I hope it helps. Feel free to hit me up here in the comments if you have any questions. And, obviously, be sure to watch the other related videos. Good luck!

(I know this comment is old) but Same! I thought if I wasn’t using the tip of my fingers, I wasn’t playing correctly. Didnt realize you will use different parts of your finger tip for different positions.

This is great stuff, someone finally going into great detail regarding the proper orientation of the fretting fingers and explaining how the different parts of the finger will apply fret pressure as you move up and down the neck….priceless and relieving the frustrations about the mechanics of the proper technique. Thanks again Kevin, these tutorials really help !

My pleasure!

These tips should help. I also have a longer video on left hand technique that may be useful. Two other things to look out for: 1) You may be using too much pressure on the strings. I don’t remember if I said this in the videos but the string only needs to make contact with the fret, not the fretboard. And 2) Check that your guitar is properly set up. This means the the neck is straight and the height of the strings (the action) is set appropriately. If the neck is bowed even a little, the strings may be further away from the fretboard making the guitar harder to play. I’d also recommend lighter gauge strings as that should help as well. Feel free to hit me up with any questions. Good luck!

@@KevinOShaughnessyGuitar Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for responding to me. Yes I geeked out and watched a lot of your videos to learn from you. Appreciate all the tips and advice you share in your videos. I did watch the one video and proper fret technique. So excited to try these when I practice later. I got my acoustic guitar set up for me on Friday. I am excited that I asked for lighter strings and for the action to be lowered. At least i knew on Thursday i was doing something wrong because my wrist started hurting. I found your videos Friday but really jumped in yesterday and started watching more. Thank you again for these videos and responding so kindly.

Yvette I am exactly in the same situation--50 + yo started playing 1 month ago. I stopped playing 3 days ago due to moderate pain on my left wrist (I think it was caused by spider exercise). I am going to follow Kevin's tips and hopefully it will alleviate and prevent the pain from recurring.

@@normie5928 I am sure his tips will help you. My pain is getting better each day now that I am aware and changing how I was playing. Hopefully these tips will help us both.

@@yvettebennett6170 me too. TY.

Glad it was helpful!

I have more detailed lessons on my channel. Find the "Guitar Lessons" playlist and you'll get a lot of information on ergonomics. And feel free to hit me up with any questions. Good luck!

You're welcome.

Thanks! I will try to put your suggestion in the queue. In the meantime, I suspect that part of the problem is not only the placement of the thumb but also the amount of pressure being exerted by all of the fingers. If you haven't seen it already, check out this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n9STiMeZv8_LeHU.html. I go into more detail about how the hands work and how you can determine how much pressure you need to get good tones. Good luck!

@@KevinOShaughnessyGuitar thanks so much man I just watched the video! I’ve been playing guitar for almost 7 years and I now I just felt a difference in playing almost like a beginner finding something new, thanks so much!

@@RobertoHernandez-kf8nn Happy to help!

Interesting. I'd say the grip you're using for your pick may be a little off. I've noticed I tend to hold on the to the pick a little tighter when that happens. I'll describe this as best I can. Imagine making an OK sign with your thumb and first finger overlapping at the first digit. Now, insert the pick between those two fingers so that the point of the pick points perpendicularly away from your thumb. Gently curl the remaining three fingers behind your first finger so that they give that finger a little support. A tiny amount of pressure from the thumb should be enough to hold the pick in place while you strum. If you continue through my guitar lessons play list you'll find videos on sitting with the guitar and strumming. Hopefully, something in there will help you. And you can always feel free to hit me up with more questions. Good luck!

I'd love to help you out. I can't do a video chat for another few weeks as I'm moving, and currently neck-deep in packing up my entire life. However, if you want to email me specific questions in the meantime, I'd be happy to answer them. You can reach me at kevin@kevinoshaughnessy.com.

Absolutely I’ll definitely email you. It would be a huge help. Please let me know when your done moving to see if we can possibly setup a chat. I’d be very appreciative of that. Thank you very much

It kinda depends on what you mean by "all over the place". No matter what this issue is though, I've found success with two steps: 1) get a clear idea in your head of what your pinky should do. And 2) keep that vision in your mind as you practice slowly and delibrately. This won't fix it fast, but if you apply it consistently over time it will fix it. And if you want to let me know more about the issue I can give you more specific pointers.

@@KevinOShaughnessyGuitar yea I am a beginner as well... and my pinky just always ends up in a wierd position unconsciously and then it's uncomfortable... it's also hard for me to play any chord/striv with my pinky is there any way I can make my pinky more flexible or be able to easily press down the e string without my pinky hurting?

@@emiyakiritsugu9408 Without seeing exactly what you’re doing, I can’t be sure. My general suggestions include setting up the guitar with a low action, use light gauge strings, and warm up with some finger exercises before playing. I found the traditional “spider” exercise to be helpful in developing pinky control. As far as stretching is concerned, try practicing your chords and scales above the 9th fret first, where the frets are closer together. As that begins to feel comfortable, move down one or two frets. Keep repeating the process until you can play the figure where you want to. I hope that’s helpful. Feel free to hit me up with any other questions. Good luck!

@@KevinOShaughnessyGuitar thank you so much .. I was bout to give up 💀 but thanks to you imma keep practicing.. I am pretty young and my high-school is starting from 15th may so I dunno if I am gonna get enuf time for practicing guitar but I will still try my best

@@emiyakiritsugu9408 Don’t give up. It takes time. If you’re a beginner, 15 to 20 minutes of practice 4 or 5 days a week will be enough to help you progress.

If you follow the instructions demonstrated in all three parts then the wrist pain should go away. Be sure to check out my other videos on ergonomics. Combining all of the techniques from the different videos is what has helped most people play without pain.

Which comment was that?

you said acusation arent real

On what video? I’m sorry but this isn’t ringing a bell.

First of all, don’t try to make the fingers perpendicular. Wherever you are on the neck, try to keep your fingers in line with your forearm. This often means creating an “x” shape between your arm and the neck (if that makes sense). Hopefully, this video will help. Check it out. Learn to Master the F Chord kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rrmIY9dz26_aj2w.html