Short stubby fingers = what guitar ?

baldy

So I have decided to learn to play the electric guitar.
I have bought a second hand Les Paul copy which I set up following an online tutorial, re-stringing, action height, intonation etc.
The guitar sounds ok to my untrained ear & stays in tune ok according to the digital tuner I bought.
I also bought a small second hand 15 watt modelling amp, lead, picks etc.
I have just started following an online teaching tutorial to learn the basics.
The problem I seem to have is my fingers are to short & stubby (I think) as either I cannot get them in the right chord positions or there is not enough room on the fret ?
I have never considered my hands to be either small or that I have stubby fingers before, thinking that my hands were of average size.
Would a different style of guitar be easier for me or is it just a question of perseverance.
Sorry for what probably sounds like a stupid question & apologies in advance if this is not the correct part of the forum to ask ? 

paulnb57

Unless you have hands that are particularly different to average I would think it's more a matter of technique, perhaps a few lessons or try to find an experienced played to critique your efforts. The world and his dog with all sorts of ablities and disabilities manage ok.
Good luck, it doesn't happen overnight!

boogieman

It’s not a daft question, I’ve got short stumpy fingers too and wondered the same thing when I first started learning. There’s no particular guitar that has helped me play any better really, it’s mostly just practice, practice and more practice to get your fingers moving better and your hand in the right positions for the chords. You might have to accept that you can’t play certain things (I’ve never managed to get Message in a Bottle right for instance, I just haven’t got the reach) but everyone’s different and there’s plenty of decent players with short fingers that it’s never bothered. If you can get to try out a few different guitars you might find one feels more comfortable or easier to play, but it’s mostly down to practice. 

not_the_dj

Perseverance.

I could post a video of that young blues kid (Toby Lee) playing a Firebird with his tiny little hands.

Keep at it and you'll get there.

CloudNine

If you have these:




Then you you could speak to MD Phillips of Cleartone Conversions


Would it bother you if the guitar was a complete pile of shit?

Musicman20

I have fairly small hands but I started on bass, and it is still my primary instrument. My teacher just said 'learn to stretch and use all of your fingers'. To be honest he was right. I can play fat Precision bass necks NO problem.

Eventually it just isn't an issue.

baldy

Cheers for that & you are probably right but I have found that when playing an A chord for example there is physically not enough room on the second fret for 3 of my fingers ?
I was just wondering if a different neck profile/size, or a different fret size would make things any easier as I do really want to learn.
I have no idea what size frets or what profile the neck is on the guitar that I have bought.
The seller couldn"t really tell me anything.
I assumed the frets were medium jumbo ?
The guitar is supposed to be a Rockburn Les Paul copy (it is badged Rockburn), I know only a cheapy, but every Rockburn LP I have seen has a bolt on neck where as mine doesn"t ?

Ravenous

A while ago I was looking at design of keyboards & stuff and found this link on hand size:

http://www.smallpianokeyboards.org/hand-span-data.html

Basically if you can stretch your hand wide open and the TIP of the thumb to the little finger is 8-9 inches, you are normal. (You might find left & right are slightly different too, also normal apparently.)

Just posting this in case you really think you have odd sized hands. Most people don't.  And there are small handed players around who seem to manage a standard neck.

Alnico

baldy said:

Cheers for that & you are probably right but I have found that when playing an A chord for example there is physically not enough room on the second fret for 3 of my fingers ?
I was just wondering if a different neck profile/size, or a different fret size would make things any easier as I do really want to learn.
I have no idea what size frets or what profile the neck is on the guitar that I have bought.
The seller couldn"t really tell me anything.
I assumed the frets were medium jumbo ?
The guitar is supposed to be a Rockburn Les Paul copy (it is badged Rockburn), I know only a cheapy, but every Rockburn LP I have seen has a bolt on neck where as mine doesn"t ?

Play the A chord with just 2 fingers,.......1 and 2 (Index and middle).

Use the tip of the middle finger to go across both the G and B string in fret 2.
Index finger on the D string at fret 2.
Amp on 11.......

