Better finger control?

Hey so lately I just been putting my fingers on the fret board in awkward positions trying to get my fingers used to it. Such as a g chord with my pinky on the top string 4th fret. I was just wondering if anyone knew anything else I could do that might help?

Thanks everyone,

Jess

Welcome to the UU!! As you will soon hear, there is no real right or wrong way to finger a chord, use what works for you and sounds good. However, as you progress in your ability to play the uke, some more complex chords are going to be harder to form from a previous chord that you formed using your style. It really is best to get a chord chart and follow the suggested finger formations. Do these slowly until your fingers memorize the shape they must be in.

For the G chord, try this: with your index finger barre the first 3 strings on the 2nd fret and your middle finger on 3rd fret of the E string. You should try and practice the traditional finger placements mainly for muscle memory. After awhile, it'll be second nature and as molokinirum mentioned chord transitions will be easier.

Aloha Jesse,
It will take time and alot of practice to develop memory in your fingers and develop control and extendability to it...also memory in your mind tooo...have fun and enjoy!!!Happy strummings, MM Stan..

Takes some time for the muscle memory to take over. The work you put in today will pay big rewards in the future!!! Best bet is to learn the correct fingering of the chords, makes changing to other chords easier, just like molokinirum, Kanaka and mm stan said.

Hey Jesse, I personally like to practice this: http://www.4shared.com/document/oH7T...ok_Master.html

I normally do simple finger exercises before I start these exercises however, just to warm up and loosen up. I really like these as they really teach you the chords well and I like that there is a logical progression between chords as far as finger position changes. I have only been playing for a few weeks, but I have seen tremendous improvements in training my fingers to remember where to go. Some of these I can do without looking even!

Keep in mind I am still very much a Ukulele noob, so take it for what it is worth

Hope this helps.

The key to "grabbing" a chord is the transition from chord to chord.
You need to be able to make the change quickly and smoothly in order not to break the tempo of the song.
I suggest practicing common chord progressions to songs and find what works for you.

Thanks everyone for the help!

Something that has helped me a lot is to do very painful chords and difficult chords.
Chords such as 2215
While practicing Let's Dance I had to take a lot of hard chords, and after hours of practice my fingers were in extreme pain. But a couple of days later I had the chords down with no problem at all, and every time I run into a hard chord it's been a lot easier to take it because my fingers has gotten used to awkward finger positions.

the suggested fingerings are there for a reason - they make the most sense to make transitions easier. That said, I play some chords on uke and guitar in odd fingerings that I just kinda got into and stuck with.

In terms of improving your flexibility it comes with time. When I look at the nimbleness of my left hand fingers it does amaze me what has happened over the years playing guitar.

Some folks swear by those stress balls to strengthen fingers. Some also use those things climbers use - spring gadgets for building finger strength - they all help

A good technique I give my students (and still use myself) is chord squeezing. Take any chord, play it once to make sure it's right. Then release the tension/pressure with your left hand––your fingers should still be in place, but not pressing hard enough to get the notes to ring. Now squeeze down. Unsqueeze. Squeeze. Unsqueeze.

What you're doing here is building muscle memory. And you can do this while watching tv, talking on the phone, perusing the UU forum...

[This was kind of tricky to explain but is very easily demonstrated. If you're at all confused, reply to this thread and I'll make a video. Cheers!]

Welcome to this world!! As you will soon hear, there is no real right or wrong way to finger a chord, use what works for you and sounds good. However, as you progress in your ability to play the ukelele, some more complex chords are going to be harder to form from a previous chord that you formed using your style. It really is best to get a chord chart and follow the suggested finger formations. Do these slowly until your fingers memorize the shape they must be in.

JoshFromTallGrassUkes said:

A good technique I give my students (and still use myself) is chord squeezing. Take any chord, play it once to make sure it's right. Then release the tension/pressure with your left hand––your fingers should still be in place, but not pressing hard enough to get the notes to ring. Now squeeze down. Unsqueeze. Squeeze. Unsqueeze.

What you're doing here is building muscle memory. And you can do this while watching tv, talking on the phone, perusing the UU forum...

[This was kind of tricky to explain but is very easily demonstrated. If you're at all confused, reply to this thread and I'll make a video. Cheers!]

Click to expand...

That's exactly the technique I used when learning the guitar 36-37 years ago. I had been training intensely for months, but I was still unable to finger the chords all fingers at the time, I was still setting the chords one finger at the time even though I knew a lot of chords by then. Then I read somewhere about the trick you described. I would add one more thing.. as soon as you're able to unsqueeze and still keep the fingers in the right position, try to lift the fingers just a millimetre or so above the strings.. then squeeze again. Repeat, lifting the fingers even higher.

