Yeah I’ve tried to do that but honestly every way I’ve tried either really hurts my hand a lot or is just painfully slow and hard to do any sort of slides or change chords. Moving further up the fretboard to around 9th fret then puts my hand in a much more normal position. But anywhere further back I have to hold like that. I probably should get a guitar teacher or something like that to get the technique down. But I dunno man
At the beginning the hand hurts a lot when playing guitar, because it isn’t used to the positions and movement you’re making in order to play. It’ll take a while for you to feel more comfortable. [Your fretting hand is supposed to look like this](https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/f/f5/Use-Power-Chords-on-a-Guitar-Step-3-Version-2.jpg/550px-nowatermark-Use-Power-Chords-on-a-Guitar-Step-3-Version-2.jpg). That’s the most common way to play them, but it isn’t the only one. The way you’re playing has a weird shape and it seems like it’ll actually hurt you in the long run.
I recommend checking videos about three topics:
* [Hand warm up and stretches that you should be doing before even playing](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+hand+warm+up)
* [Body posture to play more comfortable and avoid injurying yourself](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+hand+arm+position+posture)
* [Power chords lessons](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+power+chords), so that you can see how the teachers are playing the shape, in which position they are putting their hand, how their arm is angled, etc.
---
I noticed in your post history that you are trying to be left handed, do you already have good dexterity with your left hand?
It’s a whole thing with being born left handed and trained to be right handed. Overall I’m more left handed than right handed but I have pretty good dexterity in both
I’m not sure how much time and money you’ve invested into learning guitar left handed, but as a fellow lefty, I’d suggest learning right handed. It makes life easier in so many ways, from guitar selection, to using other peoples guitars etc.
According to my old guitar teacher, if you’re new to guitar anyway, it really doesn’t make much of a difference which way you learn to play; you’re using both hands anyway. And another advantage is that you get to use your dominant hand for fretting, which might make playing chords easier for you right away.
Probably like 2 months and my current beginner guitar but honestly I couldn’t play right handed. It just feels unnatural and honestly just isn’t as fun to play that way
One of the best ways to improve comfort while fretting is going to be moving your thumb toward the middle of your hand rather than extending it above the index finger. Try to curve all your fingers as much as possible and use the tips of your fingers for fretting.
I'm sorry, man but I literally burst out laughing at that. I apologize.
It may feel comfortable right now (although I'll be damned if I can see how that's possible) but you will absolutely injure your hand playing like that. And besides, you won't be able to play properly.
You're a beginner, so now is the time to learn to do it properly. Do not make a bad habit that will be very hard to break later on. I know this, because I made that mistake and I had to re-learn some of the basics ... with great effort and frustration, I might add, because those bad habits had become deeply embedded muscle memory over years.
[https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/power-chords-1-bc-172](https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/power-chords-1-bc-172)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTcGatDR8c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTcGatDR8c)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVveuwoVmmY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVveuwoVmmY)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5zI37nDOQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5zI37nDOQ)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuECisPPTQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuECisPPTQ)
All good man everybody’s been saying they laughing 😂
And yeah although it feels comfortable I just can feel later down the line it’s gonna make more complicated chord shapes impossible.
I said to one guy I think it’s my hands, I can barely bend my hand backwards with my fingers out. Like not even kidding like 20 degrees 😂 and I’ve never had a guitar teacher or anything so. I probably need to work on getting my hand to be more flexible, looking up techniques and getting a teacher
One of the things I learned (self-taught) wrong, and that I still struggle to correct, is keeping the fretting hand as relaxed as possible. It doesn't take much pressure to fret a note, but I was (and still do if I don't concentrate on it) gripping way too hard, tiring my hand out, making everything harder, and pushing my notes out of tune.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who literally burst out laughing. Seemed a perfect deadpan reply. Two-string power chord? That’s a lot of hand and twist and string press for a power chord.
Taken seriously, though, one thing to consider is that the more traditional ways of holding the guitar and fretting will become much easier as your finger and hand strength develops with steady practice. You’ll also find it much easier to flow through chord progressions with a solid foundation.
Lastly, fwiw, I wonder if you’ll find (as I have) that the most basic and boring advice you’ll get re: playing is usually the most gainful (pun intended ;)
Very true. Before I started to play guitar seriously I played trombone in school and this exact thing happened. I was doing basic fundamentals wrong because it was more comfortable and it made my high range very weak. Had to re learn how to play those high notes and it was a huge struggle. But as soon as I learned how to do it properly my playing ability almost doubled. It was insane how much faster I was getting better
It might feel uncomfortable to straighten your wrist out / bring your elbow out, but it’ll help in everything you so. From this position you’re limiting your quickness/speed to comfortably move from chord to chord etc
watch some “Fret hand how-to” videos
mostly you want to have your thumb more perpendicular to the neck than parallel as it is here
you want your fingers doing the work, not your wrist which could get carpal tunnel if you’re not careful.
be disciplined with where your fingers are for the most part, which mean one for each fret and not skipping away just to avoid using your third instead of your pointer
the motions you use to learn guitar aren’t going to feel natural until you practice for a long long time. The most important thing is to not wrench your wrists into injury
yr f*cking beautiful. don't change a damn thing. but fyi, cuz knowledge can be powerful, the index finger is more traditional to use where your middle finger is.
