A suggestion: Nearly all books show the simple C chord as 0-0-0-3 with the ring finger on the third fret. Try it with the little finger. Try the F chord
2-0-1-0 with the center finger on the 1 and the ring finger on the 2. Try the G7 0-2-1-2 with the center finger on the 1, the center finger on the second fret of the C string, and the little finger on the second fret of the A string. So far, the pointing finger has just done nothing. THE THUMB should be in a position behind like it is pushing a thumb tack into the back of the neck. Here is the reason why the change of finger position....when you drop the index finger across the second fret as 2-2-2-2, and add the little finger to make it 2-2-2-5, you have now changed to the key of D and can play the three basic chords with the same finger positions as you did when the other strings had an open string. 0-2-1-2 can be 2-4-3-4. 2-0-1-0 becomes 4-2-3-2 with the very same fingers. It is a habit to be learned from early-on which will make the rest of the fingerboard available to you as comfortably and as familiar as the first three or four frets. The barre chord comes sooner or later, so why not learn right from the beginning how it helps make you a better player rather than have to unlearn in order to relearn?