The technique made it possible for me to transition from one-finger-at-the-time chords to full chords the same day I started doing this, so at the end of the day I could do many chords all-fingers-together. As I recall I started with something simple like the (guitar) C or D chord, and after mastering that I went for the more tricky (guitar) G chord (longer distance between some fingers).

It worked like magic.

Tor said:

That's exactly the technique I used when learning the guitar 36-37 years ago. I had been training intensely for months, but I was still unable to finger the chords all fingers at the time, I was still setting the chords one finger at the time even though I knew a lot of chords by then. Then I read somewhere about the trick you described. I would add one more thing.. as soon as you're able to unsqueeze and still keep the fingers in the right position, try to lift the fingers just a millimetre or so above the strings.. then squeeze again. Repeat, lifting the fingers even higher.

The technique made it possible for me to transition from one-finger-at-the-time chords to full chords the same day I started doing this, so at the end of the day I could do many chords all-fingers-together.

Click to expand...

That's fantastic Tor. You're absolutely right that the next step is to begin lifting off ever so slightly, and once that ceases to be challenging, lifting off even further.

There's another chord switching exercise I use in conjunction with this. I put on a nice slow drum loop and we switch chords once per measure. When we start, we're playing whole notes. When the student can comfortably switch them, we start playing half notes. So we're still changing chords once per measure, we've just cut the amount of time we have to make that change in half. Then we move to quarter notes, then eighths.

Not only do we gain the ability to switch a pair of chords, but it also sounds musical because of the drums and it lays a foundation for understanding rhythm. Not bad for 5-10 minutes. Just like you said, it's a magical feeling to see yourself make such concrete improvements in the span of one day.

Ah, that drum loop exercise sounds just like the "missing link" of my own guitar training back when I was a teenager.. I wish I had done something like that back then. Of course there was no such thing as drum loops available for mortals at the time. What I ended up with was a kind of irregular rhythm pattern that makes it difficult to accompany anyone properly. I've noted this in other amateur bedroom players as well. By observing professionals or good amateurs it seems to me that one big difference is the "simple" issue of a proper rhythm pattern (none of that irregular type of strumming).

Now that I'm a beginner on ukulele these bad rhythm habits are popping up in a very visible way, I see that very clearly when I'm trying to follow simple instructional youtube videos. So as part of learning ukulele I'll be working on getting rid of this. Using a drum pattern loop should make this exercise much more enjoyable, so I thank you for the tip. It'll be the most important part of learning ukulele for me, because as a guitar player the chords etc. are all easy. I may end up as a better guitar player after learning the ukulele.. one can always hope!

To the original poster.. I recommend the muscle memory exercise described by JoshFromTallGrassUkes, and that "drum pattern" exercise sounds so good that I'll use it myself (to get rid of old bad habits). I've re-read the other replies in this thread, and they are all good suggestions in my opinion.

Thanks Tor! I put a bunch of drum loops up for free download (and instructions on how to make iTunes your own free drum machine) here:
http://www.tallgrassu.com/free-drum-loops
If you're looking for a particular style of drums, or a different tempo, just email me and I'll be happy to add to the collection.

Tantal said:

Hey Jesse, I personally like to practice this: http://www.4shared.com/document/oH7T...ok_Master.html

I normally do simple finger exercises before I start these exercises however, just to warm up and loosen up. I really like these as they really teach you the chords well and I like that there is a logical progression between chords as far as finger position changes. I have only been playing for a few weeks, but I have seen tremendous improvements in training my fingers to remember where to go. Some of these I can do without looking even!

Keep in mind I am still very much a Ukulele noob, so take it for what it is worth

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Tried the link but got "The file link you requested is not valid." Interested in trying it, if it is available. Thanks.

Hey ADD, that link is from Uncle Rod's signature. Here it is in shortened, working form: http://bit.ly/gezW8G

Thanks much Josh.

Kanaka916 said:

For the G chord, try this: with your index finger barre the first 3 strings on the 2nd fret and your middle finger on 3rd fret of the E string. You should try and practice the traditional finger placements mainly for muscle memory. After awhile, it'll be second nature and as molokinirum mentioned chord transitions will be easier.

Click to expand...

If you do this, but add your third finger to the G string at the 4th fret, you still have a G chord, but now you have a MOVEABLE chord. Move the whole shape up 2 frets and it's now an A. And so on and so forth. You will have just immensely increased your options for fingering chords. There are several other easy moveable chords. Try to learn them!