Struggling already!

I'm 43 and have always wanted to play guitar, but with a little bit more time now decided I'd take the plunge and buy an electric guitar and amp.

I looked for video based courses online and soon found this website which so far seems to be clear and concise for a beginner to start to try and pick up the basics before progressing on.

My problem is with the very first chord, the simple C major chord. I mean, how difficult can it be to place your index finger on a string without interfering with the strings either side!

Well, in my case it seems almost impossible. Every which way I try to place the tip of my finger on the string I touch one or both of the other two strings.

Is it possible that I have fat finger tips, and if so do they make a guitar with a wider than normal fretboard to space the strings out a little further. I bet this is a really basic question and it has been asked time and time again by beginners since the guitar was invented but I'd at least like some reassurance thatthis is a normal problem.

Hi there, Huggorocks,

Welcome to Guitar Tricks and to the guitar. You may be relieved to know your problem is extremely normal. I teach adult beginners all the time, and many will come to me after a few weeks or months of practice and say something like, "I can't believe how much trouble I used to have with the C chord. Now it sounds just fine!"

I have yet to meet a student who had to go out and get an especially wide necked guitar, but in answer to your question, yes they do exist. For starters, you might try a classical guitar. They have a noticeably wider neck, but also have nylon strings - which will have a different sound than a steel string acoustic.

I have a tutorial for beginners that may be of help to you. It offers tips for overcoming various types of tone troubles. Here is the link:

3 Tips for Improving Your Tone
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=474

Keep us posted - and good luck!
Best wishes, Lisa McCormick

Guitar Tricks Instructor

Keep playing

it’s magic after awhile you all of a sudden drop the buzz and the thumps

This statement is true your fingers will just start going into the right spots somehow after a while, and not a long while. I've been playing about 5 weeks i went from were your at(can't make the simple chords sound right to playing all the majors, some minors and a few easy songs.I still get a lot of buzzing and such but getting better quickly.

Yeh.. I'd practise a little more before deciding that your fingers are too fat. My dad has fat fingers and can only "comfortably" play on his Classical guitars but that doesn't mean he can't play my electrics. Also, I even find myself having to relearn where to put my fingers when I play on a wider neck guitar. Like my Epiphone SG has a wider neck than my strats do, so I always find it a little trickier to play it because I am not used to it as much as my strats.

I feel better knowing that this is a common problem.

I have no problem in putting in the practice time required, I just wanted to check I was not going down the wrong route. Now I know I need to practice, practice and practice.

Lisa, thanks for your reply and the link which was most helpful. It is really great to know that instructors are active in the forum and able to offer advice, encouragement etc.