Will I ever be able to play this chord?

[FiggyPudding18]

Hello AGF,

I've been playing seriously for about 2 and a half years now, and one thing I have learned is that despite not being huge (5' 7") my fretting hand WILL stretch with lots of practice and time, though it may take longer than I might think. But this one is tough!

The specific D chord voicing I'm trying to play is part of a song that's in drop D tuning--

E| 2
B| 3
G| 2
D| 4
A| 5
D| 4

Relative to the capo, it is a D chord with the F# in the bass. Yes, I know there are workarounds. I know I could play this chord in standard tuning a lot easier but I do feel it makes sense in the context of the song. Another alternative is that I could play the D string open instead of trying to barre with the ring finger at all. All that said, however, I'm asking specifically about the playability of this specific voicing.

Here are some pictures--The top one (the Martin) is me, and the second is the original artist (Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove): https://imgur.com/a/yQOxKzI

I can get 5 out of 6 strings to sound, but I find that I have to choose between accidentally muting the G string with the ring finger barre, or accidentally not covering and thus muting the 4th string with the same ring finger barre. I guess my question is, do you think this is something I can get with practice, or are my hands just not equipped to handle this? It seems like the original artist is really able to do some interesting things with his ring finger, but not sure if that's his hands, or something anybody can do with practice.

Also, Here's a link to a performance by the original artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG79DscMnmg

Thanks everyone and looking forward to your insights!

[Nymuso]

It's a barre C on the second fret using your index to barre only the first three strings and grab that F# on the sixth string with your thumb.


Edit: Just looked at the picture now. If that works, why not? Nevertheless, the first approach I'd try would be what I described above.

[RodB]

My finger joints of my left hand (fretting) bend backwards, but not my right hand. This might therefore just be a matter of time and practice.

[Kittoon]

Hi Figgy!
-I am no expert at all and I do struggle sometimes with chord/key/finger-placement and technique.
-To me, the chord looks like a (fancy) Bm with a 7th (a) tossed in. (I hope I am corrected if wrong!)
- If it were me, I would simply find a more “ergonomically” friendly Bm (Bm7 if necessary or preferred)
- I have found that quite often, a simpler form of a chord in question results in reasonable success!
- Sometimes, simplifying a difficult/unusual chord to it’s “powerful-chord” version (which I think means 2-notes, the root and it’s 5th) works very well! -Hardly a soul listening would notice! (That said, my little cheat is not for perfectionists!)

EDIT:
Oh jeez! I think I messed up identifying the chord. The capo messed me up! Whatever chord it is, there may be an effective alternative. (Now let me look at that chord again!)
EDIT: G or Bm6?

[rick-slo]

Link to a video of the tune being played.

[FiggyPudding18]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG79DscMnmg

Here's a video of the performance.

[Andyrondack]

That's such a difficult chord, I really bellieve a major part of learning to play guitar is figuring out how to make things easy for yourself, perhaps a very few people who just happen to have the necessary finger joint flexibility, high frets and a fretboard just the right size might be able to play that cleanly but most of us could never find that a usefull voicing.

[Bushleague]

I'm pretty lazy, so I personally would leave out the low D and the high E strings, maybe I'm wrong but it looks like you would still have all the necessary notes. I'd probably also try playing the D and the E strings open just to see how it sounds. Just off the top of my head I'm not sure what that would make it, but it seems like something that might sound neat. If I really wanted the F# bass I'd leave out the other F# instead... or once again see how it sounds if left open.

My apologies if my reasoning is flawed.

[Gitfiddlemann]

That is a tough one.
Some people are anatomically more gifted than others at bending finger joints backwards, as he seems to be.
Not sure if that is something that would get sufficiently better with practice, or if it's even worth it, but if you do try it, be very mindful of not overdoing it. You could easily injure the finger joint if you push it too far. You would regret that.
What to do instead? I would suggest a workaround, especially since it's mostly strumming. There are three F# notes in that chord (relative to the capo), and they're all strummed, so I would consider letting one of them, probably the 4th string one, go mute if need be. That way you can fret the low one with your ring finger, and the pinky can then fret the D note on the 5th string. Then try to let the top three notes ring as cleanly as you can, treating the D string as "expendable" . It should work fine harmonically, and even if it doesn't sound as full, you should be able to get away with it with a good strum. Maybe in time the joint will start to relax too, but as I said, don't push that move too much. Let it happen, if it happens.
Good luck!

