My hand is gimped, please help!!

No matter what i cant get a good sound out of a G chord, or any barre chord. Even the simplest chords i cant get because my finger touches another string or something. My fingers dont move that way!!!!, will they change with time and practice, how long?? I'm getting really frustrated! I might just destroy my guitar!!

depends what the problems is supersheep (lol at the user name, you aren't a sheep worrier from wales are ya :-) J/K
if your fingers are too big for your fretboard you can always try one of those wider ones,be careful though with that route, i tried a wider neck guitar when i was having the same problem right at the beginning but my hands weren't big enough to get around it properly (try before you buy) usually its all just about perseverance and practice, trying not to do a Pete Townsend in the meantime
:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2rolE9DlbA

Ok, stop right there! First off, it will get better with practice, it just takes time. Secondly, for the type of problem you're describing, you need to slow down and concentrate on a really easy chord (like Dmaj) and perfect it, then move on. If you try to learn 4 or 5 chords along with strumming patterns and timing before you have the chords down, you're going to get frustrated. Every time you learn a new chord, first, understand the shape (ie, where your fingers are supposed to go) and fret the chord without strumming any strings... only when you think you've got your fingers in the right position should then slowly strum through the strings... go so slowly that you can hear each individual string. If one of the notes sounds off, like you're getting fret buzz or a finger is touching a string, then focus on fixing that and then start over. When you can play the chord so each note sounds cleanly, you've got the chord down. It may seem sometimes that its faster to practice speed and quick chord changes first, and worry about getting the chord "perfect" later... but this is not true. You will have to "unlearn" your clunky chord changes later, and that will take a lot longer. Just practice slowly, making sure you have the chord sounding completely clean, and then you'll speed up in no time.

For a quick reward, if you have an acoustic, try playing around and experimenting with open strings combined with just one or two fretted notes... you'd be surprised at some of the cool sounding stuff you can come up with using just one or two fingers and two or three strings. Even better, get a capo, and you'll open up the possibilities even more. I have the Planet Waves NS Pro capo, and its great. Just stick on the 3rd or 4th fret or whatever, and experiment. Also if you have an acoustic, remember you can always work on finger-picking patterns and take a break from learning chords.

iam only new to guitar myself, but your problems were/are my problems.

i started with a nylon classic but found i needed to switch to a metal string acoustic to get used to a smaller neck. it was horrible at first but over time i am getting better.

first thing i did was learn simple pluck like mary had a little lamb and twinkle twinkle in single voice. from there i worked on zombie from the cranberries (to give me something i could hear..so to speak) but sadly it does take time, i'am still struggling with strum patterns and picking rhythms.

as wingman23 and Slipin Lizard has said take your time to get all the strings clear on pluck. (oh and i found cutting my nails right down helps alot).

PS personally i wouldn't worry about bar chords yet, they can be hard on the hand.

regards

peter

Originally Posted by: minexsii worked on zombie from the cranberries (to give me something i could hear..so to speak)

That's the kind of thing I mean about "chords" that just use one or two fingers... another example is the opening rhythm riff of "Owner of the Lonely Hearts" by YES, or "One Day" by 54-40. You'll find there are lots of little tricks out there, and that many recognizable riffs don't quite use "normal" chords. Take Dmaj/Dmin for example... they both have a very distinct sound, and really let you know "hey, I'm playing D MAJOR!" or "hey, I'm playing in D MINOR!" and yet there are many times where the chord will instead be played with just leaving the high E string open... this really doesn't resolve the chord to maj or min either way, so the "mood" remains undefined... figuring out exactly the chord and the mathematics behind it isn't important.. its just fun to experiment and if you like what you come up with, use it. Kurt Cobain kind of had that approach, a lot of simple riffs that were very catchy.