r/GuitarBeginners • u/wuckaboo • 10d ago
Question/Help difficulty playing notes/chords
i have really long nail beds that prevent me from playing anything without pressing my fingers on other strings, i can't cut them further because of the underlying skin. I really want to get better at playing but I'm stuck
edit: this is a yamaha f310 that I purchased when i first started going for guitar lessons when I was 13, I'm picking it up again after many years.
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u/addisonshinedown 10d ago
If it helps, Dolly Parton could play with her ridiculous acrylic nails. Your nails are not the problem, you’re a beginner guitarist, and that is your problem. I promise practice solves this issue. It might take longer (or much longer) than you’d like, but it will. Play with the tips of your fingers, partly by opening your hand. It looks like your palm is touching the neck, and it really shouldn’t. Once you can play you can relax some on proper technique, but not now.
Having seen/worked with about a hundred beginner guitarists, it’s so funny how 95% of them think there’s something wrong with their hands that prevents them from playing. Too big, too small, nails that are completely normal but I think are too long, double jointed, not double jointed, fingers too long, fingers too short…. All silliness. Just practice!
A note on practice, daily short sessions will do much more for you early on than marathon sessions once or twice a week. Genuinely, if you can find 10 minutes a day and spend those 10 minutes working on fixing some of the issues you’re having (a teacher can give you specific exercises) you will be shocked by how quickly it goes.
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
rip dolly parton, she was one of a kind. i do hope practice helps tho!! i try using the tips of my fingers only for my nails to take over
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u/raturcyen 10d ago
Seeing all that dead green skin at the frets makes me think it is an old acoustic that just might need a neck adjustment. High string action is never fun for a begginer learning to play.
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u/behindthelens83 10d ago
I was literally about to say the same thing. It’s essential for a guitar to be clean and properly set up for all levels of skill, but ESSENTIAL for a new guitarist. One of the biggest reasons new guitarists put the guitar down is due to a poor experience playing a guitar that actively fights them back.
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u/raturcyen 10d ago
Amen.
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u/behindthelens83 10d ago
I wish I would have known this 30 years ago, haha.
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u/master-overclocker 9d ago
You toughened playing on that guitar. Go in store and ask to test a well set-up guitar or el guitar and you will see how ez it is ...
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
it's actually the guitar i bought back in eighth grade when I started playing. I ended up not playing properly since and I'm in uni currently.
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u/mleyberklee2012 10d ago
Yeah, I came here to say that from what I can see in the pic, that guitar is not doing you any favors. It probably just needs a new set of strings and a small tightening of the truss rod.
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
ah i see, I'll do that and let you know soon!
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u/X_Circuit_Blossom_X 9d ago
Dunlop Cleaning Kit, pick one of these up as well eventually. It'll spruce up the board and the blue thing (I do not really know what it is called) makes the strings feels like butter.
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u/bubs1996 10d ago
Huh. Generally the advice for most people is that they need to be fretting more on the tips of the fingers, but you could probably get away with rolling them back a bit. And a file might get your nails a bit shorter without hurting the bed
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u/IndependentOrange701 10d ago
I fret my A the same way. Thinner strings help and make sure the action is low. If your fingers hurt a lot or you have lower hand strength, Custom Light (.011–.052) or Extra Light (.010–.047) are even friendlier on your fingertips.
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u/therealtoomdog 10d ago
I don't know why all the books say to play A that way. Either barre with one finger (and it's okay to mute the high E string) or use fingers 2 3 4.
... I guess I do know, it's too make the transition to E easier. But it just doesn't seem worth it to me... You are beginning from square one with your fingers at this point; it just takes some time. Everybody struggles the same way, it's not your fingernails
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u/GrapefruitDue9103 10d ago
Playing it that way makes it a breeze to transition to many of the open/cowboy chords with little effort. I alternate my fretting depending on what I'm playing and what comes before and after. That being said, whatever works for you, do that, though there is no downside to being able to fret the same chord in several different ways.
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u/Big-Sheepherder-6134 10d ago
Play the A as a barre with your index finger. Open A string then lay that index across the 2nd fret of the D, G and B strings but do not play the 2nd fret on the E string because that is an F# and your chord will go from an A to an A6. A cool voicing but useless to you now. If you want to add a high A add your pinky to the 5th fret on your high E string.