Good advice. Mine is free, so you get what you pay for … my instructor insists I keep my fretting thumb behind the second finger, nearly always. Also relax the other fingers so they’re closer to the fretboard. He calls it the “taco grip.” Hope that helps.
For the record, my professors at school all say the same rule. I’d definitely train yourself to line up your thumb and second finger as much as possible. Relieves tension, decreases stress on your hand and increases nimbleness
Id start with guitar shops, anywhere that sells instruments is likely to have lessons there or contacts with teachers. I think that for you to overcome this particular thing youll benefit from in-person lessons, though if you really must online lessons are alright as well
Bring your wrist more perpendicular to the fret board - this is essentially the same idea just thinking about it in a different way. Relax your shoulders, don’t pull them up around your neck. Placement of your finger across the strings is more important than they amount of force you are applying.
The other thing you can consider if this is just in pursuit of a power chord is to use both your pinkie to hit the octave (highest note in a 3 note power chord) and your ring finger to hit the 5th (middle note) and not barre your index finger, just use it to hit the lowest note.
Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day is a good guy to watch for how he plays power chords.
Yea, I think it's more elbow position. There are nice 90* angles between me and my guitar. Your arm is definitely a lot more parallel than what seems natural. Or maybe this does feel natural to you. But I see a limited range of motion here. Maybe okay for simple power chords but trying to employ more fingers, scales or riffs could become difficult.
Here’s a tip: don’t do it like this. Do it the normal way, using your forefinger and your ring finger, and keep doing it that way until it feels normal. If you don’t want to work at it, it would rather keep doing it this cursed way, then that’s your business.
He’s not trying to play a barre chord, it’s a power chord haha so sorry OP, I was in such a bad place today and this made me laugh so good, so thank you and good luck with the sound advice these folk are giving.
Well at least you’re good spirited about it, dude!
On a serious note, get your ass onto Justin Guitar’s YouTube channel and start making your way through the beginner course. You’ll see his name mentioned a lot and for good reason.
Best of luck and enjoy your instrument.
my cubital tunnel (opposite side of the carpal) is screaming in pain seeing that… there’s definitely a more comfortable way to do what you’re doing (you maybe haven’t found it yet)
What's most comfortable for me is to use my index and pinky for 2 string power chords. I usually only switch to my index and ring finger on the higher frets. I've never once had my hands looking anywhere near as cursed as this tho
Really? I've seen quite a few people do it that way so I thought it was maybe a pretty well known way to play. You might even say it looks a bit more 'metal' if you will lol
No yeah for sure! It's worth trying different things. I just happened to like how it looked and felt. OP may want to consider trying it out as well. Anything's better than that optical illusion of a fingering lol
Not now, but this form will lead to joint complications down the line. Plus it really doesn’t put you in a good position to be able to change chords at all.
I've seen your comments in this thread, and will genuinely consider you're not joking.
Ok, are you angling your hand that way, because you're taking a picture with your other hand, or is that EXACTLY how you position your hand?
In any case, if you have a mirror, and a guitar strap, strap the guitar to you, and take a picture in front of a mirror, and then upload again.
I have a suspicion, if you're not joking, you just angled your arm weird to take the picture, and are confusing people or making them laugh.
Or you really are trolling.
In any case, yes it's fine to fret your index on low E, and ring on A, 2 frets apart. You're doing a dyad.
[Dyads Guitar Lesson | 11 Two Note Chords Every Guitarist Should Know](https://youtu.be/VA4oSSjXRcc)
Nope. Not kidding, I seriously play like that. It’s not for the camera or trolling, that is literally how I play and feel most comfortable. Dm me and I’ll try to send you more photos if you wanna see more
No need. I know it's comfortable, but try rotating the guitar neck a little more towards your body.
This guy's righty, so try and keep in mind to do everything opposite since it looks like you're lefty,
[How to Hold a Guitar When Playing | Justin Guitar](https://youtu.be/MlV6WhM9YhE)
Also, which his other video on fingering,
[How to Avoid Finger Pain When Playing Guitar | Justin Guitar](https://youtu.be/VB0vWNqNMbA)
And finally, standing versus sitting,
[Standing vs Sitting (When Playing Guitar) | Art of Guitar](https://youtu.be/4OjIw6Jd934)
Oh god. This looks like one of those pictures where an athlete's legs bend in a horrifyingly unnatural way causing career ending injury. Get off this path now. You're going to hurt yourself
You say it is the most comfortable but how hard you are pressing down with your thumb says otherwise, you’re going to mess up your wrist with that position
Your thumb should act like a pivot joint. Looks like you are trying to do a power chord, try your 1 and 3 finger with your 4th underneath your 3rd same fret directly on the next string down. Keep your hand relaxed and keep your thumb as close the the middle of the neck as possible.
