Reply To: Boogie Woogie

[Roy-Phils]

I
have short-ish fingers, so I’ve tended to do the same. However, since
working on barre chords I’ve found that my thumb position makes a
helluva difference on finger span. With my thumb in line with the first
finger I can’t reach the 4th fret (low E-string), but if I shift my
thumb up the neck (towards the bridge) between the ring and middle
fingers all 4 frets are do-able. It certainly sorted my ‘big’ F barre
chord. Obviously I don’t know how bent your pinkie is, but I hope this
can help.

As
an aside Michael, I have the same issue with the pinkie on my left
(picking) hand, it bends maybe 15 degrees inwards. It turned out (in
2017) that I had early onset Dupuytren’s
Contracture; luckily I found a clinic in Hamburg, Germany that was a
pioneer in non-surgical treatment using X-rays. They managed to stop the
condition in its tracks, sadly not reverse it though.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Roy-Phils.