Hyperextension.

[Stanley Design]

I've been trying to teach my girlfriend guitar the past little while, but she has really bad hyperextension in her fingers, and feels she has absolutely no strength to press on anything without doing it. I know it's bad for you and bad for left hand technique when playing an instrument, are there ways to strengthen the joints and reverse the problem?

[geoffkhan]

What about if she curls her fingers more? If she's playing with flat fingers, that's why she is unable to fret the strings.

If the curling of the fingers doesn't help, I'm not sure what she should do...

EDIT: Oh, also, the action of the guitar could be set up specially, so it's really easy to fret.

[Calaverasgrande]

I've never taken any bass lessons inmy life (disclaimer: I was classically trained in cello from 4-10 or so) but my uncle is a phenomenal banjo and classical player. HE bassically got me intothe whole "finger should be as perpendicular as possible" thing. That and using the lightest touch you can get away with whil still having a string ring true. They seem counter to each other because the hand has a hard time forcing itself to stay perpendicular to the fretboard so the instinct is to press down hard. But afer a few months the muscle memory kicks in. There really are no shortcuts. And on git the strings seem to hurt more becasue they are narrower. MAybe you could get her a cheap classical to play. The strings are lower tension, nylon and wider spaced so it is much easier for a novice.

[WarPig]

Maybe she could play the trombone