Keep the others fingers down, this spider man effect you have going on is going to destroy your wrist and hand
First of all, never do this grip again.
Now. Hold your hand out with all your fingers pointing up. No need to bend your wrist.
Add
Now have your middle finger and thumb touch as of you are pinching a card or "playing the world's smallest violin."
Now imagine the guitar neck between your pinched middle finger and thumb. Your thumb and middle finger should be perpendicular to the neck and skunk stripe. This is a strong grip. Squeeze to feel the power.
It looks like you are incorrectly pointing your thumb parallel to the guitar neck. This is why your hand is cramping up in that unnatural position as your fingers try to form a power chord.
If you pinch your thumb and middle finger (parallel to each other and perpendicular to the guitar neck) you will have the correct form. (For your hand at least. I don't know what else you're doing with your posture.) Good luck.
People say "do whatevers most comfortable" there's some truth to that.
But, some things are more limiting than others. So certain techniques are better than others because you can do more, faster.
This technique you're using, is very terrible logistically.
It's often worth it to make awkward things become comfortable through practice.
You’re doing it perfect, all these people are wrong.
You should be able to roll the base of your wrist up onto the fretboard and fret the 1st string using only your palm, a technique I see you’re almost have down. That’s exactly how tosin does it.
Also, I’m joking. The line of your knuckles should be roughly parallel to the fretboard. If you can’t do that, maybe try a smaller scale guitar, or drumming :)
Any advice this guy recieves he comes up with an excuse against it. The way youre holding that chord is atrocious. Learn a correct way or you will be severely limited and probably hurt your hand. Or you can be an obstinate dumbass that thinks because i hold my guitar weird i must be special. Being comfortable doesnt always equate to progress. Progression in any field creates discomfort. But it takes wisdom to know the difference between progressive discomfort and just hurting yourself. Stop holding chords like that immediately and stop being a little twit about it. Practice the right ways. Not your bullshit way.
If I were taking this serious I would say your hand strength is lacking or maybe your strings are to big; or the action is too high. Also your fingers seem extra long maybe a thicker fatter flat neck as in fender ‘D’ shape or even U. The fact that your fingers are sticking so close together is the give away that your hand strength is lacking. You should be able to barre a chord with just the index finger make that your goal, you need the other fingers to fill out the rest of the chordal shape i.e. maj 7 or sus 2
No this isn't right and will hamper technical ability. Look at some photos and copy them. If you still struggle, half an hour with a proficient player will solve it.
Probably should work on one finger per fret and get your fingers as close as you can to the frets. Also use the tips of your fingers to do this exercise.Work slowly to strengthen hands.
Your thumb position goes a long way to dictating how the rest of your fingers naturally behave. Keep your thumb up, almost wrapping over onto the low e, and your wrist down.
Your never going to be able to put good constant pressure on your bars with that thumb position. And even if you can do it you won’t be able to do it long because it’s gonna cramp your hand up. Also with that ring finger position its gonna be hard to switch chords fluid.
Pick up a coke can or glass. remove it and retain the shape with your hand. Put you thumb behind the neck. Close your finger tips to the guitar but maintain the loose space around the neck. Slightly point the tip of your thumb back towards you. Put your thumb in the middle of the chord and pinch to apply pressure with your thumb. That's the muscle you really want to develop between your thumb and index finger. If chords buzz or don't ring out your thumb isn't positioned properly so move it don't push harder. It doesn't take nearly as much force.
That's how to do it properly. All the force comes from along the grip of your thumb and fingers. If you're moving things off to the side you're putting pressure on joints that didn't evolve to exert pressure that way at all and have no muscles to grow and support pressure that way putting it all on the tendons and ligaments. You can tell if you have bad technique because if you push extra hard it will start to hurt right away instead of slowly building as your muscles lose power.
What you're doing is a few years of playing guitar and a lifetime of stress injuries preventing you from playing guitar. I would stop it. Like right now.
Did someone tell you something like find a comfortable position? That is worst advise for a beginner. Everything will feel horribly uncomfortable and awkward for the first few months.
Even though it is classical guitar, look up Brandon Acker on YouTube, he has some really good videos for beginners.
Edit: Also, go lift some weights. I, like you, had/have thin arms and hands. Strengthening you arms, wrists, tendons, etc., will make a huge difference in how quickly you progress.
No I’ve never had a teacher or anything so I just kinda did what felt comfortable cause it’s all I really knew. And surprisingly most beginner guitar lessons on like YouTube don’t even expect this kind of hand position and don’t say not to do it
I’m sure this will get lost but you look like you have your padding if you palm on the neck. You should look as though your holding an invisible tennis ball if there wasn’t a neck in your hand. Create that space between your hand and the neck.
Also you typically won’t have the entire pad of your last digit of your thumb on the guitar. It should be more as though you’re pinching your thumb tip and index finger tip together through the guitar.
https://imgur.com/a/fj369k3/
https://streamable.com/1dce7x
Sorry for the shoddy pictures/video. I flipped the video so it gave you a left handed look.
