Noob here. Am I pressing to hard?

Im a beginner guitar player about 3 weeks in and im going through the chord section in guitar fundamentals at the moment. Ive already developed some calluses or slightly tougher more firm skin on my finger tips. I find that when im holding down the chords and practicing the chord changes the strings shape gets indented into my fingers making a groove. As this happens I have to press down even harder so my strings dont buzz when im strumming them. I was wondering if maybe I am pressing down to hard on the strings initially or if maybe the calluses on my fingers just arent developed enough yet? Its mildly frustrating when Im pressing down really hard and still cant produce good tone. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

Riff, I would say you are doing fine. A lot of what you experience is the same as all other guitar players. That being said, what I believe you will notice is that as you develop calluses, you will get much less fret buzz and better tone because you are using the pressure you need. That's also going to vary depending on what kind of action you have on your guitar as well as what gauge strings you have. If the action on your gitar is set correctly, you should not have any frett buz at all. If its worth it to you, you can take your guitar to a guitar center and for 50 they will fix it up so you are ok. Regarding strings, I use DaDarrio `11 52 custom lights and they are fine for acoustic guitar. If you have heavier gauge strings like 13 to 53 then it will be harder to press down, but at the same time, that will help you in the long run. On my electric guitar I use 10 48 gauge which is good for when you get into bending strings. One thing that might help is to soak your fingers in rubbing alcohol after you are done playing. It seems to cause calluses to develop faster. Hope this helps!!

Originally Posted by: RiffNoob02

Im a beginner guitar player about 3 weeks in and im going through the chord section in guitar fundamentals at the moment. Ive already developed some calluses or slightly tougher more firm skin on my finger tips. I find that when im holding down the chords and practicing the chord changes the strings shape gets indented into my fingers making a groove. As this happens I have to press down even harder so my strings dont buzz when im strumming them. I was wondering if maybe I am pressing down to hard on the strings initially or if maybe the calluses on my fingers just arent developed enough yet? Its mildly frustrating when Im pressing down really hard and still cant produce good tone. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

I think the short answer is, you are pressing too hard and you don't need to. Like John said, it happens to new players; the Iron Grip!

An experiment I've used for a few people to give them an idea how little pressure they need to exert on the strings is this:

1) Hover your middle finger over the Low E string, 3rd fret but don't touch the string yet (note - the 'angle' of your hovering should be no different than how you would fret a string/chord - like with your thumb anchored on the back of the neck etc)

2) With your hovering finger in place, start picking the Low E string in a steady pattern.

3) Lower your hovering finger towards the Low E string until it deadens the string.

4) Continue pressing lighty/slowly down on the string only until it rings out as a clean note, THEN STOP.

What you'll notice is how little pressure you need to exert to get the string to ring. Like riding a bike, you don't have to put on bone crushing pressure to control the handlebars.

The question then is; what do you do to stop the Iron Grip Syndrome? First, see the experiment above. Take one chord, like an open G, and just gently place pressure on the chord following the steps above but strum all the strings. It's gonna sound like a hot mess for a bit. With that said, just keep doing the slow application of pressure until it rings and you get a sense of how to hold the chord. You may have to do it a few times to get the hang of the feel. Do it with a few common chords like an open D or an open A.

Key is to not rush through the chord changes if you're not comfortable with how you're gripping the neck/strings. I know the Fundementals has a good ergonomics and handling segment so it can never hurt to review those multiple times if you need.

It's not really the callouses that's your issue. Yes, when they're built up, it makes it easier and more comfortable to play but is unimportant to the guitar if you have them. It's physics. The guitar only cares that pressure is applied enough that when struck, it can project the note.

I hope this makes sense.