Hi All,
I'm totally new here. Before i start into any lessons, I have a question for the community. The last online guitar lessons I took were from The Guitar System (Guitareo). I expressed an issue that i was having with my hands to the guy that ran the site. I discovered that he didn't have a whole lot of empathy for someone with a bit of a physical limitation to playing guitar. He simply said, "Well, I guess the guitar isn't for you". That was deflating to read. So, the issue:
On both of my hands, both my index finger and pinky finger turn inwards when I put them in the position of holding and playing a guitar. I hope that makes sense. It's weird, i know. So, the chords that require me to spread my fingers far apart seem to be a real problem. Is there any way I can still learn to play the guitar even though I have to avoid certain chords? I'd like to get everyone's opinion. Thank you very much for your time.
I won't pretend tht I have the biggest hands. I don't. Pretty average sized if you ask me. Some of the amazing guitarists seem to have the really long fingers or something (not exactly true though). As was pointed out, everyone has something physical to overcome playing the guitar. It's important to know that so that you understand you're not the only person in that boat. One of the greatest skills needed to play guitar is perserverance. The ability to stick to it and overcome.
It always seems like it would be so easy to just strum out a few chords. For most people, at the outset, it's not. It's actually a bit awkward for most. You have to find out shere to put your fingers and strum all at the same time. Like juggling, one hand has to understand what the other is doing. Not something that comes right away. So, being diligent is useful.
To your specific issue; keep in mind that your finger need only end up somewhere between the frets of your target position. For instance, you want fret the G note (low E sixth string, 3rd fret). Your finger can be anywhere between the actual (metal) 2nd and 3rd frets.
Why? The actual (metal) fret wire is where the note/sound comes from. All your finger is doing is 'telling' the guitar, 'Hey, when I press here, that note that comes from the 3rd (G) fret, will ring out. Som if your finger is right next to that 3rd (metal) fret or nearer the secong fret (for the big handed folks), it just doesn't matter. So long as you're holding down the string somewhere in between those frets.
For you and the challenge you mentioned, you may be fretting a barre chord and just need the distance between your index and pinky to be closer than most. So long as you can get your fingers somewhere between the targeted fret, you cool.
It still will take practice and there's always awkwardness but remove some of the pressure that often gets stuck in new players heads.