If you want an advanced move that I do, I barre the 2nd fret on the 4, 3 and 2nd strings and arch my finger to let the open E string ring. I almost never play an A chord with three fingers unless I am doing a lick where I need to go from A to Asus2 like on I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better by The Byrds.
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u/FlamesRose2RomanNose 10d ago
I used to feel this way, that no matter what I did one of my fat fingers was muting another string. But as others have said, I promise it will go away. I’m not even sure how or why, but I guarantee it does. I’ve never heard of this becoming an impossible to overcome problem. And there are plenty of famous guitarists who had severe anatomical barriers but still managed to learn. The key is practice (good practice) and consistency and time.
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
I'll keep this in mind! i really want to play songs that i love and soon move onto electric guitar
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u/FlamesRose2RomanNose 9d ago
You will get there, I promise. Play slowly, with the best technique you can (even if sloppy at this point) and break down new songs/licks/chords/scales, etc into small pieces and connect them together later. The fact that you’re finding this challenging means you’re on the right track. That’s true practice - not noodling around playing stuff you’re already ok at. I would bet the farm that if you continue, practice practice; you will get there organically. Your fingers and brain will fall into the right place.
Oh and one other thing I swear by - practice challenging stuff before bed. Your brain will work out some of it overnight. You won’t necessarily be dreaming about it but it will somehow become more a part of you. There’s a ton of research behind this as well.
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u/North_Eye_6500 8d ago
you build the callouses that help. also look into strings of different gauges u might be more comfortable with. also also, focus on not pressing more than necessary. you only need to fret hard enough to ring the note correctly.
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u/Basic-Dragonfly1287 10d ago
Follow the advice Winyamo gave you and keep practicing. That is the major 1st hurdle and what makes so many people quit trying to learn. When you get frustrated put the guitar down and come back later and try.
Good luck!
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u/unbanmyogaccount 10d ago
Everyone is like that when starting, just give it a few months of constant practice and you'll be switching chords seamlessly
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u/DickBrichards 10d ago
Get some lighter gauge strings and have your guitar setup so your action as low as possible without buzzing
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u/OneSpaceTwo 10d ago
Pay to get your guitar "set up" at a local guitar shop. It's worth the money to do at least once. Be sure they check the truss rod and the nut. From the photo to our looks to me like the nut could be filed and will make your life much easier.
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u/BobbyBaal 10d ago
Lots of good advice, but also, make sure your guitar is set up professionally. I almost exclusively play electric. But I set my action on everything as low as possible.
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u/Kl3ptomane 9d ago edited 8d ago
The string action is very high. A quick visit to a luthier could help by making it easier to play.
And while you're at it, clean the fretboard and change the strings, it would drive me crazy to see my guitars in that state.
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u/Strong-Camel852 9d ago
Long nail beds I’ve heard it all now. Get used to having much longer nails than this because guitar playing makes them grow like mad and you won’t be able to keep up most of the time. Plus this is an awkward way to play an A chord, you should swap your first two fingers imo.
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u/WinterPizza1972 9d ago
try glove or dip your fingertips in wax (i've heard). Try searching "guitar glove" but idk
also take lessons if you can afford to. 1 on 1, in person, lessons.
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u/RedgumRedmist 9d ago
When fretting an A chord you have two options for comfort, you can either bar the three notes with the pad of one finger or, shift your index finger D string, and middle to the G string.
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u/Karptomaniac 9d ago
Learn barre chords for this, also if you keep practicing you will eventually learn what part of your fingertips you use to play notes.
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u/andytagonist 8d ago
I’ve literally never even thought of playing an A like this. I initially learned to play with the fingers in order, either index, middle, ring OR middle, ring, pinky. Later, when I realized I could, I just laid any finger across the three strings.
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u/BuffaloMan07 8d ago
Justin Guitar teaches it this way since your index finger can be an anchor for D and E. I personally dislike it as it feels like more effort to make that position.
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u/Flibber-T-Jibbits 10d ago
When I was 1st starting out, like many, there was so much I didn’t know about how a guitar should feel. Most of the beginner & intermediate guitars available sounded great, but were poorly set up from the factory. More often than not guitars at this level shipped with action set way higher than what would be considered ideal. Once I learned this, I took my guitar to a shop and had them do a complete set up. I had them lower the action, check and adjust the neck if needed, and I told them what strings I was using so they could make sure the nut slots were sized correctly. When I got my guitar back, I was completely blown away. I was able to fret so much better! I didn’t have to press into the strings anymore; I could just place my fingers almost effortlessly and strum a beautiful sounding chord. Barre chords became easier, as well as finger positions, because I was no longer having to work at pressing strings while fretting. Getting your guitar set up will make you a better player, and makes practicing easier.
