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#1
07-28-2013, 02:53 PM
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Fatter fingers later in the day?
I have noticed that I seem to have more trouble making clean chords in the afternoon or evening. Today it was pretty obvious. This morning I did 20-30 minutes of chord practice, and I was pleased at how crisp they were: no dead adjacent strings, no buzzing, etc.
This afternoon I tried to practice the same chords, and now I'm touching adjacent strings, despite trying harder than this morning. I didn't go swimming or have wet hands a lot or anything like that in between. My fingers are if anything smaller than average. Maybe this is some physiological thing (shoe size increases in the afternoon, for instance). Maybe my fingers are a bit puffed up from practicing this morning. Or maybe I'm just tired and not arching my fingers as well. What say you? 
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#2
07-28-2013, 03:21 PM
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Sodium...
...chloride, that is. If you eat food with salt throughout the day, your hands/fingers can get beefy from increased water retention. It's virtually impossible to eat low sodium in our culture and in fact, a 'normal" American diet contains a ridiculous amount of sodium. I notice it as the watch band gets tighter on my wrist as the day progresses. An inflammatory process could do that as well but you'd likely already know it if you had an arthritic condition -- autoimmune, osteo, or other.
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#3
07-28-2013, 04:07 PM
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I've never correlated playing effectiveness with time of day. When I analyze my "bad times" it usually seems to be concentration related. When I can, I'm on
 ... when I wander, I'm off  .
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#5
07-28-2013, 06:05 PM
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Quote:
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#6
07-28-2013, 10:35 PM
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I have to wonder, have your fingers really gotten fatter?
My arthritis in my hands is at it's worse in the morning, yet I can fret chords more cleanly. Isn't there something about our brains function better in the morning? At least if no hangover I have found that if I put my hardest practice off until late in the day that it never goes as well.
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#7
07-30-2013, 08:42 AM
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The legs accumulate blood from gravity and the feet swell at the end of the day. I am certain that something similar can happen with the hands for some individuals.
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#8
08-02-2013, 04:10 PM
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Like email4eric mentioned, check your diet for how much sodium you consume. My father has CHF (congestive heart failure) and I'm his caregiver, so I monitor his daily sodium intake. Anyway, if you do tend to consume foods high in sodium throughout the day, just try to drink more fluids (at least 8 cups and preferably just water). You'll urinate the excess fluids in your body. I know when I've retained quite a bit of fluid when my ring is hard to remove. I have thin fingers, but if I haven't drank enough water or ingested too much sodium, my fingers swell to a point where it affects my index finger during C or G7 chords. On the positive side, bar chords are easier with a fatter index finger
But in all seriousness, lower sodium is a good thing.
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#9
08-02-2013, 04:33 PM
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Hi, obviously high salt consumption will cause long term health issues. I have suffered from CHF and so have had to moderate my diet and it is surprisingly easy to wean yourself off of salt, sugar and sat.fats.
After a week or so all of them can become repulsive. However, I share with you the same sort of problems - due I now realise to fat, stubby finger tips - although I ave smallish hands and shortish fingers, I found that the solution was a wider fretboard. Go and try out a 12fretter with a nut width wider than 1 & 11/16"..and cut dw on the bad stuff !
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#10
08-02-2013, 06:03 PM
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I don't always notice the fatter fingers, but on that day I did have a salty restaurant meal. At home we generally don't add salt to our food, and I'm not fond of oversalting. It's true I should drink more water. My fingers are actually fairly small and slender, but I've been typing and playing piano for years, so I'm not sure the tips are so skinny.
Part of my thinking does have to do with whether a narrower or wider nut is what is best for me. I have one of each: a Yamaha FS700S 1-11/16" and a Seagull 1.8". The Yamaha started out feeling narrow but is fine now most of the time. The Seagull was more comfortable but now sometimes feels too wide. And I think it has a lot to do with the neck chunkiness as well. Which goes to prove that trying out a guitar is a good idea.
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