Freaky Fingers...

Trippy · #1 October 15th, 2006

Ok, I've been 'playing' for only a month, and I know I need to keep practicing, and I know my fingers will get stronger and will stretch, but...

...I think I'm cursed with freaky fingers, specifically my pinkies. I put my hand flat on a desk and can spread them easily. If I turn my hand over and bend my fingers, they all decide to they want point towards a spot at the base of the thumb, even if I try to stop them. The nail of my pink is halfway under my ring finger.

Guitarwise, if I put my ring finger on say the 14th fret, my pinky struggles to get onto the 15th fret. It feels lonely and tries to cuddle up with it's neighbour on the 14th.

I'm cursed I tells yer, cursed. Tell me this is normal, you all had this problem, and it will soon be a thing of the past...even if it's not true. Otherwise, can anyone recommend a good (and cheap) surgeon?

allthumbs · #2 October 15th, 2006

Sounds like you need to stretch that pinky while actually fretting the guitar or stretch the pinky with your wrist bent as if freting a guitar.

SprayTech · #3 October 15th, 2006

You might try Guttertrashe's finger strengthening trick with the rubber band .
I cant find the link where he posted it , hopefully he will see this and point you to it .

I have strong hands and fingers , but the muscles are just tight and need stretching and little by little they are limbering up , as I thought I would never be able to stretch 4 - 5 frets , but its slowly getting there by practicing

Just picked up playing myself a month or so ago .

randomaire · #4 October 15th, 2006

You mean this one:

Non Guitar Finger Workouts

guttertrashsingalong · #5 October 15th, 2006

yea the rubberband thing helps but shouldnt come in the way of actually stretching on the fretboard either.i like to place my index on say 7th fret low e and ring finger on the 9th and pinky on 10th and just press them off and on off and on everyday till i cant take anymore.gets pinky working good as well as other fingers.dosent have to be on low e can be on any strings.and then i like to run through a few scales myself.the major scale and the c major scale helped me with my pinky and the major scale or ionian mode gets ya a good stretch workout.but hey thats just me.but there are alot of good stretching workouts posted here as well as finger workouts but thats what i like to do .Tekker has some good workouts on here also.

solidwalnut · #6 October 16th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trippy

...I'm cursed I tells yer, cursed. Tell me this is normal, you all had this problem, and it will soon be a thing of the past...even if it's not true. Otherwise, can anyone recommend a good (and cheap) surgeon?

Trippy--

Don't feel like you can't accomplish learning how to play 'cause of freaky fingers. Everybody's different. There's some great advise here, so definitely try out some of these exercises.

But above all, please remember that when life gives you lemons, make lemonaide. Just remember the story of Django Reinhardt. The man played blazing solos with two fingers because of an accident, and had two fingers permanently curved. But he made it all work.

All the best,

Steve

h5b123 · #7 October 20th, 2006

For me i have the same problem about the finger but i dont want to make another topic so...

I've been playing the guitar for 4 months,but it was 2 years ago.I've had a problem with my hands .The fingers are small and weak,especially the little fingers.From the wristbone to the top of the middle finger,just about 17,5 centimetres.I can't play an open chord like G without making noise like a cat scratching the string.But still, i love to play the guitar,so can anybody tell me what to do?

coldethyl · #8 October 25th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by solidwalnut

But above all, please remember that when life gives you lemons, make lemonaide. Just remember the story of Django Reinhardt. The man played blazing solos with two fingers because of an accident, and had two fingers permanently curved. But he made it all work.

Yep Django was an amazing guitarist considering the obstacles he had to overcome.
Another good example of a guitarist who didn't allow obstacles to defeat him was/is Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath fame)

He lost the tops of his fretting fingers in a freak industrial accident, but he didn't give up, he made extensions himself using leather type caps to place on his fingers to enable him to play the guitar.

ShermyTwo · #9 November 13th, 2006

This is a topic I've always been curious about- if shorter fingers are a serious detriment to playing guitar.

I also have a similar problem to the original poster. Whenever I play a scale, my index and pinky fingers often curve sideways. In other words, I end up (nearly) using the sides, rather than the tips (as frequently taught/suggested).

Is this a problem which will go away with further strength training? Is it anything to worry about? If so, are there any specific drills to help compensate for short fingers?

Thanks for any further advice on the subject.

Justapicker · #10 November 13th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShermyTwo

This is a topic I've always been curious about- if shorter fingers are a serious detriment to playing guitar.

Nah. You won't be able to make the stretches that someone like Allan Holdsworth can, but most mortals can't. Over time your hands will become more flexible and able to do things that you'd never believe they could do.

Muriel Anderson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELRGB9ghOas
has tiny hands and is an amazing player.

allthumbs · #11 November 13th, 2006

Angus of AC/DC seems to manage quite well with his tiny hands. He does have to shake his whole body when he does vibrato though.

tonedeaf · #12 November 16th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trippy

...I think I'm cursed with freaky fingers, specifically my pinkies. I put my hand flat on a desk and can spread them easily. If I turn my hand over and bend my fingers, they all decide to they want point towards a spot at the base of the thumb, even if I try to stop them. The nail of my pink is halfway under my ring finger.

Guitarwise, if I put my ring finger on say the 14th fret, my pinky struggles to get onto the 15th fret. It feels lonely and tries to cuddle up with it's neighbour on the 14th.

I'm cursed I tells yer, cursed. Tell me this is normal, you all had this problem, and it will soon be a thing of the past...even if it's not true. Otherwise, can anyone recommend a good (and cheap) surgeon?

Hi Trippy,

For what it's worth your question reminded me of my piano playing days(except the surgeon!) In one of my old Alfred's teaching books he talks about the muscular structure of the hand and why the pinky is the weakest and that it requires special exercise to develop strength equal to the others. There are tendons that are binding the 4th finger to the 5th and 3rd according to Alfred. The strongest and most agile are the index and middle fingers.

In trying to strenghten these fingers he suggests a method called the 'Leschetizky Solution'. I know this is off base because it deals with a piano but it does seem to have some merit. For guitar I have used a product called the Handmaster Plus by ghsstrings.com. It's frustrating at first but with practice and excercise you should see improvement. I guess it works on the same principal as the rubber band solution mentioned before. Hope this helps.