[Guitar Players] Small fingers/short hands players

M

Merranza

Veteran XX
Yeah, you know who you are...

I'm in that situation. While some say having small fingers and short hands is a plus because you are less likely to stumble on other strings and have an easier time playing the higher frets, I kinda think having trouble reaching 1st-3rd fret for power chords is quite frustrating :angry:

I refuse to quit on guitar because of this though. Those facing that same problem, what are your tricks/ways of improving? My hands are small, my fingers too and my flexibility is extremely limited. To give you an exemple, while playing Sunday Bloody Sunday (1st finger-2nd fret-G string/2nd finger-2nd fret-e string/3rd finger-3rd fret-B streing/4th finger-4th fret-G string), to go get that 3rd finger position, my 2nd often stumble between the 2nd/3rd fret on the e-string or doesn't press at the correct spot so I get a muted/buzzing sound instead. 4th finger got some more flexibility so I can reach the 4th fret but still, to achieve it, my hand is completely crisped around the neck and my palm almost touches the e-string which sometimes mutes the note. All this cramping/difficulty to relax and reaching frets also prevents me from getting some well hoped speed while playing. For my example, if I take time to place my fingers, I finally manage to play the notes, but when I try to play at a decent speed, I never can place my fingers on the correct frets to play the song normally.

Any advices to help a poor but hard working beginner guitar player? :cry:
 
1st finger-2nd fret-G string/2nd finger-2nd fret-e string/3rd finger-3rd fret-B streing/4th finger-4th fret-G string),
Click to expand...
What the shit kind of notation is that?

If you can't say the name of the notes, you don't need to be worrying about speed.
 
i claimed that it was impossible for me to get four fingers on one fret (4 different strings) when i first started playing. now it's easy.

the size of your hand is just something you need to learn to adapt to as you progress. in the long run, it doesn't matter much if your hands are large or small. both types can produce excellent music ;)
 
I dont have very long fingers and i have no problem playing even diminished arpeggios. Like this: Fret a note, then on the same string play another note 3 frets up, and then yet another. Skip a string, repeat the pattern, then skip another string and repeat again.

Like this: but where he taps, i can play it with my left hand only.

String Skipping Diminished Arpeggios in Metal Guitar | Expert Village Videos


So I have about an 8-9 fret range with my left hand only. It's all about stretching, playing slow, relaxing and getting your hands to do what you want. If you have a physical problem like in your joints or tendons, then it's going to be alot harder obviously..I really cant believe you have trouble fretting power chords..
 
Metropolis said:
I dont have very long fingers and i have no problem playing even diminished arpeggios. Like this: Fret a note, then on the same string play another note 3 frets up, and then yet another. Skip a string, repeat the pattern, then skip another string and repeat again.

Like this: but where he taps, i can play it with my left hand only.

String Skipping Diminished Arpeggios in Metal Guitar | Expert Village Videos


So I have about an 8-9 fret range with my left hand only. It's all about stretching, playing slow, relaxing and getting your hands to do what you want. If you have a physical problem like in your joints or tendons, then it's going to be alot harder obviously..I really cant believe you have trouble fretting power chords..
Click to expand...

No physical problems per se, but limited flexibility like I said both in the fingers and wrists.

Fretting a power chord on the first fret of E string is not comfortable at all. I have to twist my hand so I can press the 1st fret with my 1st finger on the side of it to be able to reach 3rd fret on the A string
 
They dont want you to barre when first learning so you get your fingers used to fretting 1 note per string. This way when you learn how to play 7th chords and so on your fingers are better trained and ready. Really if you have trouble fretting a simple F\C power chord
then you might need to really work on stretching more then anything else.

Honestly I've never seen anyone with fingers that stiff. :shrug:
 
I placed my finger there to pretty much what would be comfortable for me. If I try to reach any further with my 1st or 3rd finger, then it starts to feel uncomfortable a bit and I really have to put some strength/feel something doing it.


110413vq0.jpg


edit: might start doing push-ups on my 3rd finger only ;)
 
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I have fairly normal sized hands, but I still do stretching exercises to build up the ability to reach over frets. I mainly work on the stretches between my index and middle finger so scale runs come easier, and I do it by doing simple chromatic scales but skipping over one fret (which technically doesn't make it a chromatic, but humor me). You can also hammer on instead of simply plucking for a different feel.

Just for my own curiosity, do you have trouble playing barre chords? I would imagine that small hands would be really prohibitive when trying to barre strings. As someone said earlier though, with more playing the hard things become simple. I don't know if my exercise will help but I hope it does. :]
 
I'm going to out myself as a Dave Matthews fan, but I found that the song Satellite was a huge help for me in terms of strength and finger flexibility/dexterity.

The Intro/Verse is played without moving your hand around on the neck so it is a good stretch across frets 4-8. It also incorporates the pinky hitting three different strings.
Intro/Verse
E:------------------------------------------------
B:------------------------------------------------
G:------------------------------------------------
D:---------8-------6-------5---------------6------
A:-----6-------4-------------------8---4----------
E:-4-------------------8-------6---------------8--
---1---2---4---1---2--4---1---2---4---1---2--4

The bottom line is the finger.
 
