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  #16  
Old 06-20-2021, 03:37 AM
Scotso Scotso is offline
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This is not meant to be a flippant interwebz thread answer but

Get a mandolin.

On mando each finger covers two frets. As a result the gymnastics of the instrument has helped with my guitar immensely. This is particularly true for my little finger.
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  #17  
Old 06-20-2021, 03:50 AM
Malcolm Kindnes Malcolm Kindnes is online now
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It sounds hard, but really the only answer is practice, practice, practice.
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  #18  
Old 06-20-2021, 03:55 AM
Tannin Tannin is offline
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TortiseAvenger, one thing you could do that will really help - don't laugh! - is play bass guitar for a while. Bass is very stretchy, but you get used to it, and when you come back to guitar, the stretches just seem so easy. I'm serious: play some bass.

PS: just in case no-one has suggested this yet, you can substitute an E7 for the E. Instead of:

0 2 2 1 0 0 as your E chord, use an E7 - 0 2 0 1 0 0. The advantage is that you can do the chord with your first and second fingers, leaving your ring finger free, and this means a significantly smaller stretch for your little finger.
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  #19  
Old 06-20-2021, 06:04 AM
catdaddy catdaddy is offline
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I've taken lessons from Chris (a truly patient and generous person) and suggest closely watching his wrist positioning as a key element of learning to play as he does. Dropping your wrist is the secret to getting that pinky to stretch several frets accurately, especially if you have short fingers as I do. As you continue to watch Chris' instruction video(s) you'll see that he also uses a thumb-over technique which requires wrist elevation. By watching Chris perform you'll see him change wrist positioning frequently and quite dramatically, emulating that is key to helping you to master that style of playing.
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  #20  
Old 06-20-2021, 06:36 AM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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Where is your left thumb? If you drop it to a classical position in the middle of the neck that can help reach quite a bit.

You can eventually get more stretch in the fingers, but be realistic there. Moving your wrist (elbow more toward ribs) can help.

When I listen to someone play I only care if it's musical. I don't care about how long their fingers might be or which notes they play or leave out. I have a few favorite songs that simply don't fit my vocal style (i.e., it would never sound good), so I don't do them. You can surely find a big pile of music you can play well and enjoy.
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  #21  
Old 06-20-2021, 06:43 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Default How to work around short fingers?

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  #22  
Old 06-20-2021, 09:11 AM
lar lar is offline
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try reversing your E-chord fingering: play the 4th string with your middle finger and the 5th string with your ring finger. Then slide your ring finger up to the 4th fret. Is that any better?

Also, try putting your thumb not in the middle of the neck, but even lower. At the bottom of the neck.
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  #23  
Old 06-21-2021, 07:21 AM
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One cheat is to finger, or put pressure on, the note you are striking before fingering the other strings (notes) that you will strike next. It's not necessary to hold down strings you are not playing at that precise moment. Allot of tab will show only the notes played though often they are notes struck out of a chord. At least in country blues. They don't always indicate what chord was fingered to play the notes.
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  #24  
Old 06-21-2021, 07:30 AM
Howard Emerson Howard Emerson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TortoiseAvenger View Post
Hi there,

Thanks to previous suggestions, I got into Chris Smither's music and downloaded his classes from homespun. Unfortunately in the very first chord of the very first lesson I ran into an issue. On Capo 2 he plays a standard E Chord then while holding that he uses his pinky to reach up to the 4th fret on the A string for an alternating bass, Like this:

Capo 2:


e——————————
B——————————
G—1————————
D—2————————
A—2——4——2——4
E—0—0——0——0—


I've heard some say that if you keep practicing something your hands will get better, but this truly seems hopeless. I haven't been at it for more than a few minutes, but the best I can do is move the whole E shape up and down. Is this a viable solution, or is there something else I should consider?
Ditch the 4th string altogether. In other words play an E7, and by freeing your ring finger your pinky will easily get to where it's going.

Love Chris Smither's music!

Regards,
Howard Emerson
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  #25  
Old 06-21-2021, 09:16 AM
Terry_D Terry_D is offline
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Originally Posted by Robin, Wales View Post
I'm 5' 7". I'm never going to run 100m in under 11 seconds. I'm not going to be a high jumper or a shot putter. I might make a reasonable golfer though if I took up the sport. And I was a competitive kayak surfer in my younger days and not a bad Telemark skier.

I am missing the last phalanx of the index finger on my left hand and have small hands anyway. I adapt and compromise when I play guitar. I can't barre, so I change arrangements to suit what I can do.

As J-Doug said, the goal is to be musical. So don't worry too much if your physical relationship to guitar is different from someone else. Learn "from" better players. But just steal what you can while gradually building your own playing style that works for your own physical attributes.
I saw a player a couple years ago at a bluegrass festival (can't remember his name) who kept his guitar in an altered tuning and fretted everything with his thumb. The only thing I can figure is he had some kind of disability preventing him from using his four fingers. But he writes his own music and performs all over the country and makes it work.
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  #26  
Old 06-21-2021, 03:25 PM
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A good teacher could give you some stretching exercises. I have small hands I thought would be a bonus when I started playing mandolin, but the amount of frets you have to cover is a problem. Those with larger hands can just put fingers down with no problem. I was given exercises I played exclusively for two months. Increased my reach. Went from abysmal to ok because of them, but it was a long slog.
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  #27  
Old 06-21-2021, 04:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotso View Post
This is not meant to be a flippant interwebz thread answer but

Get a mandolin.

On mando each finger covers two frets. As a result the gymnastics of the instrument has helped with my guitar immensely. This is particularly true for my little finger.
I tried to play mando for years, and never could I stretch the five frets needed for the traditional bluegrass "chop" chord formation. If you can't play that, better learn some Italian romantic tunes to play in restaurants! I, too thought the mandolin would be short-finger friendly, but what it really rewards is narrow fingertips. The hidden truth is that it's tuned in fifths, so you skip to the next string after seven frets, not five. I wish you luck and success, but that's harder than it looks.
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  #28  
Old 06-21-2021, 04:39 PM
Birdbrain Birdbrain is offline
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Short fingers are a handicap, but not the worst. Poor time and lazy practice habits will hold you back more.

Once I shook hands after a show with my personal guitar hero, Pat Metheny. I made a point to notice his hands. He's a small guy, about 5'7", and his hand was very near in size to mine. More finger length, I believe, and less palm. A conversation with his luthier, Linda Manzer, confirmed my impression. Thus one of favorite excuses went flittering away, like a butterfly.
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  #29  
Old 06-22-2021, 07:17 AM
Malcolm Kindnes Malcolm Kindnes is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Emerson View Post
Ditch the 4th string altogether. In other words play an E7, and by freeing your ring finger your pinky will easily get to where it's going.

Love Chris Smither's music!

Regards,
Howard Emerson
This is definitely the best advice given.
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  #30  
Old 06-22-2021, 07:26 AM
Goat Mick Goat Mick is offline
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I've got tiny little fat digits so I can feel your pain. Altering hand position will make most of these formations discussed here playable, you just have to keep trying and keep stretching.

The one thing that bugs me is having stubby thumbs that can't be used to wrap around and fret the E string. I have one buddy that has about average size hands but has monkey thumbs. He can thumb fret the E, A and D strings while positioning the rest of the chord with his other fingers. The jerk puts things like F#m and C#m in all of the songs he writes and I can't keep up with my stubby little fingers.
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