Originally Posted by: pherold0822

I am struggling with chords 'Em, Am, C and

D. Fingers just don't fit touching other strings. Of course the blame game starts fingers to big, guitar to small? Researched and bought a Taylor GS Mini, nice guitar, but wondering if bigger guitar would help. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Always play a guitar that is comfortable for you. However, below is a picture of a guy named Brent Truitt of the bluesy bluegrass band, the 'Steeldrivers'. He's 6'4" and plays a tiny mandolin like a monster.

Big guy, small instrument.

The point is; one of the biggest issues for anyone starting on guitar is being able to fret chords cleanly. You're teach your hands to do something fairly complex and wanting to do it cleanly. Go to a guitar store (if you can) and playing a larger insrument and see if you can fret chords cleanly. It's an 'A v. B' test.

It simply takes time to be accurate. But....

Focus on holding and strumming one chord and adjust your hand by little bits to get it clean. To me, it's breaking down each chords to get a feel for how to properly hold it.

You should also consider that you do not need to apply maximum pressure to hold down a fretted note or chord. It's natural to think that you need to 'really press it down'. The opposite is true. As another test, try to apply as little pressure as possible on a fretted single note until it wrings clean. You'll find out that you may be 'over-gripping'.

Which also can lead to not getting a clean strum.