Playing inspite of genetics

[TBman]

Fingerstyle content:

I have short thick (fat) hands and fingers. I watch Youtube videos of the great players, both steel and classical and I'm constantly envious of the long thin shapes of most of their fingers, their larger (longer) hands and the reach of their span.

So I have to make do with what I have. I know I do not have the control and flexibility in my left (fretting) hand that I should for someone who has had a guitar in the house for almost 60 years. That comes from doing what you want to do, not what you need to do.

The other day I found the video below. I have seen (and tried) the first exercise in the video on other websites and tried to do it without any success. (always muting strings).

This time around I could actually line my fingers up on the fretboard without feeling like a fish out of water and come down on top of the strings. However,
I could still not do part of the first exercise, playing the 6th down to the 1st without muting the strings. Going from the 1st up to the 6th is doable.

My hand hurt a bit from trying. I couldn't try too many times. I kept trying the next day (last night) and it seemed better. I will keep trying. I'm trying to keep my thumb lined up with the 2nd finger and coming down on top of the strings.

After working on the exercise I practiced a piece that I have been working on and I felt more confident on the classical fretboard than I have felt for a while. I'm going to try to work on exercises like this at the beginning of my practice sessions and see what happens. Who knows, maybe at my age (68) I can still learn how to play properly.

Every so often I remember Segovia, who did not have hands that anyone is envious of Mine are much like his.

The video:

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by TBman

Fingerstyle content:

I have short thick (fat) hands and fingers.

Ever seen Segovia's fingers?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by TBman

Every so often I remember Segovia, who did not have hands that anyone is envious of Mine are much like his.

Originally Posted by JonPR

Ever seen Segovia's fingers?

Even millionaires are in the habit of not reading short emails all the way through Jon, you aren't alone.

[stokes1971]

A good friend of mine, one of the best blues/rock players I knew when we were young had the shortest,fattest lil fingers I ever saw. We used to rag on him all the time about the "sausages" . Went on to become a very good classical guitarist these days. Those fingers were not a detriment to him at all.

[rick-slo]

Pete has good videos on finger exercises. The one below takes some practice to do well.



Regarding Segovia he had large hands and good reach even though fat fingers.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Pete has good videos on finger exercises. The one below takes some practice to do well.



Regarding Segovia he had large hands and good reach even though fat fingers.

That's the same as the one I'm working on in the first video, but I'll check into Pete's instructional videos, thanks.

[Birdbrain]

I'm rockin' the same little hands as you and a certain ex-President. How little? Women's M gloves fit me well in the fingers, though they're tight in the palm. The mandolin open G "chop" was always a fret too far for me. I'd give my right pinky for nine longer fingers!

Early on my guitar journey, I believed that what I needed was a narrow-necked guitar. My first acoustic was a Gibson LG-O. Working out early Neil Young classics like "Tell me Why," I never could play cleanly enough to articulate each note in a chord. My fingers would foul the adjoining strings, no matter how hardI tried. That LG-o probably had a 1 11/16 nut, IIRC

Too many years later, I made a discovery that wider necks were actually easier to play (as long as they aren't too thick). Now I insist on 1 3/4" nuts, and my Seagull's 1.8" nut is great, too. When I made the step up to 1 3/4", my playing immediately improved. I played more often, and my hand flexibility improved, too.

It's counterintuitive that my short fingers need a wider neck. It's always going to be harder to bring my last finger joint straight down onto the string, as it should. If the fingertip's at an angle, it needs more clearance from the next string. You didn't mention the nut width of your guitar. To see if this is the issue, try tuning down and capoing at the second fret. The strings are a bit more spread out down there.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by TBman

Even millionaires are in the habit of not reading short emails all the way through Jon, you aren't alone.

Ya got me! But hopefully the pic provides a useful illustration!

[Silly Moustache]

TB man, Since I have been teaching online, I have met two people who had hand sizes that were not conducive to playing guitar, but both did, in their way.

One gent was recovering from a severe stroke. He was a VERY LARGE gent with enormous hands. he was so large that he had to have clothes and shoes specially made for him. A dreadnought in his hands looked like a ukulele, but he could fret relatively well, the right hand was more challenging for him.

Another gent had, I believe , a light degree of dwarfism.

Talking of dwarfism, my sister (9 years my senior) turned pro as a skater when she was 16.
She was in the chorus line of a large London Production, on ice, of Snow White and the seven Dwarfs. Such productions always had a number of "spesh" acts including the required number of persons of restricted height.

The last night party was it my family home, and the seven - were in attendance. At the age of about ten, I was talking to one who played xylophone and vibes. In conversation with him, I asked why he didn't play piano. he held out his hands, to show my child self to explain, and said, "but I can play guitar a little".

[Bob Womack]

Don't let anyone tell you there aren't things you can't do. How is that for a double negative? Short sausage fingers can't do what long, slim "clever" fingers can. One thing I have noticed is that all of the modern classical plays that keep cropping up have long, clever fingers. I have huge palms and thickish, shorter farmer fingers. I watched Lindsey Buckingham playing "Bleed to Love Her" on a Taylor long scale:



I've been playing for over fifty years, studied classical guitar, and play recording sessions, but I simply can't reach that second A inversion with the ring finger on the fifth string at the fourth fret that is required. After long hours of trying I discovered that I simply couldn't get it and all it yielded was pain. That is the "can't do." It simply isn't going to happen because of my shorter fingers. Get over it.

However...

It bugged me a bunch, so I came up with the idea of partial capoing at the second fret, leaving the bottom E string open on a short scale guitar. This allows me to use the G chord form to play the song in A. The final turnaround into E with the fun pull-of is played into the D form with the bottom E string being the lowest tone in the sequence, as it was in the original. Viole'! I can't do it LIKE Lindsey but I can play the same notes with the same feel using a capo. In fact, that chord form actually allows me to slightly improve on his sequence. Fun, huh?

Now to play it and sing it at the same time as Lindsey does. Hah!

Bob

[TBman]

There's usually a workaround that can be done for a stretch, whether it's the use of a capo or alternative placement of the note. I started working on Lagrima last night. Near the end of the 2nd section there is a 12-7 (1st string, 4th string) stretch that initially caused me to play the 7th fret note on the 12th fret of the 5th string. I may be able to get that stretch eventually though. It'll probably do me good to try at least.

[Robin, Wales]

It doesn't help when you have fairly small hands to start with and then go and chop bits off your fingers!

I love my capo....

[jay42]

David Gilmour's hands pre-destined him to be a plumber. He's done okay.

Tal Wilkenfield plays a standard scale bass despite small hands.

[Mr. Jelly]

To play music playing properly is not a prerequisite.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

To play music playing properly is not a prerequisite.

True, but getting close to "proper" playing will allow me to play the things I want to - better.

We all have different goals and expectations from our shared hobby.