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in addition to the....practice and time needed to develop finger strength/flexibility

you could also try out a bunch of different necks to find the one you're most comfortable with
 
Definitely dont get a Les Paul heh. Stick with Ibanez' or similar instruments that have smaller more rounded necks and also look for higher\bigger frets. That will help you out somewhat.

I guess I should get going on that stretching\picking exercise video for you heh.
 
From the picture you posted it looks like you could extend the reach of your third finger by adjusting your arm/hand position. On a particularly long stretch around the first fret my elbow will usually be out in front of my torso and not at my side. This allows me to free up my wrist and adjust the angle of my hand for a longer stretch.
 
Ok merranza here is a new video for you, use the little drop down box to put it in 800x600.

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=video&file=x1x2.wmv

Things to take away from this video:

0 - 1:30

Chromatic exercises and examples. Notice 4 finger, 3 finger, alternating fingers, cross string, single string. The key here is variety, the standard 1234\4321 across all 6 strings is not enough, you have to try to come up with as many different variations as possible to help train your fingers to be able to do different things. Chromatics are also one of the best ways to warm up\build speed and strength. Always use a click when doing these.

1:30 - 2:05

Maximum stretch exercises. For me, what you see at this point is pretty much my limit, 8 frets or so. The doubled parts are just going up and down the strings and the rest is a diminished arpeggio like I posted in the example earlier today, notice no tapping needed to hit the 3rd note on each string. ;) This is hard to do and takes alot of SLOW practice. DO NOT STRAIN YOURSELF. What you should take from this part, like the chromatics is you need variety in your exercises. So practice going up and down the strings with as much of a stretch as YOU can do. Remember to vary fingering for maximum benefit. Do NOT neglect your pinky like so many players do. :)

2:10 - 3:50

Single string hammer on \ pull off exercises. Again like the others notice the variety of fingerings. 13,14,24,23,34,1324,4231 etc. No picking whatsoever as the purpose here is to build left hand strength and dexterity and worrying about picking is of no benefit for this. Start slow, use the ticker and develop as many patterns as you can using what I've shown as a basis to get you started. The possibilities are limitless. Also use all the strings although I only did the high E.

3:55 - end

Part of a prog metal tune I wrote about 20 years ago. Just to show that "stretched" fingerings\voicings and diminished stuff can sound cool. :p Hope you like it.


Hope you can take some stuff away from this. Feel free to comment of course. :)
 
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Metropolis said:
Ok merranza here is a new video for you, use the little drop down box to put it in 800x600.

YourFileHost.com - Free hosting for ALL your files S2

Things to take away from this video:

0 - 1:30

Chromatic exercises and examples. Notice 4 finger, 3 finger, alternating fingers, cross string, single string. The key here is variety, the standard 1234\4321 across all 6 strings is not enough, you have to try to come up with as many different variations as possible to help train your fingers to be able to do different things. Chromatics are also one of the best ways to warm up\build speed and strength. Always use a click when doing these.

1:30 - 2:05

Maximum stretch exercises. For me, what you see at this point is pretty much my limit, 8 frets or so. The doubled parts are just going up and down the strings and the rest is a diminished arpeggio like I posted in the example earlier today, notice no tapping needed to hit the 3rd note on each string. ;) This is hard to do and takes alot of SLOW practice. DO NOT STRAIN YOURSELF. What you should take from this part, like the chromatics is you need variety in your exercises. So practice going up and down the strings with as much of a stretch as YOU can do. Remember to vary fingering for maximum benefit. Do NOT neglect your pinky like so many players do. :)

2:10 - 3:50

Single string hammer on \ pull off exercises. Again like the others notice the variety of fingerings. 13,14,24,23,34,1324,4231 etc. No picking whatsoever as the purpose here is to build left hand strength and dexterity and worrying about picking is of no benefit for this. Start slow, use the ticker and develop as many patterns as you can using what I've shown as a basis to get you started. The possibilities are limitless. Also use all the strings although I only did the high E.

3:55 - end

Part of a prog metal tune I wrote about 20 years ago. Just to show that "stretched" fingerings and diminished stuff can sound cool. :p Hope you like it.


Hope you can take some stuff away from this. Feel free to comment of course. :)
Click to expand...

Hey all,

Well first of all, a HUGE thanks once again to Metro. Thanks is again not enough for all of this and the huge appreciation I have for what you are doing to help me.

To answer a few of your replies (music sub forum is my favorite portion of tw <3).

Assfrags: I'll really look into it and pay attention. You are right, I have a bad tendency to keep my arm leaning on my side and to move only my wrist around, I need to be more fluid and less crisped:

Snib/Archimedes/Metro: Yes, playing barre is not easy. Though I blame more my lack of strength than anything else. My Kelly Valor Limited has a really small neck and is small overall too. My teacher made a joke about me having a midget guitar, so I think it suits me good. I can wrap my fingers around it quite easily.

Benzer, I'll integrate your exercise with what Metro just created and I'll pay attention to what you said too.


So Metro, I'm done checking your vid. For sure, some of the stuff you do in that video seems impossible feat for me for now (stretching and reaching 5 frets from finger 1 - finger 4 for example) but I'll get on a daily routine with your video and try to achieve everything in there. If there are any things that are not clear or seem like a problem, I'll let you know. Ever thought of giving guitar lessons btw if you are not already?

Thanks really :D
 
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