please tell me a good way to learn finger placement

hey again...
i was trying to learn all the basic chords, but the book i'm using tells me to do some funky finger placements. my fingers dont seem to want to bend, or one of my fingers might get in the way and all my fingers end up halfway up the fret. i run into this alot when i'm trying to play blink 182's whats my age again. i got the intro down pat, but i'm still having a few problems with my fingers. please tell me a way to make my fingers cooperate.
gracious

It is best to keep trying those fingering positions. When I first started I thought there was something wrong with my hands because I couldn't stretch them, ect. Just keep trying and it will come rather quickly. You may, however, be holding you fingers at extreme angles (like, if your fingers are at a 90 degree angle or a 180 degree angle) if that makes sense. A lot of people do that at first. Also, all of your fingers don't have to be right on the fret. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to stay snug with the fret at all times.

[Edited by ksampsel on 12-29-2001 at 10:18 PM]

You need to work on stretching and strengthening your finger muscles. From your signature, you sound like you're trying to teach yourself the guitar. That's great, but you might be able to save yourself a lot of frustration if you started taking lessons from a really good guitar teacher.

i'm self taught as well, and i've been at it for about 10 months now.
from the tab i just glanced at, blink's 'what's my age again' is power chords
you can play these the correct way (get a chord chart or search altivista for 'chord generator'). i just play however it feels good. i would agree with 'trebledamage', it might be time to get some help from a professional instructor, even just for a little bit while you get the basics.
:) good luck

thanks for the help...

i have been planning on getting a teacher and i think my dad is getting me set up with somebody; im sure that will help out a WHOLE lot. anyway, i have tons of time to practice since the drummer of my band just broke his arm (he fell out of his bed lol). so i might be asking alot more questions when i run into trouble. ive been working on stretching my fingers and whatnot, and i see that it makes a little difference. my index and middle fingers feel like they are getting sliced up though...
anyway, i played the parts i know again and i realized that i WAS putting my finger on the wrong fret on some parts. my finger wouldnt pull back to the correct fret in time. also, will i have to get a distortion pedal to get the sound that punk bands have??? if so whats a good one and wheres a good place to get it.

thanks a million

i have a question on the intro to whats my age again:
heres the tab:

E:-------11---------11---------11-----------11---------|
B:-----11--11-----11--11-----11--11------11---11-------|
G:---9-------------------------------------------------|
D:--------------9--------------------------------------|
A:-------------------------9-----------11--------------|
E:-----------------------------------------------------|

sorry for the crappy tab its my first one...you get the picture i guess

anyway...what i do is i put my ring finger on the 11th fret for strings E and B; then i use my index on 9, then move to D string 9th fret; then A string 9th fret; then A string 11th fret. the book says to repeat this; however when i get to the part with A string 11th fret i screw up on pulling it back to G string 9th fret. i figure im doing something wrong, but this is the only way that feels right, unless i need to stretch some more. plus putting my ring finger on E and B leaves red marks in them and they burn like mad and i have to take them off after playing this little riff 1 or 2 times.(sorry for the long run-on sentence). anyway, if you know the answer please tell me.
oh and happy new year. i know its pathetic to post something at 12:57 am on new years day but im full of energy and watching that fat guy on POD and Sum 41 (on MTV) made me get up and start fiddling with my guitar some and i HAD to ask these questions.
thanks again for letting me waste your time

Don't let sum41 fool you. There are only 'the backstreetboys' in another outfit. The two hand tapping is a cool trick to show off, indeed, when you can do it properly, not just by tapping on your fretboard whitout even knowing what note you just tapped. If that are your ideals to play guitar, you should better stop playing, no offence. But if it helps you to pick up the guitar and play some tunes, be my guest.

And if the snaress leave red marks your on your way to have this nice thick, hard coat on our fingers, but aren't there yet. I've heard women find it rather attractive. So keep practising ! :)

sorry, but you offended me with your little comment about the sum 41 thing. i KNOW that they are just a bitchy little poppy "punk" band but i just want you to know that i just felt like playing the guitar after seeing people playing guitar.
ok, now that i said that, let me continue. what do you mean by "hand tapping"? i also dont just pick up the guitar and just immediately start playing. ive been taking the time to learn what note im playing and all that, so dont think im some damned wannabe ****head 14 year old. oh, plus my fingers are getting used to the torture i put them through.
anyway, i dont mean to be vulgar thats just the way it is. thanks for helping me out a bit.

ps. i still am wondering if i need a distortion pedal to get the right sound for punk music and what are the good pedals to get.

by the way, belgian beer sucks, unless youre drinking someting i dont know about

I saw te fat guy of SUM41 handtapping when I was going through some channels. It consists that you use your right hand to 'tap' a note on the fret board and with your left hand you make a hammer-on with he sound produced from the tap. The tap is kinda like a pull-off, with your right hand and with only one finger (but there are techniques to use all 4 fingers to tap)

e|-(T)12-7h9---
b|-------------

So, place your left hand index finger on the 7th, tap the 12th and hammer on with your left hand RINGfinger.
I hope this crappy explenation made sense. There are alot more 'good' guides to tapping. So I'd suggest you search around. (Shmange has made a really good one, but it's rather difficult)

By the way, the first paragraph of my previous thread wasn't about you, but about 'sum41' I din't want to insult you by any means, it was just an opinion

About the pedals, you should go to a music store and ask if you can try some. I have a Boss Me-33, and I'm pretty happy with it, but offcourse it's just a matter of tase.

Belgian beer sucks ? Man, what have you been drinking then ? I take this as an insult tho' :)

p.s. heineken is not Belgian :) it's _not_ even considered as beer here :)

alright sweet,
thanks alot! i didnt know thats what it was called, cuz i got frustrated and started doing that while i was calming down.
i'll take a stop by mars music or someplace to find a good pedal, and i've been looking on the net at some pedals and boss seems to be the leader when it comes to pedals, or at least they have the biggest selection.
you didnt really offend me, its just some people try and say that im a preppy punk and it pisses me off...oh and ive never had belgian beer, but i'll try it sometime

my friend says it gives you quite a buzz

i am looking for a good software that shows finger placing. Whats good?

Theres no software that I know of that shows finger placement. The only time a tab will show finger placement is if the author or someone else puts it under the tab. A lot of lessons in Guitar 1/Guitar World show fniger placment under their tabs, but looking for whole songs on the internet with finger placement is gonna be hard to find.