Yer Hands & Fingers

[rick_here]

Anatomically, (and I suppose Genetically?) speaking....I may have done well to stay as a Saxophonist. But I took up Guitar, leaving The Sax behind.

I'm curious as to how Yer Hands & Fingers; what "role they play" in yer guitar-playing.

Here's Mine, (as it were):

I have sort of "odd hands & fingers."

My palms are kinda Big.

But my fingers are relatively (or comparatively) short.

Adding to this is:

I'm not "double-jointed" in my fingers & thumbs (for lack of vocab.). Put another way, I just can't "bend them back" very much at all.

Illustration:

I can't play double-bar chords---of the "A-Chord-Shape"---with My Ring Finger because it just won't bend back enuf! I use My Pinky for those unless it's a suspended 4th, which I can do. But the High-E-String (still) has to get "muffled" due to how my hands got designed....

Thumbs-wise, I have further "technicalities":

They're "double-jointed" where they attach to Yer Hand and bend real far back. But, just like my fingers, they're "locked" at the other joint (medically, at the "1st digit")....IOW, when I play chords on the neck my left thumb itself is "stationary" and I hafta stabilize my left thumb (I'm a Righty) from bending-back.

This same stabilization is needed, Thumb-Wise, for any kind of finger-picking (my right thumb/hand). When I was in a band, the muscle that's attached to Yer Thumb (in yer palm) was basically Huge! because I always have to use it whenever playing. All this made my hands look "contorted!"

So.

I'm somewhat limited Re: being able to both "reach" and "execute" many, many chords. However, and to my advantage; I've learned what "chord-voicings" are, as well as alternate chord positions (their smaller sizes up the neck).

Finally, I'm in-progress on "making" a Les Paul Copy which will have that shorter scale-length. Should be a Definate-Poz! (I've never owned a Gibson). Been playing Fenders/ Fender copies. My Mexican-Strat has the smaller nut (1 & 11/16ths) and it hasn't been all that difficult to play---outside of the other Guitarist-Genetic-Defects I've inherited.

Why God invented chord-voicings?...(I've been thinking)....

I'm interested in hearing about any & all "Hands & Fingers" stuff, including those of you who have those Guargantuan Outfits. Can you play a Les Paul? or are they "too doggone little?"

Etc., etc.

I'll answer to,

rick

><>

PS-

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Arthritis and other related stuff wouldn't be out of bounds here, IMO.

Edited October 16, 2004 by rick_here

[AlGeeEater]

Well all my friends say i have hands like Jimi Hendrix. I have a flat thumb kinda thing and my fingers are way long. There pretty big being that im only 5'7. (short).

Im good at strecthing my fingers across the fretboard. I can usually put my index on the 5th fret, and stretch my pinky to the 11th fret, and still be able to move my fingers and such. Im not limited to anything really because my fingers are skinny to so the higher frets arent an issue.

Edited October 16, 2004 by AlGeeEater

[1nf1d3l]

i have average fingers.. no huge streching, but i can move them freely...

[westhemann]

i have steve vai hands...but i can't play like him

someone once told me my fingers were too long to play guitar properly(when i first wanted to learn).of course what do they know anyway?

i don't think it has much to do with it...i think you learn to play effectively with what you have...just like you learn to walk just as well as a guy who has legs a foot longer than yours

[rick_here]

Greetings (once again), AlGeeEater-

*Blech*

Well all my friends say i have hands like Jimi Hendrix. I have a flat thumb kinda thing and my fingers are way long. There pretty big being that im only 5'7. (short).

I once knew a dude who said he met Jimi in a record store (in Orange County, CA). "Pardon me, but you look just like Jimi Hendrix."

"Yeah, I'm Jimi."

This dude said he was about 5'7".....and that he was FerSure it was Jimi.

Im good at strecthing my fingers across the fretboard. I can usually put my index on the 5th fret, and stretch my pinky to the 11th fret, and still be able to move my fingers and such. Im not limited to anything really because my fingers are skinny to so the higher frets arent an issue.

