[captaindoug]

Hello to everyone, new here. I've been trying to play for awhile. I went to a great guitarist for some lessons but he was a little lost with me. I injured my left hand pinkie at a young age, so I effectively only have three fingers to fret with. Obviously, alot goes on with your little finger on the fret board, but there must be a way to fudge some of these chord voicings with only 3 fingers. Help! A guy in a music store said I should ck out Django. He did it with only 2, but did he do it in standard tuning? I can play the bass left handed, but that didn't work for me on guitar. Too many right brain-left brain issues. Hints and suggestions welcome. Thanks

[allthumbs]

Django played standard as far as I know. There are many ways to play chords and that is about the only thing that could be a problem and luckily there are many ways to play the same chord with different fingerings. We have a member who just joined who has recently lost his index finger which is a much trickier injury to overcome.
Some chords you will be able to grab just by increasing the flexibility of the fingers you have left.
I suggest you purchase Kirks plane talk materials. It will quickly, with practice teach you every possible variation of each chord. Playing lead with 3 fingers will not be a problem unless you want to be a speed shedder and Django could give some of them a run for their money. Your in good shape to relearn the best way to play your guitar. It is just time and knowledge of the fretboard that is needed.
I will be uploading a lesson where the first 3 bars repeated twice are played with just one finger.

[starsailor]

Hi Captaindoug, it's a bit disappointing that your teacher couldn't find a way to adapt to the situation, it does make your job a little bit harder but you can still play and like allthumbs said, there are ways to overcome it, would be worth checking out Django he is some guy, for you it is just a question of adapting your style, I know it's easier to say than do but you will find a solution, hope you get on ok and welcome to the forum.

Cheers

Chris

[X4StringDrive]

Welcome

[Andy S]

Greetings Captain!

Django indeed play with only two fingers. According to the book I have, he lost use of the two end (pinkie & ring) fingers in some sort of fire as a child. As far as tuning, it doesn't say if it was anything other than standard.

Another more current player that seems to NOT use his pinkie finger is Stevie Ray Vaughn's brother, Jimmie. I've seen him play on two DVDs so far and each time after watching closely, he never used his little finger. I couldn't tell for the chords, but when he was doing any leads and the camera got up close, it looked like he tucked it up and it never touched a string.


I can't see why you couldn't be able to play. Will it be more of a challenge, for sure. But I don't think it should stop you. Chord work, well, you will just have to be a bit creative or be a bit selective in the voicings and positions you choose.

Keep at it, with all the encouragement around here, I'm sure you'll adjust and find a way.

[scorpius]

Hello and Welcome, captaindoug.

[si16]

Good luck captaindoug.

[Falkon]

Hi Captain, welcome and good luck. I'm sure your desire to play will show you how to work-around the issue.

[coldethyl]

G'day and welcome captaindoug.

[carol m]

Welcome aboard, Captain

[GotDeeBlues]

Welcome, best of luck.

[captaindoug]

Hello back to everyone, and thanks for the kind words and encouragement, along with the good advice.

[knight46]

Hello and welcome aboard.