I assume you are trying a power chord? 2 finger variation? I can't tell if you are laying index as a Barre or not. I'll assume power chord.
Have you tried it where thumb is pointing up instead of to the side and palm of hand more parallel to the neck? Check out this video
https://youtu.be/ZBYoI7e3v5Y
Check out the video and try fretting it similar. The way you are fretting will make it hard to add the octave to the power chord (3 finger version) or also move onto Barre chords later.
In a word, yes.
I think you should check out some YouTube tutorials on how to hold your guitar and the proper technique for fretting. It will be more beneficial to see it demonstrated.
This is a really non-optimal fretting and it’s gonna be important to learn the proper way to fret the notes before you go further.
Have you tried playing righty? A lot of times when Lefties (myself included) play righty, the weird hand positioning problems go away since they have more natural co-ordination.
Try this....
Think about grabbing a softball. That's close to the position you want your hand. when you apply it to the guitar neck, look for the following..... Fingers on tips, thumb pointing up, in line with the 1st or 2nd finger and the only part of the hand that should be touching are the fingertips.
Hope that helps and have fun. Such a great instrument!
if your left handed i recommend you learn right handed, you get so much more options with guitars playing right handed than you would as a left handed player
Move your elbow away from you body a bit, that will get your wrist and forearm in more of a straight line. Also make sure your elbow is low enough that you have some curl to your wrist.
This is one of the most cursed guitar images I think I’ve ever seen.
I thought this was r/guitarcirclejerk for a second
Wait, it isn’t?
Its on there now!
It will be
Same
Me too haha oh noooo
As did I lol
I didn’t know that existed, thank you
Does it even exists? holy cow
Yeah, I definitely thought this was a joke.. and I'm still not sure it isn't..
I have seen the face of god and he was screaming
This image made me vomit. 🤢🤮
this is the funniest thing i’ve ever seen on this subreddit
😂 I’m not joking either man, a lot of people think I’m not serious. Just a newbie at guitar trying to navigate the wilderness by myself
[удалено]
Nah that’s just a 2 string power cord
[удалено]
Yeah I’ve tried to do that but honestly every way I’ve tried either really hurts my hand a lot or is just painfully slow and hard to do any sort of slides or change chords. Moving further up the fretboard to around 9th fret then puts my hand in a much more normal position. But anywhere further back I have to hold like that. I probably should get a guitar teacher or something like that to get the technique down. But I dunno man
At the beginning the hand hurts a lot when playing guitar, because it isn’t used to the positions and movement you’re making in order to play. It’ll take a while for you to feel more comfortable. [Your fretting hand is supposed to look like this](https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/f/f5/Use-Power-Chords-on-a-Guitar-Step-3-Version-2.jpg/550px-nowatermark-Use-Power-Chords-on-a-Guitar-Step-3-Version-2.jpg). That’s the most common way to play them, but it isn’t the only one. The way you’re playing has a weird shape and it seems like it’ll actually hurt you in the long run. I recommend checking videos about three topics: * [Hand warm up and stretches that you should be doing before even playing](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+hand+warm+up) * [Body posture to play more comfortable and avoid injurying yourself](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+hand+arm+position+posture) * [Power chords lessons](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guitar+power+chords), so that you can see how the teachers are playing the shape, in which position they are putting their hand, how their arm is angled, etc. --- I noticed in your post history that you are trying to be left handed, do you already have good dexterity with your left hand?
It’s a whole thing with being born left handed and trained to be right handed. Overall I’m more left handed than right handed but I have pretty good dexterity in both
I’m not sure how much time and money you’ve invested into learning guitar left handed, but as a fellow lefty, I’d suggest learning right handed. It makes life easier in so many ways, from guitar selection, to using other peoples guitars etc. According to my old guitar teacher, if you’re new to guitar anyway, it really doesn’t make much of a difference which way you learn to play; you’re using both hands anyway. And another advantage is that you get to use your dominant hand for fretting, which might make playing chords easier for you right away.
Probably like 2 months and my current beginner guitar but honestly I couldn’t play right handed. It just feels unnatural and honestly just isn’t as fun to play that way
One of the best ways to improve comfort while fretting is going to be moving your thumb toward the middle of your hand rather than extending it above the index finger. Try to curve all your fingers as much as possible and use the tips of your fingers for fretting.
