’t been a priority.

There are also stretching exercises in the Skills section, which helps with the spread of your fingers; check it out. Also as you continue to practice, you will learn little ways of “jumping” your hand so as to reach single notes more easily. For chords, as you gain more understanding of the fret board, you can use triads to approximate some of the more difficult chords.

Good luck, and enjoy your guitar journey!

[BarbaraM]

Hi Beatrice, The only thing under attachments is an Mp3 file for the audio. There is no PDF for the tabs. That is too bad if they removed them as I cannot learn by watching someone’s fingers. I’m using the latest Firefox and I have never had trouble finding or opening PDFs, as long as they exist on the page. I even tried Explorer, same thing.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by  BarbaraM.

[BarbaraM]

That worked! Thanks!

[BarbaraM]

Thanks, Albert, I think that makes more sense than trying to guess the instructions on my own, based on my own limited knowledge. I will try that after I do today’s regular challenge.

[BarbaraM]

I’ve always seen that called a Cadd9. It is a beautiful chord.

[BarbaraM]

Hi @Bill_Brown, I’m glad you appreciate my comments! I tend to be a bit negative, though I’m working on that. That said, I would be interested to know the other fretboard class or whatever you have found. If you don’t want to say in open comment here you can reply privately, on my profile.

What you suggested is what I plan on doing. Alternate tunings I will probably skip, as, while open D sounds nice, I can’t find any songs I know or like that use it. Plus, the guitar I had dedicated to open D crapped out on me and is probably not worth fixing. I don’t want to keep changing tunings on my main (“good”) guitar as I don’t think it’s good for it. Other challenges that use chord fingerings I cannot do I will also skip, as the techniques such as bends, hammers etc that my be included are found in other challenges.

[BarbaraM]

Your words are very encouraging, thank you for that. The only thing I might question is your statement to stop thinking of doing only “the things I have a real chance of improving on.” Having been through the TAC program for over 2.5 years, I’ve done everything at least twice, and the benchmarks a bunch of times. By now, I think I have an idea of what I physically cannot do, and so cannot improve on. The various techniques, however, are presented in more than one challenge, so I have a chance to work on them in formats that I *can* do, So why pound my head against a wall attempting them in lessons where I simply cannot form the chords or whatever, when there are other places where I can practice those techniques? OK, that was a long way of saying that, but I couldn’t think how to shorten it and still be clear in what I meant.

That said, I will take your advice on playing what I may merely just not like (Rock & Roll Hoochie Coo comes to mind–ugh) as long as I can physically do it. AND, I will go through FW more times. 🙂

[BarbaraM]

Hi Jeff, I’m afraid you lost me. While I think I understand what a third is, I don’t think I understand what you mean by turning those chords inside out etc, and they don’t even move…?? Yes a little has rubbed off on me from FW, and the general challenges, plus I have figured a few workarounds myself, where I can’t play a barre or whatever.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I will re-do FW, pick up any additional info from elsewhere (I have a book), and do the challenges I feel like doing or think I have a real chance of improving on.

[BarbaraM]

I play it that way too! Very easy to switch in and out of.

[BarbaraM]

Thank you Jeff, that was just what I needed! 🙂