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Playing a C Major chord with small hands
Zombiemambo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Of course, I wasn't born with long, wiry fingers ideal for playing guitar. Instead, I have short fingers that are a slight bit fat. Maybe it's just inexperience talking here, but I can't play a C Major chord to save my life. This is what I've read on how to play it:
Sounds easy enough, but my ring finger and my index finger don't like to be that far apart (they must be lovers), and it's very difficult for my index finger not to touch the 4th string. Is there an easier way to do this, or do I just need to become more flexible? I'm doing chords every day and it's becoming easier, but I want to know if I need flexibility or just a better way to play it.
Place your third finger on the third fret of the fifth string. Now, put your second finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Finally, put your first finger on the first fret of the second string.
Sounds easy enough, but my ring finger and my index finger don't like to be that far apart (they must be lovers), and it's very difficult for my index finger not to touch the 4th string. Is there an easier way to do this, or do I just need to become more flexible? I'm doing chords every day and it's becoming easier, but I want to know if I need flexibility or just a better way to play it.
Zombiemambo on
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Eventually, you will realize that fat fingers are actually a blessing!
Can you play an Am chord? Try playing an Am chord and moving the one finger up to make a C that might help you get the fingering straightened out.
1. Lowering your thumb a bit down the back of the guitar neck can help your fingers spread out a little more.
2. Doing fingering exercises, these can be really really boring but will help stretch your fingers out and they help your precision at the same time.
3. Lastly practice, allot.
Now, a tough stretch would be something like a chord from Crash Into Me:
I always found C major to be tough when I started playing because none of the strings were on the top or the bottom and it was hard for my hand to find a reference. Just practice and you'll get it.
If you're having trouble when near the first fret, then try making your hand a bit diagonal to the fret board. When near the body, the hand should tend to become more perpendicular.
For a C Maj, there isn't actually much stretching going on. It's more about how you curl your fingers in.
3
3
5
9
7
x
If that's not a tasty Am11 chord, I don't know what is.
Looks more like torture than tasty.
With chords like those, it's a bigger challenge, but still doable. And certainly worth it if you're a fan of wide or close voicings!
In my case, I'm a bit of a freakshow. My left hand is about half a centimeter longer than my right because I spend so much time playing those sorts of crazy voicings.
Yep fuck that. There are some songs that just don't need to be played the original way.
Oh, don't worry, I do. Remember: if you can play a song that sounds vaguely like "Hey there Delilah" or "Crash into Me," you get just as many chicks as if you can stretch your left hand twelve inches.
I'll say it again, but there's little kids that can play c maj without batting an eye on a classical guitar. It's about posture and and placement. If you're having problems with strength, then you're probably not using your thumb as leverage.
If you take a picture of your fingering, we can tell you what might be the trouble area.
This can be done with any chord. If you can't play a minor chord, you can play a major chord up a minor third (up three frets, ie, from A to C). Likewise, if you want to play a major chord, you can play a minor 7 chord down a minor third (Say, F maj is the same as Dm7).
This helps once you grasp major and minor bar chords and 7th bar chords a whole lot. Just make sure you have a bass player playing the correct root. If you don't have a friend jammin bass with you, this might not be of much help. If you have any questions feel free to ask.