I'm an early learner, 70 yrs old, have been 'practicing' for a couple of years on a steel string acoustic guitar, and I have arthritis in my thumb and finger joints. For instance, it's very hard to stretch my fingers from 1st fret(C
) to 3rd(D
) and get finger tips properly on the string; it hurts to do so. A C
chord is very difficult.
I found that putting a capo on the 5th fret makes things easier: the C
chord is easy; note C
is an open string; and no problem going to D
on the same string. Frets are closer together, and I can hold the neck without putting hurtful pressure on my left thumb. However, there's a slight problem hitting the B
on the 4th string 9th fret (B
that replaces open B
on 2nd string), and I'm missing the 6th string E
, F
, & G
, plus those chords.
I wonder if there will be more shortcomings as I progress.