Small hands advice

[JeffM.22]

@Sandie Check this post for similar issue.

https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/small-hands-i-cant-reach/#:~:text=small%20hands%20%E2%80%93%20I%20can%E2%80%99t%20reach!!

[Sandie]

Thanks very much. I’ll look at that.

[ChuckS]

@Sandie – If I didn’t know better, I would swear that picture is a photo of my hand😁. I have the same problem. Ironically, I am 6’2″ but my hand and fingers never got that message apparently and so here I am with the medium hands and very short fingers more like those of a 5’2″ person. My pinky is also very very short, just like you show. (I quite watching those you tube videos of guys with pinkys longer than my index finger)

Anyhow, You can still make it work. I do the finger stretching exercises that Tony has in there everyday before I start playing or practicing. They do help and over time things get a bit better.

At the end of the day though, if you are 5’2″ tall and stand under the hoop, you still won’t be able to dunk the basketball no matter how much stretching you do. If you think about it though, the name of the game is to put the ball in the hoop and there are many ways to do that without dunking – dunking is just a crowd pleaser thing. Take that analogy and what I am saying is sometimes to play the song or TAC exercise, you just have to adapt and play it a different way or use the pinky to catch that faraway note, vice the ring finger or play the note in a different place or play the chord differently so if fits what you can do. The end result will be the same.

Do you need a different guitar? Maybe. Neck width and neck design make a huge difference. Acoustic
Guitar necks come in all kinds of widths, typical widths are 1 11/16″, 1
23/32″, 1 3/4″. More importantly, Neck designs also run the full variety of
shapes (e.g. Oval, Modified Oval, C, V, Modified V, Low Profile, etc.). All of
these variable affect fingering depending on your hand and finger size. Scale length can also make a difference, but I have found going to a shorter scale didn’t help me much, so I stuck with the more or less 25.4″ standard.

You play fiddle? Cool – that will give you a bump up in guitar land progressing.

Hope this helps,

Chuck

[Sandie]

Thanks so much for that useful and in-depth response. I will definitely look into the finger exercises. I hear what you say about playing a chord or sequence differently, to suit my physical limitations, but I’m not far enough along to know what would work. I’m only 5 days in…

I do play fiddle, and can knock out a few tunes reasonably well at home, but I’ve never got to the standard that I’d like to be at in order to play out confidently. That’s one reason for skipping to guitar, in the hope that I will progress better.

• This reply was modified 7 months, 1 week ago by  Sandie.

[Loraine]

@Sandie You’re not alone when it comes to having smaller hands. Many of us do, including many men, as you’ve seen from Chuck’s reply to you. Small hands can be a challenge, but they can’t be a decrement, because there are small children who can play rather intricate chords and songs on guitars. The difference is that they are flexible and they use a smaller neck and scaled guitar for their size.

There are various stretches you can do to increase the flexibility of your muscles and tendons and allow you to move your fingers and jointers further apart as you move along in your guitar journey. Research differenct options through Google and on YouTube for finger stretches and strengthening. Also, take the TAC stretching course and practice it daily before and after playing.

One way I practice stretching my fingers is start with my index finger on the 8th fret of the high e. Then take the middle finger starting on the 7th fret of the high e and touch it on the 7th then the 6th, then the 7th then the 5th, 7th then the 4th (all while keeping the index finger rooted on the 8th fret of the high d string). Go as far as you comfortably can without lifting the index finger. Then do it with the middle finger 7th fret, 6th fret; 7th fret 5th fret; 7th fret 4th fret; Then do it with the ring finger and again 7th, 6th; 7th 5th, 7th 4th. When you can easily do this exercise without lifting the index finger, then move the index finger up to the 7th fret and plant it. Then start the process over but now go from the 6th & 5th, 5th & 4th, 4th & 3rd, and so on. This will gradually stretch your fingers and hands.

[Skyman911]

@Sandie, like @ChuckS stated, guitars come in many shapes and sizes. I was amazed when I finally got one that actually fit me. The playing enjoyment greatly increased. I would spend some time in a guitar shop and try out some different guitars. Maybe start with a parlor size and go up from there. There are a number of manufacturers that make decent parlor size guitars without breaking the bank. They are typically shorter in scale, with more narrow necks making it easier to fret for smaller hands. I also have a Taylor GS Mini, that has a pretty short scale, and smaller body. Maybe try one of those. With so many guitar size choices, no need to suffer and not enjoy this journey.

[Carol-3M-Stillhand]

<div>@Sandie I am also short (5’3″) and have small short stubby fingers too!! I am always so envious of all those tall people with really long cello fingers, ha!! But there’s plenty of great guitar players with very short fingers who overcome with technique… For inspiration I’d suggest looking for Muriel Anderson on YouTube. (She was the first ever female to win the annual International Fingerstyle Championship in Winfield KS).</div>

Anywayz take a look and notice her ergonomics and technique. She’s amazing!!

If you don’t already, consider taking just a few lessons in person with a guitar teacher. It’s worth it to get on the right track with your posture and good fretting technique.

Another suggestion is to tune down your guitar a full step. Instead of EADGBe, tune it to DGCFAd. This will decrease your string tension markedly, and will make it easier for your fretting hand to produce good tone. Also put your capo on the 2nd fret. This will put you back in standard tuning in case you are playing with others, but it will also help reduce the space between the strings and the frets. (The action). This also makes it easier on your fretting hand. And the last thing using a capo does for you, is that now the frets aren’t as far apart, which again makes it easier on your fretting hand. Ahhhhhhhhh what a relief!! You will be able to play with much less tension in your hands and should be able to get things into your muscle memory a little easier and enjoy playing and learning a little more!!

Best wishes, Carol

[Sandie]

Fantastic advice, thanks. I will definitely try the capo trick!

Best wishes

Sandie

[JulieK_Acoustic52]

I am also 5ft tall and have small hands! I was coming here for advice. Thank you for posting this! I have owned a full size guitar for over 20 years, and taken lessons on and off for years, before getting frustrated and stopping. Only recently did I learn about a 3/4 size guitar (no idea why none of my teachers ever suggested it). After purchasing TAC, and not even starting it, I finally decided to purchase a 3/4 guitar to see if that helped. It definitely has, but I still struggle with being able to reach frets without moving my hand. I guess we can do some stretching, but honestly the pain that shoots up my arm doesn’t seem healthy. I am going to go back to the guitar shop and see if there is a better fit, if an electric guitar has a narrower neck, or whether adjusting the action on the acoustic I purchased will also be helpful. Using a capo does also help (I really like playing in the higher frets). In the end, I guess none of this is an exact science, and after finding the best fit (guitar size), we need to accept that it’s ok to play things differently, if needed, as oppose to the “correct” way played by those with normal size hands.

[Carol-3M-Stillhand]

@JulieK_Acoustic52 You are absolutely correct, any kind of shooting pain up your arm is most definately a warning sign. The best thing to do is to include some warm up stretches at the beginning of your practice routine, and also try to limit your practice sessions to 10-15 minutes at a time. It’s much more effective (and easier on your body) to practice 15 minutes twice a day, then to practice 30 minutes all at once.

If you take lessons in person, your teacher can help you with any needed corrections in posture and ergonomics that could be irritating your joints, or preventing you from reaching all those fret stretches… If you’re not taking lessons it might be a good investment to take even just a few to get on the right track and avoid injury.

Best wishes, Carol