Fingers not following instruction..

[Casi1]

Sorry for the newbie technical question but this is driving me cray cray.

I want to do the Hendrix/SRV/JM chord thingy but my fingers just refuse to do it if it involves the E and B strings.

I can’t barre the E and B little strings with my index finger AND make my middle finger hit G.

I try and try.

Can’t do it man.



I can barre E and B with my index just fine. As long as I don’t require the next finger to do anything other than barre or mute.

My index finger won’t stay flat if I have to use the other fingers. I tell it to do it and it tells me to fock off.

Is there a secret trick to this? Is the guitar neck too small, too big? Are my fingers just too long? Do I have bad unruly fingers?

 

[alantig]

I'm not sure if I can still do this or not. I used to be able to, but I honestly don't remember if I've tried lately. I had trouble with it with the trigger finger, so I'll have to see what's what.

 

[veinbuster]

That isn't an uncommon problem.
I stubbornly fight it for a bit over a few days, then often skip some of the barre, or trade for a completely different chord - like different place on the board.
My fingers are pretty good at acting independently, but I'm a bit lazy on proper fret hand positioning (which I can usually get away with because I have long fingers), but sometimes it is hard to hold all 6 strings down with one finger. I've thought of getting a fan fret, because the couple of times I've tried them, it has seemed like the angle would make those chords much easier near the top of the neck.

 

[Casi1]

That isn't an uncommon problem.
I stubbornly fight it for a bit over a few days, then often skip some of the barre, or trade for a completely different chord - like different place on the board.
My fingers are pretty good at acting independently, but I'm a bit lazy on proper fret hand positioning (which I can usually get away with because I have long fingers), but sometimes it is hard to hold all 6 strings down with one finger. I've thought of getting a fan fret, because the couple of times I've tried them, it has seemed like the angle would make those chords much easier near the top of the neck.

Yeah, see I’m weird because I can do 6 string barres no problem... it’s just those top 2 strings that are giving me fits. It must be a hand position thing with having to flatten that first joint down while arching the next finger. It’s driving me insane.

 

[shimmilou]

Have you tried thumb over? Use your thumb to bar the E and A, and index finger for the other 4 strings.

BTW, the high E and B are the bottom 2 strings, not top.

 

[Casi1]

Have you tried thumb over? Use your thumb to bar the E and A, and index finger for the other 4 strings.

BTW, the high E and B are the bottom 2 strings, not top.

Yeah, I learned the top vs bottom thing differently to help me ‘grasp’ tablature (top/treble, etc... works for my brain, lol).

I can do thumb over but it doesn’t help me with hitting G with middle finger. It works great for the mini barre though.

 

[dogrocketp]

1. go as slow as possible when learning this technique, hopefully with a metronome. 2- Play arpeggios (slow) listening for sustain and relaxing the hand muscles as much as possible. Do this every day for 5 minutes, in about 3 weeks, it should be better. If that doesn't work, give me your guitars.

 

[Casi1]

1. go as slow as possible when learning this technique, hopefully with a metronome. 2- Play arpeggios (slow) listening for sustain and relaxing the hand muscles as much as possible. Do this every day for 5 minutes, in about 3 weeks, it should be better. If that doesn't work, give me your guitars.

Thanks!

I was with you until that last line. Then I was like

 

[veinbuster]

Yeah, see I’m weird because I can do 6 string barres no problem... it’s just those top 2 strings that are giving me fits. It must be a hand position thing with having to flatten that first joint down while arching the next finger. It’s driving me insane.

I’ll try a couple of specific things that I do.
1. Rotate my left hand a bit - thumb more to the centre of the neck. This raises my hand at the high E and gives me more room to reach to the G string without lifting my index off the bar. I should position my hand like that all the time, but I consciously do it when I’m damping the B E while reaching around.
2. Further up the neck, say 7th fret and above, I will use my thumb on the A E so I only have to bar the 4 high strings and have lots of reach in the other fingers.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

BTW, the high E and B are the bottom 2 strings, not top.

Nope.

 

[Glennyj]

Sometimes you just have to practice the same finger moves until your mind understand what you want.

Not always easy. I remember trying to learn some chords when I first started playing. DON'T GIVE UP.

