The string isn't ringing, and that's what's driving me crazy. I'm doing fine with the middle and ring fingers, but the index finger doesn't seem to be able to exert enough pressure. I'm assuming one or more of three problems: the first is that my fingernails need to be shortened because I can't get to the pad of my finger on that hand. I've just cut it back as far as I can and the nail still comes into contact with the string instead of the finger pad. (This is only a problem on this finger. All of the others are fine!) The second potential problem is that my finger just isn't strong enough to hold the string down. It seems to be coming up whenever I put any pressure on my middle finger, regardless of what I do with the ring finger. The third problem is that the practice itself is making me tense because I can't get the one string to ring no matter what I do and the mental tension is making me physically tense. The latter is mostly just causing me to get the shakes and to grip too tightly.
I've tried several angles without any change in results, and I'm becoming quite frustrated. If this is supposed to be easy, I don't know what I'm going to do when I get to hard!