[FiggyPudding18]

Thanks for the replies so far. Looking at the pictures, it is pretty crazy how he can bend the topmost joint of his ring finger as much as he does. Do you think that is learned or just something you’re born with? Trying to decide if I should keep trying on this chord out of stubbornness lol

[mr. beaumont]

Thats a lot of work for a chord thats not even all that interesting sounding.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Thats a lot of work for a chord thats not even all that interesting sounding.

Hi Jeff…

Agreed…it can be played in about any inversion and sound just as useful.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I'm pretty lazy, so I personally would leave out the low D and the high E strings, maybe I'm wrong but it looks like you would still have all the necessary notes. I'd probably also try playing the D and the E strings open just to see how it sounds. Just off the top of my head I'm not sure what that would make it, but it seems like something that might sound neat. If I really wanted the F# bass I'd leave out the other F# instead... or once again see how it sounds if left open.

My apologies if my reasoning is flawed.

Ya, just tried it, leave out an F# and use an open string to double the D... everyone likes double D's

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by FiggyPudding18

Thanks for the replies so far. Looking at the pictures, it is pretty crazy how he can bend the topmost joint of his ring finger as much as he does. Do you think that is learned or just something you’re born with? Trying to decide if I should keep trying on this chord out of stubbornness lol

I already answered this on the other forum, but that kind of double-jointedness can be developed through practice. I'd just question whether it's worth it.

So, I've found (through decades of guitar playing) I can bend my last index finger joint back in that way, more than I used to be able to. Because that's quite useful for a lot of different chords (barring a few treble strings, combined with other fingerings). I've never found it useful to get any other finger to be able to do that.

It may well be that that guy had very flexible fingers to start with, so has simply capitalized on that by playing chords in the weird way he does. No doubt he finds that easier than the alternatives we would all find easier.

For us normals, there are easier options for that chord. I didn't say all this in the other forum, so let's look at the notes in it - assuming he's getting all 6 strings to sound, and treating it as if it's a D chord in drop D (ie with no capo).

2 = F#
3 = D
2 = A
4 = F#
5 = D
4 = F#

So, only 3 different notes. Obviously we need at least one of each, and we need the F# bass note. We may need to double up one of the other notes, depending on how it leads between the chords before and after.

But here's a few ways of getting the essence of that chord without the weird ring barre on 4:

2 = F# - index
3 = D - middle
2 = A - index
0 = D
5 = D - pinky (doubling open 4th)
4 = F# - ring

2 = F# - index
3 = D - middle
2 = A - index
4 = x - mute with pinky (lean it over)
5 = D - pinky
4 = F# - ring

2 = F# - index
3 = D - middle
2 = A - index
0 = D
5 = x - mute with ring (lean it over)
4 = F# - ring

2 = F# - index
3 = D - middle
2 = A - index
4 = F# - pinky (if you feel this extra F# matters)
5 = x - mute with ring (lean it over)
4 = F# - ring

There are other options too. It's also possible to mute the 1st string F# if that's not important - either by relaxing the index barre, or by leaning the middle finger.

Bear in mind his previous G chord also employs that weird ring barre, so it's easy for him to just drop it down a fret for the D/F#. But of course there are easier alternatives for that G chord too:

3 = G - index
0 = B
0 = G
5 = G - pinky (doubles open 3rd)
5 = D- ring
5 = G - middle

Or just:

3 = G - index
0 = B
0 = G
0 = D
x = x - mute with ring (or fret with pinky)
5 = G - ring

[rick-slo]

Will you ever be able to play that chord in a usable way in a tune?
Doubt it. Plenty of work arounds as already stated by others.