Room for fingers on the D chord

Hi all! I think this is a good question...
My three fingers joined together have a width of about 45 millimeters (1.77165354 inches), from nail to nail (that is, I do not have big fingers, but not so small), and with these fingers I always have little room for the D chord on the second fret (wrist fully rotated, hand over the headstock).
There would be a noticeable difference between 1 3/8" and 1 1/2" wide nuts?...

EDIT: instead from nail to nail, maybe is better to measure from center of the fingertip to center of the fingertip: 26 millimeters (1.02362205 inches)

EDIT 2: on my uke, 30 millimeters is exactly the diagonal between 1. and 2. fret on the D chord (4. and 2. string)

Play it the easy way as 2225 . When you learn to play the C chord with the little finger, D is the same position two frets on up the fretboard. The C chord shape in the 2225 position will also use 4232 and 2434. C uses 2010, so the 4232 is the same shape...BUT....if you are in the habit of playing with fingers, 1 and 2, you have a challenge by using finger one to barre at the second fret. Use fingers 2 and 3. With 2434, use the three remaing available fingers. Once you learn to keep the index finger for a barre, that will take you up the different keys with the same three chord shapes

It is for this reason that I am considering switching to a baritone that I would string gcea.

Practise barring the chord with one finger, it took me a week to learn.

Here's a technique I learnt from guitar playing MANY MANY moons ago and we are not just going to deal with fingering one chord but fingering 3 chords which are related.

Firstly we are going to name the fretting fingers as such, thumb, 1 (next finger), 2(next finger) and 3(next finger). We are going to start with the G chord.

To finger a Gmaj chord, thumb behind the neck, finger 1, 2nd fret C string, finger 2, 2nd fret A string, finger 3, 3rd fret E string.

This may seem slightly contorted but it will make sense soon and notice how your fingers are at different levels.

OK, the D chord, Leave finger one right where it is, don't move it, 2nd fret C string, slide your third finger down from 3rd fret E string to 2nd fret E string and pick your 2nd finger up and move it right over to 2nd fret G string.

OK, this is going to feel odd for a while but stick to it. What this is doing for you. Minimum fretting finger movement. One finger is staying anchored during this chord change and another finger is just sliding one fret. AND, your fingers are at different levels. 2 fingers are at the same level but separated by a string and the in-between finger is at a different level making more room for your fingers to fit.

Its a classical technique to get down pat.

Also while we are at it you get to a Cmaj chord from a Gmaj chord by simply sliding the 2nd finger, 2nd fret A string up to 3rd fret A string and picking the other fingers up off the fret board.

Now you have the 3 related major chords, G, C and D, all working together in one hand movement technique.

DOH!! totally confused ukulele with baritone/guitar chord names. Started talking about guitar chord names and kept going.

Anthony

I have large hands and the D chord was a tight fit for me for both my tenors when I took up the uke in late March of this year. I initially tried the alternative fingering, but went back to all three fingers on the same fret. The reason was simply to not get into the habit of giving in and looking for easier options.

Perhaps I should point out that I play mandolin and the nut width on mandolins is even smaller. My suggestion is to stick with the shape until it become absolutely clear that it can't be done. My guess is that you will get it before you reach the point of wanting to break the uke's neck.

I have large hands and I use my first finger to hold down the 4th and 3rd string. Then I use my second finger for the 2nd string. It's just a matter of flattening your first finger a bit to cover both strings.

I have no trouble doing this on both my tenor and soprano.

The E chord is similar. First finger on first string and then the second finger on the 4th/3rd string and the third finger on the 2nd string.

If you have large hands it's easy to cover two strings. But it takes practice.

Thank you all so much for the nice answers!

Even if my question was quite another...-)

Anyway, I find Anthony's advice solves the space problem for the 2220 chord:



Sergio

2225 is a very nice "D" and leads to moving chords up the fret board.
I use my index finger to barre across and pinky on the 5th.
4447 (same shape up 2 frets) is an "E" chord, dreaded by many, but this is an easy shape.

i use my middle, ring, pinky

Soprano, it was hard to fret it right while taking a photo with my other hand, but I'm fretting the g,c and e- strings with my middlefinger.

I totally bar it all the time. I was never able to put all three fingers on it and I found when I did, it really slowed me down. Bar is the way to go!

Eures said:

Thank you all so much for the nice answers!

Even if my question was quite another...-)

Anyway, I find Anthony's advice solves the space problem for the 2220 chord:

View attachment 52709

Sergio

Click to expand...

Your welcome. Nice picture.

DOH! I've edited my original post to clear up my confusion with ukulele and guitar chord names. At least you got it anyway.

Anthony

anthonyg said:

Here's a technique I learnt from guitar playing MANY MANY moons ago and we are not just going to deal with fingering one chord but fingering 3 chords which are related.

Firstly we are going to name the fretting fingers as such, thumb, 1 (next finger), 2(next finger) and 3(next finger). We are going to start with the G chord.

To finger a Gmaj chord, thumb behind the neck, finger 1, 2nd fret C string, finger 2, 2nd fret A string, finger 3, 3rd fret E string.

This may seem slightly contorted but it will make sense soon and notice how your fingers are at different levels.

OK, the A chord, Leave finger one right where it is, don't move it, 2nd fret C string, slide your third finger down from 3rd fret E string to 2nd fret E string and pick your 2nd finger up and move it right over to 2nd fret G string.

OK, this is going to feel odd for a while but stick to it. What this is doing for you. Minimum fretting finger movement. One finger is staying anchored during this chord change and another finger is just sliding one fret. AND, your fingers are at different levels. 2 fingers are at the same level but separated by a string and the in-between finger is at a different level making more room for your fingers to fit.

Its a classical technique to get down pat.

Also while we are at it you get to a Cmaj chord from a Gmaj chord by simply sliding the 2nd finger, 2nd fret A string up to 3rd fret A string and picking the other fingers up off the fret board.

Now you have the 3 related major chords, C, G and A, all working together in one hand movement technique.

Anthony

Click to expand...

Eures said:

Thank you all so much for the nice answers!

Even if my question was quite another...-)

Anyway, I find Anthony's advice solves the space problem for the 2220 chord:

View attachment 52709

Sergio

Click to expand...

Yes, all of this!
I am originally a guitar player, and it is all about minimum finger movement. Once you get it down you can switch rapidly between many different chords.

Also, every time I think my hands are too big for ukulele, I remember Bruddah Iz. There is NO WAY my hands are bigger than his, and he did not seem to have any problem playing ukulele.

I play it now with my middle finger barring two of the strings and my ring finger taking care of the other string.

I often play it with my index and second both angled roughly 45 degrees to the strings and together fretting the 4-3-2 strings. (Exactly where each finger falls to hit each string varies with the size of the uke but this works for me on all sizes of uke.)

Note that often isn't the same thing as always - it depends on what chords precede and follow the D.

I have big hands and fingers. I had trouble for a year but finally got it. 2225 has a nice sound and is useful sometimes, but for fast changes to an A chord the three finger D is the best. So I recommend learning it. I have trouble with the one-finger three-string method.

I play my D with a one finger barre as well but if I do it as shown in the picture I get a smushy sound. Mine sounds a little cleaner if the fat part of my finger falls on the C and E strings and just the tip of it frets the G.