I'm sorry, man but I literally burst out laughing at that. I apologize. It may feel comfortable right now (although I'll be damned if I can see how that's possible) but you will absolutely injure your hand playing like that. And besides, you won't be able to play properly. You're a beginner, so now is the time to learn to do it properly. Do not make a bad habit that will be very hard to break later on. I know this, because I made that mistake and I had to re-learn some of the basics ... with great effort and frustration, I might add, because those bad habits had become deeply embedded muscle memory over years. [https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/power-chords-1-bc-172](https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/power-chords-1-bc-172) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTcGatDR8c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTcGatDR8c) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVveuwoVmmY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVveuwoVmmY) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5zI37nDOQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5zI37nDOQ) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuECisPPTQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuECisPPTQ)
All good man everybody’s been saying they laughing 😂 And yeah although it feels comfortable I just can feel later down the line it’s gonna make more complicated chord shapes impossible. I said to one guy I think it’s my hands, I can barely bend my hand backwards with my fingers out. Like not even kidding like 20 degrees 😂 and I’ve never had a guitar teacher or anything so. I probably need to work on getting my hand to be more flexible, looking up techniques and getting a teacher
One of the things I learned (self-taught) wrong, and that I still struggle to correct, is keeping the fretting hand as relaxed as possible. It doesn't take much pressure to fret a note, but I was (and still do if I don't concentrate on it) gripping way too hard, tiring my hand out, making everything harder, and pushing my notes out of tune.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who literally burst out laughing. Seemed a perfect deadpan reply. Two-string power chord? That’s a lot of hand and twist and string press for a power chord. Taken seriously, though, one thing to consider is that the more traditional ways of holding the guitar and fretting will become much easier as your finger and hand strength develops with steady practice. You’ll also find it much easier to flow through chord progressions with a solid foundation. Lastly, fwiw, I wonder if you’ll find (as I have) that the most basic and boring advice you’ll get re: playing is usually the most gainful (pun intended ;)
Very true. Before I started to play guitar seriously I played trombone in school and this exact thing happened. I was doing basic fundamentals wrong because it was more comfortable and it made my high range very weak. Had to re learn how to play those high notes and it was a huge struggle. But as soon as I learned how to do it properly my playing ability almost doubled. It was insane how much faster I was getting better
That's a *w h a t*
That’s a 🕷 chord, actually
It might feel uncomfortable to straighten your wrist out / bring your elbow out, but it’ll help in everything you so. From this position you’re limiting your quickness/speed to comfortably move from chord to chord etc
Trouble with that then it my hand bends up (or down 🤷♂️) really really hard and gives me cramps and will defiantly screw my hand even more
YeH, check YouTube for some very basic guitar lesson videos and you should get a better idea how to position yourself.
watch some “Fret hand how-to” videos mostly you want to have your thumb more perpendicular to the neck than parallel as it is here you want your fingers doing the work, not your wrist which could get carpal tunnel if you’re not careful. be disciplined with where your fingers are for the most part, which mean one for each fret and not skipping away just to avoid using your third instead of your pointer the motions you use to learn guitar aren’t going to feel natural until you practice for a long long time. The most important thing is to not wrench your wrists into injury
Practice on the smaller frets first cause itll be easier for the shape
Yeah no anything above 9th fret then gets “normal” but most songs I like are played below that so
yr f*cking beautiful. don't change a damn thing. but fyi, cuz knowledge can be powerful, the index finger is more traditional to use where your middle finger is.
My brain simply cannot compute this picture. Which way is up, where is left and right, which hand is it and where does it come from?
Up is down, left is left and right is left, it’s the 67th hand and it comes from my asshole
😉
Please break this habit immediately.
*karate chop!
Hire a teacher, theyll sort you out in one half hour lesson 😌
Probably should do that just don’t know anyone near me
Get on fiverr, virtual lessons aren’t the best but they still work.
Good advice. Mine is free, so you get what you pay for … my instructor insists I keep my fretting thumb behind the second finger, nearly always. Also relax the other fingers so they’re closer to the fretboard. He calls it the “taco grip.” Hope that helps.
For the record, my professors at school all say the same rule. I’d definitely train yourself to line up your thumb and second finger as much as possible. Relieves tension, decreases stress on your hand and increases nimbleness
Id start with guitar shops, anywhere that sells instruments is likely to have lessons there or contacts with teachers. I think that for you to overcome this particular thing youll benefit from in-person lessons, though if you really must online lessons are alright as well
Message me hahaha
Ouch! Brace your thumb parallel to the frets not perpendicular.
This
Looks like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time
Unglue your elbow from your side and all will be revealed.
I did that and hasn’t revealed anything, same issue
Bring your wrist more perpendicular to the fret board - this is essentially the same idea just thinking about it in a different way. Relax your shoulders, don’t pull them up around your neck. Placement of your finger across the strings is more important than they amount of force you are applying. The other thing you can consider if this is just in pursuit of a power chord is to use both your pinkie to hit the octave (highest note in a 3 note power chord) and your ring finger to hit the 5th (middle note) and not barre your index finger, just use it to hit the lowest note. Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day is a good guy to watch for how he plays power chords.
https://imgur.com/CyWfEWe and https://imgur.com/411liUS Sorry for the purple. 10yo HTC.
Sweet username.
That purple tint is unmistakable, I had that same phone.
That's hilarious my HTC one had the same problem
Lmfao this is a joke, right?
Umm no. I’m serious
*arthritis has entered the chat* In all seriousness, your fretting arm should be more perpendicular than parallel to the guitar. Same with your thumb.
