What are you trying to play for chords on the Bass ? the good news for you is that most chords on the bass the notes are played one at a time, although dependiing on the sound you can certainly play a chord.. As far as the frets buzzing and hitting the strings that gets better with practice. So do short fingers... The more you play you will learn to compensate for the size of your fingers.. Timing is important with the bass, you and the drummer hold the band togeather, my instructor a long time ago had me practise with lots of different beats, shuffles (zz top) rock, waltz beats and so on. I bought a dum machine to help me out. However today you can down load some off the intenet... Most of all take you time, you have a long life,, And have fun....