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Comment by foobarian | Hacker News Reader

I've tried playing guitar on and off my whole life over last 40 years and I can't believe that it took me until this year to try, on a whim, a classical guitar. Suddenly my fat fingers can fit next to each other making an A or B chord, and they don't hurt and blister after a short session of play. Seriously make sure to not overlook non-steel guitars if you're having trouble.

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As a guy with “little girl hands” as John 5 jokingly calls it, I have a reverse issue with the classical and some jazz arch tops! SRV had giant bear paws by the way. Buckethead has alien hands (no fair).

If you’re game, on electric you might enjoy a baritone scale guitar. I got an LP style 27” by Agile (PRS makes a nice SE model) and it’s a neat dynamic.

Very glad you shared about your experience. Just as a note, don’t go near any EVH signature models - the neck and fretboard is like a Telecaster but smaller!

Some of the all time great bluesmen had fat sausage fingers so there's a bit more to it I suspect. After the same 40 years I got irritated one day and searched YouTube for "how do I play a C chord without muting strings" and found that my finger and wrist position was all wrong. Also spent a bunch of time watching Frampton, studying where his fingers go and what they look like.

For the C chord, you should be muting the low E string, though :)

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