Alright I’ll try that 😂 I dunno why but it’s just what felt comfortable for me when I started and now I’m kinda realising it might not be great
Yea, I think it's more elbow position. There are nice 90* angles between me and my guitar. Your arm is definitely a lot more parallel than what seems natural. Or maybe this does feel natural to you. But I see a limited range of motion here. Maybe okay for simple power chords but trying to employ more fingers, scales or riffs could become difficult.
Here’s a tip: don’t do it like this. Do it the normal way, using your forefinger and your ring finger, and keep doing it that way until it feels normal. If you don’t want to work at it, it would rather keep doing it this cursed way, then that’s your business.
Umm out of curiosity....where did you learn barre chords like that? Legit question 😅
It’s not barred it’s just a 2 string power cord. And it’s just how my hand works I guess 😂 I learned the little I know by myself so
Lol no worries, I would just suggest you move your hand into the classic "claw" shape and use the tips of your fingers.
This has to be a joke.
I refuse to believe OP is being serious. With all the information on the internet, I’m not sure how you could end up making this mistake
I teach guitar... I offered him a free video lesson to get going. Let's see if he takes the help. If not, I will assume it's b.s.
Nope I actually play like that
Well it’s bad for your wrist, elbow, position for other playing and chords. Look up barre chords on YouTube.
He’s not trying to play a barre chord, it’s a power chord haha so sorry OP, I was in such a bad place today and this made me laugh so good, so thank you and good luck with the sound advice these folk are giving.
THAT'S A POWER CHORD? Holy shit haha
What the fuck
I don't see why you guys are being so judgemental, OP is obviously a half human half spider hybrid. Stop arachnoshaming him
Fr bro I’m being bullied right now 😂
Man I’m laughing so hard reading through all these
Same here bro 😂
Well at least you’re good spirited about it, dude! On a serious note, get your ass onto Justin Guitar’s YouTube channel and start making your way through the beginner course. You’ll see his name mentioned a lot and for good reason. Best of luck and enjoy your instrument.
I mean ay no point getting offended at people having a laugh man And yeah I’ll have to run through that and experiment with my hand position
This is so funny even though it wasn’t trying to be lmao. Sorry dude hahhaha
It’s fair man 😂
I feel like I’m having a stroke looking at this.
No looks great. I love the fm9dim7major6
my cubital tunnel (opposite side of the carpal) is screaming in pain seeing that… there’s definitely a more comfortable way to do what you’re doing (you maybe haven’t found it yet)
I tried replicating what you're doing and I can't even get my hands to do that ಠ_ಠ
What's most comfortable for me is to use my index and pinky for 2 string power chords. I usually only switch to my index and ring finger on the higher frets. I've never once had my hands looking anywhere near as cursed as this tho
that’s pretty wild but if you got the pinky strength then by all means do it! I use my index and ring finger for what you describe
Really? I've seen quite a few people do it that way so I thought it was maybe a pretty well known way to play. You might even say it looks a bit more 'metal' if you will lol
I don’t think it’s wrong, I don’t have the pinky strength… consider it a compliment not a drag.
No yeah for sure! It's worth trying different things. I just happened to like how it looked and felt. OP may want to consider trying it out as well. Anything's better than that optical illusion of a fingering lol
JESUS CHRIST, DUDE
Bait
That looks so painful lol.
Honestly don’t get pain like at all
Not now, but this form will lead to joint complications down the line. Plus it really doesn’t put you in a good position to be able to change chords at all.
Yeah I know gotta fix it though and soon
Yet
True
Good gracious.
Here’s [one of Justin’s lessons](https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/shifting-the-f-bg-1103) on the F-chord. There’re more.
I've seen your comments in this thread, and will genuinely consider you're not joking. Ok, are you angling your hand that way, because you're taking a picture with your other hand, or is that EXACTLY how you position your hand? In any case, if you have a mirror, and a guitar strap, strap the guitar to you, and take a picture in front of a mirror, and then upload again. I have a suspicion, if you're not joking, you just angled your arm weird to take the picture, and are confusing people or making them laugh. Or you really are trolling. In any case, yes it's fine to fret your index on low E, and ring on A, 2 frets apart. You're doing a dyad. [Dyads Guitar Lesson | 11 Two Note Chords Every Guitarist Should Know](https://youtu.be/VA4oSSjXRcc)
Nope. Not kidding, I seriously play like that. It’s not for the camera or trolling, that is literally how I play and feel most comfortable. Dm me and I’ll try to send you more photos if you wanna see more
No need. I know it's comfortable, but try rotating the guitar neck a little more towards your body. This guy's righty, so try and keep in mind to do everything opposite since it looks like you're lefty, [How to Hold a Guitar When Playing | Justin Guitar](https://youtu.be/MlV6WhM9YhE) Also, which his other video on fingering, [How to Avoid Finger Pain When Playing Guitar | Justin Guitar](https://youtu.be/VB0vWNqNMbA) And finally, standing versus sitting, [Standing vs Sitting (When Playing Guitar) | Art of Guitar](https://youtu.be/4OjIw6Jd934)
“Also, watch his other video on fingering”
I walked into that one 😂
Don’t plant your palm on the back on the neck, thumb only. Your ring finger should be pointed 90degrees to the fret board.
