- EZ has a problem with "arthritis of hands makes barre chords very difficult or impossible ."
- Lisa finds it "hard to form chords with left hand, hit other strings, strings buzz, etc ."
- Chris's challenge is "changing from chord to chord ."
Let me point out that there is a fairly common and recurring theme weaved within each of these comments. Can you see it?
Your first thought might be "chord challenges," but if you look closer, each problem revolves around hand muscle training. Make sense?
We can even get more granular than just general hand muscle training. Thinks about this - each finger needs to be able to do its own thing.
We can call that "finger independence."
Face it, guitar playing is a very manual activity. You have broad movement with strumming and very finely-tuned muscular movements with finger-style picking, soloing and chord changes. It all comes down to training your hand and finger muscles to do things that otherwise feel pretty un-natural.
Now admittedly, when you have a physical problem like EZ with the arthritis, there's more to it than just retraining the muscles - you have to deal with pain, too. More than just the normal soreness that muscular exercise brings on.
Stretching your hands and fingers will help... A lot.
With your muscles limber, it will be easier to get your fingers placed in the correct positions.
These exercises will not only help prevent injury, but they'll prepare your muscles to be ready to memorize the various chord shapes and changes you'll make in the course of playing guitar.
They'll help with finger independence, too, but let's look at another exercise to specifically address the fingers that can't seem to do anything without their best friend (I'm talking to you, Pinky and Ring Finger!)
This exercise is for your fretting hand only. Its purpose is to make each finger move independently of the others. In the exercise you'll have each finger go through a series of movements to expand its independence while the others remain in a stationary position.
First set up the exercise...
Find a comfortable spot on the neck of your guitar. I'm going to start at the seventh fret by placing my index finger on that fret of the first string (that's the high e string). On the same string, my middle finger is on the eighth fret, ring finger on the ninth and pinky on the tenth.
Starting with your index finger, lift it off the string while the others stay on the string. Touch the second string, seventh fret and then bring your finger back to the stating position on the first string. Repeat this movement 5-7 times.
Next, use the same movement to reach over and touch the third string, come back to the starting position and repeat 5-7 times.
Continue this process until you have done it for the sixth string, stretching all the way across the fingerboard while keeping your other three fingers locked down on the first string.
Excellent, you've finished the first set.
Now repeat the process for your middle finger. So far, so good, right?
Now things are going to get... challenging.
Do a set for your ring finger, and when you complete that, round it out with a set for your pinky.
Like Blaine (Damon Wayans) said in the skit Men on Film, "Don't get mad, 'Toine!"
These is the same exercise my instructor gave me. Yeah, it's hard. But if you add this to your routine, not only will you increase your finger dexterity, you'll be able to make those chord shape changes more easily. And this particular exercise will help if you plan on becoming a lead guitarist down the road.
Of course, if chords are a struggle, power chords are an easy substitute that'll have you able to play songs almost immediately. Easy Power Chords shows you over 250 power chords. I think you can find a few in there to get you over the chord hump while your hands are getting in shape. Check out Easy Power Chords today.
Peace~
Dave
P.S. Do you have any questions about today's exercise?
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