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Short fingers problem
How do I get my short fingers to reach each fret at same time having trouble putting them where they go
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7 Replies
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Welcome to TAC @lilcowgirl2483yahoo-com
Just know that everyone starting to play guitar thinks that they have one or more physical limitations that will hold them back. The longer you stick with it the less the apparent problems will hinder you. Many guitarists have short fingers.
While you are starting there are things you can do to help. If you don’t have a capo, get one and place the capo several frets from the nut. You can start with 2 or 4. Now you might be able to reach better because everything is closer together. Take a look at the warmup stretching exercises in the skills section. Warming up will loosen your fingers up and allow you to reach better. Think about what you can do regularly to help with your reach. I do some stretches throughout the day whenever I think of it. I’ll even do them at night when I wake up.
Don’t expect this to get a lot better immediately, it takes years. I’ve been playing for 2 years and still can’t reach everything that comes up in the TAC challenges, but I’m getting closer.
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Let me ask you this, does your guitar neck fit your hands? What guitar are you currently playing? My first guitar had a large chunky neck, and it was difficult to get my fingers to hit all the frets. I didn’t realize when I first started that there were so many different neck shapes and thicknesses, AND scale lengths. I went with a slimmer neck and shorter scale, and the guitar was soooo much easier to play.
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Thanks and my guitar does fit me
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If the guitar hasn’t been set up it will be harder to play. If it is a good guitar it is worth the expense of having a shop set the guitar up. When buying guitars you do get what you paid for. Cheap guitars, less than $500, are not made with a lot of care and are harder to set up. a good guitar purchased used may need a pro set up and you will be shocked at the difference in the playability of a properly set up guitar.
Pete has been learning how to do his own set ups and may have some good advise on this .
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Thanks @jorgemac but I’m a rookie and have learned a lot of what I know from you!
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Hi… I also have tiny hands and feet… if I do a hand measure about 95% of people have larger hands than me and longer fingers. I definitely still struggle with some chords and have to compensate sometimes but with the guitar set up correctly (as mentioned above), persistence and practice I can hold my own. The key is being consistent and practicing at least a little every day. Your hand will definitely fight you at first but little hands can actually be an advantage on some chords like A where you have to put three fingers side by side on one fret. My friends with bigger hands complain about that sometimes. Better fretting skills will come with time and that is the main thing you need to develop. Follow Tony’s technique suggestions and the folks on this forum and you’ll get there!
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Good point on the A-chord, I can barely fit my 1,2 &3 fingers, for a while I experimented with 2, 3 &4. Now I prefer the barre method (avoiding the high E).
People with all sorts of limitations have overcome them and excelled as guitar players, perhaps it’s because of them that they elevated to greatness.
Les Paul, Tommy Iommi, Django Reinhardt, Joni Mitchell. There are players with no hands and I think there is one with no arms, they learned to play with their feet.
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