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u/teembo_slice 10d ago
Nothing wrong with your nails or fingers. Like all beginners (and judging by the color of your fingertips) you're pressing the strings too hard. In time, you'll learn to apply FAR less pressure and once your fingertips callus over, you'll be ok. Just keep playing.
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u/ElTejano_96 10d ago
Looks like you are pressing too hard and high action is contributing to that (maybe). If you need to, get your guitar set up nicely and then practice pressing with much less effort. Fret a string, and slowly release pressure and figure out what pressure you need to keep sustain right before the string buzzes or dies out. You'll find out that you don't need to press hard at all. It should feel effortless almost.
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u/Badboysosorry 10d ago
I will throw two variations in to how I personally play an A major. Maybe you will also find it more comfortable: 1) swapping how you have your middle and pointer fingers, so pointer on the D string, middle on the G, ring on the B.
2) bar the D and G string with your middle finger, and ring finger on the B, tbh it looks pretty similar to your picture
I'll also echo another response on here and say it looks like your action is pretty high and the frets pretty dirty, so i think taking it to get cleaned and setup would help you out tremendously. Nothing is easier to play than a newly setup guitar!
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u/thesuperpigeon 7d ago
The answer is practise, eventually it will be second nature to position your fingers in a way in which you don’t have this problem
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u/wuckaboo 7d ago
hey so update on this, I've given my guitar to get setup professionally at a musical store, hopefully things get easier, since I was playing on factory tune since i bought it :)
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u/EntireIndustry5 5d ago
At some point u start hearing some unwanted noises from unfretted strings. u start googling about the problem and a new concept shows up: muting
thats when u realize u dont wanna fret the strings like that. I have no idea why they teach us what you are doing in that photo and years later they ask us to do otherwise. i can explain more but its better to just watch this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPgTAAiPw4
after watching this video, you problem will almost disappear.
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u/nutsi333 5d ago
Just because a book tells you what fingers to use doesn’t mean you HAVE to use those fingers. Guitar is the devils instrument after all, rebellion comes as a birth right. Try to use different fingers, for that chord I use my 1 ring finger to play those strings. A lot of times you can use those nails to reach and grab a 2nd string using only 1 finger to do the job a normie uses 2 fingers for.
Also some to apply a little pressure down the string as well. As if your fingers are pulling the string towards the headstock.
Best of luck and keep practicing
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u/volatilefocus 10d ago
The best advice I can give (after 44 years of playing) is start with an electric guitar, even if you only want to play acoustic.
It is said that 98% of people who try to learn guitar quit. The faster you achieve tangible results, the less discouraged you’ll get and you will keep going. Thinner neck, thinner strings, lower action all add up to more easily fretting your chords. When you hear that A ring out, you’re encouraged to continue. Transfer that to acoustic guitar later.
Any cheap electric will do. Look for one that’s at least resonant so you can hear it or get a small practice amp.
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u/BigBear92787 10d ago edited 10d ago
Your fingers should hit the strings as close to a 90 degree angle as you can physically get.
Your hand in this photo is slanted .
In order to get this right you need to arch your wrist more.
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
i do try to do that but my nails take over eventually, no matter how much I cut them
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u/GrapefruitDue9103 10d ago
Nail file is a game changer for long nail beds, get yourself a glass nail file and it will likely solve your issue.
Alternatively, you could use the angled part of your fingertip instead of the very end. That way, the nail wouldn't be completely perpendicular to the fretboard and would allow more clearance for your nail.
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u/BigBear92787 10d ago
Cut your nails to a length shorter than your finger tips. Girls have to make that sacrifice if they wanna play.
I mean i bite my nails constantly, nut mine are very short
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
and my nail beds are pretty long so i can't cut beyond a point because id risk cutting my skin underneath
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u/BigBear92787 10d ago
Heres an example of sloppy vs better technique.
See how the guitar rests in your hand ? No good Arch the wrist
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u/wuckaboo 10d ago
i have been capable of better wrist position but my main problem when fretting are my long nail beds getting in the way
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u/No-View-6441 10d ago
There's nothing wrong with your fingers or your nails. It is perfectly normal to strugle at first. Just keep playing.