IMO (no offense intended); yer not as much "good" at yer stretching-abilities as yer "capable" (of them) in terms of this thread's topic. See what I'm sayin? I mean if, say, Shaqeel O'Neil took up guitar....(and so forth).

As to yer "flat thumb"; I'm taking this as: it makes an "inverted L-shape." Mine's an "I" and only bends at the base of the I, as the case may be and is.

My 5th Fret Stretch is guaged at: the 8th/9th (comfortably) and the 10th is probably non-playable.

Thanx for the feedback/input!

[rick_here]

westhemann-

I agree.

But I hafta admit I've never heard of anyone's hands being "too big" to be able to take-up Guitar Playing.

Right. Ya Gotta Go With: whatever equipment you have (whatever hand size & specs) and whatever-guitar you have....

Along these lines I'm reminded of 2 rather "smaller" (famous) guys who play guitar:

(1) Phil Keaggy, (of Prog-Rock "Glass Harp" fame) who's been doing "Christian Rock" since the early-70's....has been critically-acclaimed thru all these years and is only about 5'2"...(I recently learned here @ PG from a guy who met him). He played Les Pauls for some time early on; probably due to their smaller scale-length (as opposed to Fenders/with their longer 25.5" scale-length, I surely would think). Maybe he also (or "just") liked that Les Paul Tone. I dunno (???). I plan on asking Phil about this (and other things) when he comes to play in My Hometown, next May!!!

(2) Kerry Livgren, of "Kansas." I've met him twice. Once after a Kansas show in '82 and in '94 at the T-Shirt Booth for a Jethro Tull Concert in Atlanta, GA (Kerry's home-base). I'm 5'9" and Kerry's about 3 inches, give or take, shorter than I am. But he CAN PLAY......(caps for emphasis, not hollering). Shaking Kerry's hand; I went, Huh? thinking: How Can He Do That (with such small hands)???

Here were coming into what's called "Feel" and probably "a full knowledge of the fretboard"....(that these Pros have, Giant Hands or Not)!!!

IOW, the same note can be played in at least 5 different (basic) places along the neck.

Go figure (that out)!

It's a dream I have....

thanx,

rick

><>

Edited October 17, 2004 by rick_here

[Dugz Ink]

I spent years trying to play certain chords "the right way"... and I could never do it. It frustrated me so much that I basically gave up. But I recently became friends with this killer guitar player, Gary Talley. He showed me how to play chords differently, and it has really helped my playing and my confidence.

Maybe you just need to take a few sessions with somebody like him.

D~s

[rick_here]

Dugz Ink-

...this is Really-Weird, sorta....

(and somewhat off-topic, so PLZ forgive this post, Everyone Else)!!!

Are you in Memphis, Tennessee? I lived there for ten years, not so long ago, and took some guitar lessons from a guy who was gigging & recording with Alex Chilton's Band...except I forgot who they were/are. This guy's name also slips my mind.

(I have email, PG-message & Yahoo Messenger access, btw).

Any Link (or anything else Re: Memphis, TN)....is always "pleasant" for me as far as that may go. For that I gotta Thank You.

(thanx),

rick

><>

PS-

Now.

Back to: Yer Regularly Scheduled Thread.

[Dugz Ink]

Are you in Memphis, Tennessee?

No, I'm in Nashville... where there's a guitar player on every street. I love it!

But Gary is a Memphis boy, and he's awesome to hang out with. He and the guy he's sharing ahouse with hold a pot-luck-dinner-and-guitar-pull on the third Sunday of every month... from 3pm until Gary and Doak decide they need to go to bed.

It's fantastic! You're sitting in a room full of acoustic guitars and players, and somebody says "Here's a song I just finished writing yesterday." Then they start playing... and within 8 bars, Gary is playing along with them... augmenting the style of that song perfectly. Of course, when somebody plays something that has a good Memphis Blues sound to it, Gary really helps to make it ROCK!

Sorry to get even farther off topic, but Gary is very cool. That's why I recommend him.

