Help Please

westferrychip · Post by **westferrychip** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:51 pm

I am new to playing a guitar, I dabbled in playing a bass guitar when I was 16, I am now 61!! Maybe I should know better than to start trying to play at that age! Does anybody know of any finger exercises to help strech my finger reach, as I have trouble reaching all the frets on some chords, also my fingers seem to interfere with the adjacent strings which obviously dulls the note on that string, can anybody suggest any tips to avoid this. I hope I have explained my problems OK. its easy thinking about them but difficult to put into words.

Many Thanks in anticipation.

Westferrychip (or maybe I should have called myself "old git" or something similar)

mikeyBoab · Post by **mikeyBoab** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:24 pm

Hello westferrychip and welcome!!!

You have explained your problem perfectly. The dulling of adjacent strings is one of the most common problems which new guitarists face when trying to play chords. The simplest answer is - practice. That's really all there is to it; it will not take you long to learn how to hold your fingers so as not to disturb the adjacent strings.

As for the "reaching" exercises, I recommend learning The Spider - check http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6s32hmkdrDw it out.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Post by **olly** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:52 pm

It's never too late to get back into playing - great stuff for doing it and good luck.

Welcome to the forum as well!

westferrychip · Post by **westferrychip** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 6:32 pm

Mickyboab and Olly

Many thanks for your reply with suggestions and encouragment.
Much appreciated, Ill certainly try the spider but it will be a slow process!!

Westferrychip (Roy)

swampdonkey100 · Post by **swampdonkey100** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:39 pm

hey well done mate for gettin into it...u got any aims or goals your goin for?....practice is the key for sure keep it up mate..swampy

westferrychip · Post by **westferrychip** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:48 pm

Hi Swampy
Thanks for the encouraging remarks. My aims are to be able to play a few tunes for my own amusement and to keep the arthritis at bay in my hands!!!
By the way I have looked at the chord charts and I am having trouble with the chord B , how do you cover all six strings and then get your fingers onto the other frets ??? anybody got any tips for me on this one.
I have got the chords A,C,D,E,F and G covered but find it very difficult changing from one o the other quickly, does this come with practise??

Thanks again

Westferrychip (Roy)

shr3dfr3ak · Post by **shr3dfr3ak** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:05 pm

a good exercise i found for helping your finger reach would be to fret the lower E string at the 12th fret with your first finger play it , then fret the 14th fret on the same string with your middle finger and play it, start moving up the strings fretting and playing the same frets until you reach the high E string, then come back down the playing the same notes, once you get back to where you started at the 12th fret low E string repeat the whole process but move down a fret each time (11,10,9,8 etc..) until you get to a point where you can feel a good stretch in your fingers while your playing but can still play it without it hurting (if it is hurting then you have gone to far), stop there and repeat the process with your other fingers eg: middle & ring, ring & pinky.
you could take it further and play the whole exercise with your first & ring finger/middle & pinky but use a 2 fret gap instead of 1,
as for deadening strings, practice will help sort that problem but you could also try lowering your thumb placement on the back of the neck and see if that helps at all,
hope this info helps

more useful info here

Post by **olly** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:29 pm

Nice tips there - thanks for sharing

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:48 pm

practice as much as you can, watch tv and keep the fingers doing simple things that dont require thought but which will help you out, after time everything works