Chords

[John Bertotti]

Well another question for those in the know. Playing with the fretboard roadmaps book and the very beginning is chords of the first position. The three finger E and F chords are doable but it takes time and some leverage on the board to get the fingers stretched to the correct position. My fingers won't currently move to the positions needed on there own. I have to force them in place. The B flat chord is virtually impossible using the fingers suggested. the First finger for baring the A and E strings at the first fret and the second finger for the G string at the third fret. The E and F are easier if I use the fourth finger instead of the third finger. The B flat is currently impossible. My hand wont move where needed. If I bar cleanly with the first finger the second can't reach the G string. If I bar the G string cleanly I can't bar the A and E. I can hit either string cleanly but not both. My question therefore is will my hands eventually stretch to the needed dimensions to perform these chords or am I just out of luck? I imagine that working in the electrical/electronics field has trained my hand to function with the fingers very tight together at the tips when curled up. I hope they can be retrained to accommodate chords. Thanks for any input. John http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[Igor The Cat]

Practice,Practice,Practice!!!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[jasona]

A warm up exercise I learned from Radim Zenkl at a workshop involves using the right hand to spread each finger of the left handaway from the rest, in order to stretch them apart. Over time, one's left hand spread winds up spanning quite a bit more space than the right. That might help you reesaber

[mandocrucian]

It's hard to decipher what particular chord voicings you are talking about......

<span style='font-family:courier'>#E # # # # # # # # # # #F
==0====4=====0=====0===&#124;==5======3======1======
==2====2=====2=====7===&#124;==3======3======0======
==2====2=====6=====6===&#124;==3======3======3======
==4====4=====4=====9===&#124;==2======5======5======


#Bb(1) # Bb(2)
===1========6=========
===1========5=========
===0========3=========
===3========3=========

Fingering (bass to treble)
Bb (1): 2011 #or 3011
Bb (2): 1123 #or 1134 #or even 2234 #</span>


a) How long have you been playing?
b) What is the size of the hand and length/thickness of the fingers?
c) How wide is the neck? And how high or low is the string action?

All these factor in. #Small hands might mean that you must use an alternative fingering for chords on the particular mando you are now playing. #Less playing experience and you may not have the muscular coordination to place three fingers simultaneously.

Playing LHed, I am (mechanically) a beginner or perhaps an advanced beginner (RHed, I'm a pro). Some chords are real troublesome or impossible at present (LHed), but as I gain more finger control from playing tunes, it becomes easier to the handle chords.

NH

[John Bertotti]

Thanks all, I'm very new started in the last week of May about two months. The action is low to medium the neck width at the nut is 1 1/16". My fingers are thin with a little thickening at the middle knuckle. The hand at the pad in the palm is 3 3/4" with the fingers splayed as wide as they will go of their own volition. Bass to treble the E is 4620, the F is 5301, and the B flat is 3011. I can put the wide part of my right wrist almost all the way down between my fingers, all of them. When my hand curls up the fingers all point in toward the center of my palm. Oh and the finger length is measured from the crease in between the pad and the finger, the index is 2 11/16", the middle is 3", the ring is 2 3/4", and last the pinky is 2 1/8". Thanks again everyone. I am playing a Vega Bowlback. John

[John Bertotti]

I have done all the chords now as written except the B flat. I can do it with the suggested fingering but to do it I wind up baring with the side of the first finger and actually resting the first knuckle of the second finger on the first. That helps me clear all the strings in between. It works But will it be an adverse habit later on? Thanks John