D~s

[rick_here]

D`s-

Email me for any further: Thangs-Tennis-See....(plz).

Thanx again!

"Well, Ah'll be Hollerin' At Yew Later"....

[StratDudeDan]

i have fairly long fingers with fat knuckles. really strong hands though, mostly coming from my carpentry and swimming experience (it's hard to hold your hands in a cup while concentrating on everything else you need for a race...). on bass, i have a stretch from first fret to the 6th fret, not sure about guitar. i can hit the seventh fret on bass, but i can't firmly hold it. usually ends up buzzing or quacking.

the joint between my hand and my fingers is really large, though (big palms). i've found the most comfortable necks to have an acoustic feel to them with a 19"-21" radius. my strat is a 16", and it feels very curved to me. i can't stand tele's.

the actual pads of my fingertips are very squishy and rather large in surface area. on my left hand, the tips of them have no feeling (have to type using the fatter part) and on my right, the "outside" of my thumb as well as everything past the last knuckle on my index, middle, and ring fingers are dead.

very flexible, though. i can bend my hand and fingers back to the point where they make 2 90 degree angles (between my wrist and the back of my hand, and then my hand and my fingers). while having my hand sitting on frets 1-6 on bass, my middle finger can play on the third and my ring finger up to the fifth. going lower, not quite as well. middle can only go to 2nd and my ring finger barely to third (this is while keeping my pinky and index fingers still at the ends).

[Gorecki]

I don't believe the hands size is as critical as protrayed in the past unless you don't have one I guess. I recall seeing someone a long time ago (can't recall who) that only had two fingers and a thumb on the left hand and played quite well. Obviously there were limitations but less then you'd think.

I very small hands and couldn't tell you how many students I've had concerned about their hands. I ask them to spread their hand against mine and most often their fingers are an inch or more longer then mine. Then I tell them 'if I can do it, so can you' (ie fretting 12th, 15th, 19th and arpeggiate).

The hands need to be trained. Just like a martial artist can do the splits for very high kicks. They don't start out that way, they train to get there and that takes time and practice.

If a traditional chord fingering doesn't work for you, find an alternate fingering or an inversion of the same chord you can reach more readily.

Most of all, have fun.

[heugel]

The guitarist you're thinking of was Django Reinhardt - http://www.redhotjazz.com/django.html

Personally, I have somewhat average hands with slightly smaller fingers with big knuckles. Mine are unique in that my index fingers on both hands are roughly 5/8" shorter than my middle fingers, and about 1/2" shorter than my ring fingers.

Luckily, I never realized my hands were mis-shapen until about 8 years after I started playing guitar, so it never really discouraged me that much

[rick_here]

heugel-

...Exactimoto-Quasimoto......

Django RULES!!!

Edited October 18, 2004 by rick_here

[rick_here]

Gorecki added-

If a traditional chord fingering doesn't work for you, find an alternate fingering or an inversion of the same chord you can reach more readily.

Call em voicings, chord-shapes-formulas, inversions, just what: "That sounds good!", or anything else....

Most of all, have fun.

If "Guitar" gets too boring, I have some holes down in the basement that I haven't finished digging up yet. Talk about: depression!!!

....why God invented: The Guitar, I'm thinkin....

[AlGeeEater]

Yea, i was talking to my friend Jimmy in homeroom this morning and we were talking about Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy goes "Dude look at Heyder's fingers, there flat like Jimi's" to my friend Billy. (My last name is pronounced Hi-Der(German) ). So theres another reason. I can also play all of Jimi's song's with no effort w/ using my thumb and stretching. Maybe ill be the next Jimi Hendrix!

Haha that really wasnt funny.....more sad and depressing!

Also i havent grown in a while, and im still 5'7ish.

Edited October 18, 2004 by AlGeeEater

[Bus Bob]

Normal fingers, but my hands are a bit larger than average. The unique feature I have is the remnants of a smashed finger. I smashed the pinky on my left hand while working on the bus. Every bone in it was broke, most crushed. The small knuckle was broke in half and part of it, along with the bone from the tip of the finger, was somewhere else in my finger.

