Chords

Hello from London Ontario,
I am using an acoustic guitar, I am finger picking which I prefer over strumming. Here is my challenge. I am 63 years old and have small hands and short fingers and they are not as nimble as I would like, but I am working hard to change that and strengthen my hands. In the lessons there are some chords I simply cannot reach exactly as shown. I have two questions #1 are there variations I can use to overcome this problem or are there any suggestion you can make. #2 are there guitars made that are built to accomodate people with smaller fingers and hands?

Thank you Lisa for your lessons, I enjoy your friendly manner. I have passed on your site to a few people who have asked. Thank you for building this site to help me with one more item on my bucket list!!

Hi footlight48,

Great to hear you're working on fingerpicking, Lisa's got some great lessons.

#1 Some chords have variations, they don't always sound as full as the original chord but they can get you through an otherwise difficult song.

#2 I used to own a 3/4 size guitar, which has a smaller size overall. This may be a useful option?

Thanks for spreading the word! :)

You may want to consider getting a guitar with a shorter scale length (shorter neck)

The frets will be closer together. Best bet would be to try one out at a store that fits you nicely and then ask the sales rep how long the scale length is. :)