Quote:
Originally Posted by vindibona1
No. Remember your index finger is not straight like capo. So while pressuring the outer strings with bicep pulling, the rest of the fingers are still attached to the hand that the index is attached to. So while the fingerboard is flat, to the fingers it is more like it is concave. The outer edges of the fingerboard will only allow the index to come so close to the finger board, but the other three fingers must press down more... Or alternately you can rotate your wrist and pull the interior three fingers, but the index finger must then use it's strength to depress the outer strings. However, much of this can be alleviated by rolling of the fingerboard edges which allows for a more natural lay of the index and less differential in the required finger pressure of the interior fingers. It's done all the time to electric guitars but I've not seen it done on acoustics and can't imagine why it's not done. There are other elements involved such as nut/neckwidth, neck shape and dept and fingerboard radius. It all goes together.
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Sorry but I have to disagree. The index is relatively flat against the fretboard where it makes contact. The shape may look a little concave to an observer or in the mirror (though my finger looks relatively straight) as it's rolled slightly on it's side, but underneath (where the finger touches the strings) I have fairly even contact across all 6 strings - however, depending on the chord I won't always go flat, if I only need the outer strings I will curve slightly because that requires even less pressure. See, I always try use as little pressure as is required to press the string(s) I need down those couple of mm to the fret. No more. I do that with each finger no matter the chord shape.
I'm not trying to tell you how to play here, god knows I'm still fairly amateur, but because of my RSI I've spent the last 2 years changing my technique to a point where barre chords are fairly effortless. I've purchased books on the subject. If you can play your way no problem, then go for gold. I'm just trying to convey another method.
I double checked and I can play barre chords without the thumb no problem. It feels odd because the hand is destabilized, but it's no different in terms of pressure. I did forget to mention that the right arm works in tandem here by pressing against the guitar body to prevent rotation.
Could be posture related? I have a guitar leg stand, that gives me good posture when I play. The neck is around 30-40 degree angle from horizontal.