Several surgeons said they couldn't help. Finally one did, and she did a great job. It's healed now. I don't have 100 percent movement and it hurts to play, but I am playing the guitar again. I love the guitar and was quite horrified when I pulled the mangled finger out of the machinery. Now I have a slight bend in it that I didn't used to have. Not sure yet, but I think it may actually help me play some things better.

If you are twisted enough, there is a post-surgery photo at the bottom of my bus page.

http://homepage.mac.com/defiantbob/BobsBus/PhotoAlbum2.html

[MikeB]

id say i have large hands, and large stretch. medium sized thickness fingers id say. can play 12th to 24th stretch reasonably comfortable. 12th to 25th sounding ok still, and 12th to 27th is hard, but no buzzing. i must admit, the octave gaps would be the most used!

Mike

[stageleft]

I'd say I have smallish hands and fingers, thats not nearly as much of a problem as the arthritis in my middle and ring fingers. I am much better at building them and repairing them than playing them, but I have fun. I am lucky enough to have some amazing players as friends, that have a much better grasp of neck layout than I do, so whenever i get stuck or frustrated they show me a different voicing. Helps a lot.

George

[rick_here]

Bus Bob-

(Owch)!

I already saw the pic of yer finger injury from yer website...and haven't looked again. Hurts just to look at it (or even think about it). Sounds like you got a good doc and a Good Attitude. I'm wondering if they have you on any kind of Physical Therapy?

Other than this we've already mentioned "handicapped" players such as Django Reinhardt and Phil Keaggy (on another thread. Btw, folks Phil is missing his right hand middle finger. And he's right handed and can do excellent finger-style)!

stageleft-

Right, voicings.

I taught myself a bunch of em just going up octaves (from roots). Don't know what all of em are called but know when i can "use" them.

Hey MikeB.

PS, (I just now recalled)-

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath fame has something "wrong" with one of his chording-fingers. He wears a specially made "cover" over it. Always has....

Edited October 30, 2004 by rick_here

[rick_here]

found at Iommi's Homepage:

Tony Iommi Bio

Btw, Mr. Iommi's left-handed and had the tips of his two middle(st) fingers chopped off, on his right hand. He started out putting sewing thimbles over them. My understanding is that now he has specially-made (graphite) prosthetics.

Also I just saw where Jerry Garcia had half of his right index finger chopped off. I didn't know that till now and used to wonder "how" (and/or) "why" he held his guitar picks "that way"....I remember seeing him on PBS and going, "Boy, that's weird." This was back when I was still learning stuff like: how to hold a pick.

Edited October 30, 2004 by rick_here

[Sacred]

I will send you pics this week and you analize them k

[soapbarstrat]

Left hand :

Palm 3-7/8" long, 3-5/16" wide

thumb 2-3/4" long

1st finger 3-3/16 " long

middle finger (don't ban me !!!) 3-5/8"

3rd finger ( I guess it's called that) 3-5/16"

little finger 2-5/8"

my middle finger is a little deformed from a dog bite when I was about 10 ( I deserved the bite). I don't know if it affects my guitar playing.

I often wrap my thumb around the neck and fret the 5th and 6th string with it.

Also, as I have said before, I am left-handed, but play guitar the same way a right-handed person does. I have known several people who are the same way, and also have heard of a couple famous guitarist who are like this.

[rick_here]

Sacred-

A lady friend of mine does Nails...if that'swhat you mean?

soapbarstrat-

Yeah, Rik Emmett's one of em....

Edited October 31, 2004 by rick_here

[Stalefish]

Small Chinese hands here.. My max stretch is the 1st fret to 6th fret with my index and pinky on the same string.. That also renders all the rest of the strings muted.. Heheh.. I get by a lot by using my thumb..

As for double-jointed, well, I can bend my middle finger back to within 1/2 inches of the back of my hand.. Used to be able to touch the back of my hand when I was younger.. And the first joint of my thumb has a full 180deg of motion.. It's like some sick party trick..