[craig020273]

So guys, can anyone help out with a dilemma I seem to have found since I started playing a very short while ago. I have small hands and find it very difficult to hold chord shapes en masse. Any ways to get around a problem that it is leading me to tear my hair out!!

[allthumbs]

It comes with practice. Look at how small Angus is in AC/DC. Tiny hands. He has to shake his whole body to do a vibrato. Hang in there. It is a stage that all of us go through.

[tina_]

I think allthumbs is right. My hands are a bit small but it does come with practice. Make sure you move your hand rather than stretching to a chord... which might sound like stupid advice but this is something I did wrong when I started.

[Stratrat]

Check out some of the YouTube videos of 6-10 year old kids playing full-sized guitars and rocking them out.....or Django Reinhardt playing with a badly mangled/burned fretting hand. It can be done, it just takes practice and time to "stretch" your fingers/hands and start feeling familiar with the fretboard. Just about everybody has doubts about their fingers when they're starting out, because the doggone things won't do what they're told! They're too fat, too skinny, too clumsy, too stiff, too weak, too short, etc. If you stick with it and give it some time you'll develop the strength and endurance in your hand/finger muscles, as well as improve your technique and realize that brute force isn't the answer - it's finesse and precise placement.

It definitely takes time, work and perseverance - heck, if playing the guitar was easy, everybody would be doing it!

[StonedCherry]

I thought my hands were too small for my guitar too. I tried holding the neck a different way. My thumb was too high up and not in the middle so I had to really stretch my fingers.

[craig020273]

nice. cheers guys will lay out the left hand on the rack again tonight!!

[Stratrat]

No need for the rack - just pick up that guitar and let your fingers crawl around the fretboard every chance you get!

[dreamofgilgamesh]

I know exactly what you mean Craig. i started "playing" the guitar 6 months ago and my fingers are much to small.

Thankfully though, over the 6 month period I've been practising, the fretboard seems to have grown somewhat, I'm sure yours will too!

[raybaro]

I have small hands and i am able to play guitar. One thing I can recommend you is to not think of things like that because they will bring your "guitar" self -esteem playing skills down. I know it is easy to say than do.