Thanks so much. These ideas will help - changing or varying the shape and the fingers used. I have plenty of time, because a few of the contra tunes use the same chord for as long as four measures. They are real fast measures, but even so... I think John in Kansas has put his finger on the main problem (sorry)-- by saying that it was clumsy fretwork. Because I'd already slowly built up the callouses by following everyone's advice in the Mudcat on earlier threads, I didn't feel that kind of discomfort any more. And playing in a living room either alone or with a couple of other people (all I'd done up to now) I could hear buzzing or poor tone if I was doing something wrong and could immediately fix it. But in the band - with about 30 other instruments- fiddles, flutes, guitars, mandolins, banjos, bones, bodhran, a grand piano etc etc, plus lots of foot stomping, plus 200-300 dancers and a caller, I didn't get that kind of feeback. I couldn't hear subtle mistakes I was making and I bet I was probably slipping and banging my poor finger right into the fret a number of times without seeing or feeling it till it was too late. Linda
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