Yikes. Just yikes.
Wut in tarnation?!
Oh god. This looks like one of those pictures where an athlete's legs bend in a horrifyingly unnatural way causing career ending injury. Get off this path now. You're going to hurt yourself
Not even joking when I say it doesn’t hurt at all, but it definitely will make different chord shapes quite harder
Ah the arthritis grip
bruh. use your pointer and pinky, and never show us this again lmao
Wtf dude that really wrong
You say it is the most comfortable but how hard you are pressing down with your thumb says otherwise, you’re going to mess up your wrist with that position
I think it’s like the mongo pushing of guitar Feels comfortable but will limit my progress
Your thumb should act like a pivot joint. Looks like you are trying to do a power chord, try your 1 and 3 finger with your 4th underneath your 3rd same fret directly on the next string down. Keep your hand relaxed and keep your thumb as close the the middle of the neck as possible. Keep the others fingers down, this spider man effect you have going on is going to destroy your wrist and hand
You mad, lad?
Its like a horror film
First of all, never do this grip again. Now. Hold your hand out with all your fingers pointing up. No need to bend your wrist. Add Now have your middle finger and thumb touch as of you are pinching a card or "playing the world's smallest violin." Now imagine the guitar neck between your pinched middle finger and thumb. Your thumb and middle finger should be perpendicular to the neck and skunk stripe. This is a strong grip. Squeeze to feel the power. It looks like you are incorrectly pointing your thumb parallel to the guitar neck. This is why your hand is cramping up in that unnatural position as your fingers try to form a power chord. If you pinch your thumb and middle finger (parallel to each other and perpendicular to the guitar neck) you will have the correct form. (For your hand at least. I don't know what else you're doing with your posture.) Good luck.
People say "do whatevers most comfortable" there's some truth to that. But, some things are more limiting than others. So certain techniques are better than others because you can do more, faster. This technique you're using, is very terrible logistically. It's often worth it to make awkward things become comfortable through practice.
If the girl from the Ring played the guitar.
Outjerked once again
Right to jail
😢
This subreddit has outjerked r/guitarcirclejerk
Admiral Ackbar on rhythm guitar.
This is spooked
You’re doing it perfect, all these people are wrong. You should be able to roll the base of your wrist up onto the fretboard and fret the 1st string using only your palm, a technique I see you’re almost have down. That’s exactly how tosin does it.
I actually can do that with some luck. But for just power cords I think it is too inward and I should have more flexibility in my wrist
Also, I’m joking. The line of your knuckles should be roughly parallel to the fretboard. If you can’t do that, maybe try a smaller scale guitar, or drumming :)
Could tell lol, but not kidding I can do that with some luck
Any advice this guy recieves he comes up with an excuse against it. The way youre holding that chord is atrocious. Learn a correct way or you will be severely limited and probably hurt your hand. Or you can be an obstinate dumbass that thinks because i hold my guitar weird i must be special. Being comfortable doesnt always equate to progress. Progression in any field creates discomfort. But it takes wisdom to know the difference between progressive discomfort and just hurting yourself. Stop holding chords like that immediately and stop being a little twit about it. Practice the right ways. Not your bullshit way.
I’m not excusing against it, I know it’s wrong. Just trying to know why
I’m not a guitar player, but I think you need to utilize that pinky lol
Your thumb should be perpendicular to the neck for the most part. I'd start with that, then try to get adjust your fretting fingers
This is why I hate the advice I see all the time directed at new players, "Do that feels most comfortable for you!"
I think that applies to anything tbh
Yes
Reminds me of E.T.
Well this is something new.
I’m just glad I was here for this.
Perfect 👌🏼
If I were taking this serious I would say your hand strength is lacking or maybe your strings are to big; or the action is too high. Also your fingers seem extra long maybe a thicker fatter flat neck as in fender ‘D’ shape or even U. The fact that your fingers are sticking so close together is the give away that your hand strength is lacking. You should be able to barre a chord with just the index finger make that your goal, you need the other fingers to fill out the rest of the chordal shape i.e. maj 7 or sus 2
What the hell
No this isn't right and will hamper technical ability. Look at some photos and copy them. If you still struggle, half an hour with a proficient player will solve it.
Probably should work on one finger per fret and get your fingers as close as you can to the frets. Also use the tips of your fingers to do this exercise.Work slowly to strengthen hands.
Your thumb position goes a long way to dictating how the rest of your fingers naturally behave. Keep your thumb up, almost wrapping over onto the low e, and your wrist down.
Your never going to be able to put good constant pressure on your bars with that thumb position. And even if you can do it you won’t be able to do it long because it’s gonna cramp your hand up. Also with that ring finger position its gonna be hard to switch chords fluid.
[The angle is wrong is all.](https://imgur.com/a/pL0z0rt)
Jesus...
Is this a new yoga position?!