 

[Casi1]

I’ll try a couple of specific things that I do.
1. Rotate my left hand a bit - thumb more to the centre of the neck. This raises my hand at the high E and gives me more room to reach to the G string without lifting my index off the bar. I should position my hand like that all the time, but I consciously do it when I’m damping the B E while reaching around.
2. Further up the neck, say 7th fret and above, I will use my thumb on the A E so I only have to bar the 4 high strings and have lots of reach in the other fingers.

Oooh... I’m gonna try that tonight. Thanks. I figure it’s gotta be a hand placement thing.

 

[shimmilou]

Nope.

lol

I guess string makers got it wrong with their “light top, heavy bottom” thing (maybe not “wrong”, just referring to the note instead of the physical location). Guitar makers, musicians, etc, got it right calling the low E the top string.

Afterall, while playing the guitar, the low E is certainly on the top.

 

[dmatthews]

Sorry for the newbie technical question but this is driving me cray cray.

I want to do the Hendrix/SRV/JM chord thingy but my fingers just refuse to do it if it involves the E and B strings.

I can’t barre the E and B little strings with my index finger AND make my middle finger hit G.

I try and try.

Can’t do it man.



I can barre E and B with my index just fine. As long as I don’t require the next finger to do anything other than barre or mute.

My index finger won’t stay flat if I have to use the other fingers. I tell it to do it and it tells me to fock off.

Is there a secret trick to this? Is the guitar neck too small, too big? Are my fingers just too long? Do I have bad unruly fingers?

Is there a YT vid of what you are trying to do? I wanna see

 

[Black Plaid]

lol

I guess string makers got it wrong with their “light top, heavy bottom” thing (maybe not “wrong”, just referring to the note instead of the physical location). Guitar makers, musicians, etc, got it right calling the low E the top string.

Afterall, while playing the guitar, the low E is certainly on the top.

Not if you play a right handed guitar left handed

If you always call the upper register string the top strings then it doesn't matter which way around you have the guitar.

 

[shimmilou]

Exactly! The top string is always the one on top.

 

[Casi1]

Is there a YT vid of what you are trying to do? I wanna see

I’m trying to find a video. But here’s a good photo of JM playing a chord that requires this hand position (see the first photo on page):

https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/john-mayer-commonly-used-techniques/

His index finger is flat but the next finger is hitting the next string. I’m not so concerned with his thumb or little finger and where they are.

But this position of the index barre while next finger fretting G appears in a lot of tabs (even some SRV stuff). There doesn’t seem to be a way around it.

Curiously, in all the photos I’ve seen, no matter how awesome the player is, the index finger never looks too happy to be in this position.

 

[dmatthews]

I’m trying to find a video. But here’s a good photo of JM playing a chord that requires this hand position (see the first photo on page):

https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/john-mayer-commonly-used-techniques/

His index finger is flat but the next finger is hitting the next string. I’m not so concerned with his thumb or little finger and where they are.

But this position of the index barre while next finger fretting G appears in a lot of tabs (even some SRV stuff). There doesn’t seem to be a way around it.

Curiously, in all the photos I’ve seen, no matter how awesome the player is, the index finger never looks too happy to be in this position.

What song would you choose as an example of this?

 

[Black Plaid]

I’m trying to find a video. But here’s a good photo of JM playing a chord that requires this hand position (see the first photo on page):

https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/john-mayer-commonly-used-techniques/

His index finger is flat but the next finger is hitting the next string. I’m not so concerned with his thumb or little finger and where they are.

But this position of the index barre while next finger fretting G appears in a lot of tabs (even some SRV stuff). There doesn’t seem to be a way around it.

Curiously, in all the photos I’ve seen, no matter how awesome the player is, the index finger never looks too happy to be in this position.

Looks like the hand angle is key. I tried and it's very uncomfortable to pull off without the index finger being at a pretty steep angle compared the to fret. Mayer looks like he's got his thumb over, but mine ends up behind the neck behind the 5th & 6th string. Hand is not at 90 degree angle from the neck, much closer to like 45 degrees.

This is around the 5th fret, up at the 12th it's a whole other ballgame.

 

[dmatthews]

Looks like the hand angle is key.

That's why I'm looking for a song sample