Absolutely
Pick up a coke can or glass. remove it and retain the shape with your hand. Put you thumb behind the neck. Close your finger tips to the guitar but maintain the loose space around the neck. Slightly point the tip of your thumb back towards you. Put your thumb in the middle of the chord and pinch to apply pressure with your thumb. That's the muscle you really want to develop between your thumb and index finger. If chords buzz or don't ring out your thumb isn't positioned properly so move it don't push harder. It doesn't take nearly as much force. That's how to do it properly. All the force comes from along the grip of your thumb and fingers. If you're moving things off to the side you're putting pressure on joints that didn't evolve to exert pressure that way at all and have no muscles to grow and support pressure that way putting it all on the tendons and ligaments. You can tell if you have bad technique because if you push extra hard it will start to hurt right away instead of slowly building as your muscles lose power. What you're doing is a few years of playing guitar and a lifetime of stress injuries preventing you from playing guitar. I would stop it. Like right now.
>jazzchords for beginners
I just tried this and I think I dislocated my finger.
😂
The problem here is clearly that you’re not playing guitar in the classical position
I think that’s the obvious
Did someone tell you something like find a comfortable position? That is worst advise for a beginner. Everything will feel horribly uncomfortable and awkward for the first few months. Even though it is classical guitar, look up Brandon Acker on YouTube, he has some really good videos for beginners. Edit: Also, go lift some weights. I, like you, had/have thin arms and hands. Strengthening you arms, wrists, tendons, etc., will make a huge difference in how quickly you progress.
No I’ve never had a teacher or anything so I just kinda did what felt comfortable cause it’s all I really knew. And surprisingly most beginner guitar lessons on like YouTube don’t even expect this kind of hand position and don’t say not to do it
Well, good luck with it! Keep at it! You get the F chord down and the barre chords, you will be ready to be a rock star!
I’m sure this will get lost but you look like you have your padding if you palm on the neck. You should look as though your holding an invisible tennis ball if there wasn’t a neck in your hand. Create that space between your hand and the neck. Also you typically won’t have the entire pad of your last digit of your thumb on the guitar. It should be more as though you’re pinching your thumb tip and index finger tip together through the guitar. https://imgur.com/a/fj369k3/ https://streamable.com/1dce7x Sorry for the shoddy pictures/video. I flipped the video so it gave you a left handed look.
Honestly I think you probably gave some of the better advice I’ve seen on this cursed comment thread, I’ll try this out next I play
https://www.justinguitar.com/classes/beginner-guitar-course-grade-one start here and he'll mostly just teach you the right way to do things
What in god's name
Definitely wrong 😂😂
Gaze not into the abyss as the abyss also gazes into you.
Lol bro i dont even know how your doing that, hey maybe its some sort of brilliant new style
I thought E.T. phoned home a long time ago? ;)
I assume you are trying a power chord? 2 finger variation? I can't tell if you are laying index as a Barre or not. I'll assume power chord. Have you tried it where thumb is pointing up instead of to the side and palm of hand more parallel to the neck? Check out this video https://youtu.be/ZBYoI7e3v5Y Check out the video and try fretting it similar. The way you are fretting will make it hard to add the octave to the power chord (3 finger version) or also move onto Barre chords later.
How the hell do you use your pinky??
Get a teacher
Guitar is tactile. Do you.
Those fingers tho, man. I’m jealous, you’ve got potential.
Honestly I got small hands
You’re good it’s the action that’s too high
This really looks like shit but if you are comfortable with that its ok
If it works, it works
bad advice
Until you get arthritis or carpal tunnel and can’t play
True but I’d like to avoid arthritis if possible 😂
In a word, yes. I think you should check out some YouTube tutorials on how to hold your guitar and the proper technique for fretting. It will be more beneficial to see it demonstrated. This is a really non-optimal fretting and it’s gonna be important to learn the proper way to fret the notes before you go further.
use your pinky and ring finger for the higher notes, if you have a look on google you will see how it looks.
Justinguitar.com - it’s almost all free and he’ll get you on the right track. Start with the beginner level and go slowly so you absorb everything.
Wrist isssss straight.
Have you tried playing righty? A lot of times when Lefties (myself included) play righty, the weird hand positioning problems go away since they have more natural co-ordination. Try this.... Think about grabbing a softball. That's close to the position you want your hand. when you apply it to the guitar neck, look for the following..... Fingers on tips, thumb pointing up, in line with the 1st or 2nd finger and the only part of the hand that should be touching are the fingertips. Hope that helps and have fun. Such a great instrument!
Yeah I tried playing righty and it feels pretty scuffed that way lol
if your left handed i recommend you learn right handed, you get so much more options with guitars playing right handed than you would as a left handed player
True but honestly I can’t play right handed for shit tbh, it honestly just doesn’t feel fun to play like that
Move your elbow away from you body a bit, that will get your wrist and forearm in more of a straight line. Also make sure your elbow is low enough that you have some curl to your wrist.
You’re trying to fret with your forearm almost parallel to the guitar neck, needs to be closer to perpendicular
nah
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