ROCK !

sawyer

Don't be discouraged. We all struggled with this when first learning. Remember your trying to train your fingers to perform unnatural positions. Practice makes perfect,its not impossible even if it seems that way. Also don't try to learn too much at once. Concentrate on maybe 3 chords at a time till you can do them well then move on to the next 3. It can be done:)

Modellista

About the A chord - depends how you are playing it. Try using your pinky on the B and the other two next to it. Failing that, barre it and forget about the top E!

I remember some quote from a famous piano player with small hands. Audience member: "How do you play so well with such small hands?" Pianist: "What makes you think my playing has anything to do with my hands?"

Clearly there may be some limitations due to physical attributes, but with practise to work around them they should become a non-issue. That can take some time however. Years, possibly. But when you've cracked the xx7652 from the intro to Mr Sandman it will be all worth it!

57Deluxe

slide guitar

flying_pie

Stick with it. You'll learn to stretch your fingers and there's more than one way to fret chords.

It's normal to struggle to fit fingers to chord shapes to start with. Some people mainly use two fingers instead of three to fret an A chord. That's my usual preference. Some can barre an A with just one finger while leaving the high E string open. You'll get used to it. At that point you can also take up mandolin or ukulele if you fancy more dextrous challenges. 

Building up finger strength plays a part in it becoming easier too.

sawyer

I play A with two fingers. I find there' not enough room for 3 of my fingers

baldy

Thanks for all the advice guys.
I mentioned to my wife earlier if she thought I had small hands & fat stubby fingers & she yes I did.
That coupled with finding the chords hard to finger made me think that I did.
However upon just measuring my span as suggested by "Ravenous" my fret hand has a span of just under 9 inches which apparently is completely normal, phew.
It is obviously just a matter of practising as I am trying to put my fingers in positions that they are not used to be in.
Also I just tried playing an A chord the ways suggested by Alnico & modellista & I can manage both those ways easily.
I was just struggling trying to play an A chord the way the online tutor said to play it.
Oh well a lot more practise & perseverance I think before I post again.
I think I might have a word with my wife when she gets home !

Moominpapa

I have short fingers. If I had a pound for every time I have said out loud "this is impossible - there's no way my fingers can fret that chord" I would be a rich man. But, as others have said, if you keep working at it, then little by little it gets easier until one day you realise 'oh hey, I can do that chord now' - which is a great feeling

ewal

I play A with 1 finger barre style on the rare occasion I'm playing a guitar in standard tuning. Pinky on the E string at 5th fret if want to play that string too. I've learnt loads of bad habits to get round my technical limitations - obviously not recommended if you want to be a technically proficient and accurate player.

p90fool

This guy is a fantastic player, he copes pretty well with fat fingers on a standard sized guitar neck. 
It can be done!

bingefeller

If you were having problems with the Les Paul you could try a 24" scale guitar, like a Fender Mustang.

Maynehead

It's very common for beginners to doubt their hands' physical dimensions when other people make playing look so effortless. The fact is, it's all about practice and getting used to the new hand shapes.

It won't happen over night, in fact it may not happen for months, but eventually, you'll look back and realise that there was nothing wrong with your hands after all.

Just be patient, take it slow and do lots and lots of repetitions until you can change between a couple of chords cleanly. I think when I first started, I just sat there and moved my fretting hand from a D chord to a G and back again about 100 times in a single sitting, and then done the same thing the next day for about a week before I could play them with any kind of fluency.

Jonathangus

modellista said:

About the A chord - depends how you are playing it. Try using your pinky on the B and the other two next to it. Failing that, barre it and forget about the top E!

I remember some quote from a famous piano player with small hands. Audience member: "How do you play so well with such small hands?" Pianist: "What makes you think my playing has anything to do with my hands?"

Clearly there may be some limitations due to physical attributes, but with practise to work around them they should become a non-issue. That can take some time however. Years, possibly. But when you've cracked the xx7652 from the intro to Mr Sandman it will be all worth it!

Same here - if I want the top E to sound, I'll play A major with fingers 2-3-4.  This also means that if you want move to, say, E major, C major or A minor, your first finger is already in the vicinity of the first fret (in fact, you can leave it anchored there, behind the others).  Or you can slide 2-3-4 up a couple of frets to B major, and your first finger is free to fret the 2nd fret, A string.

I think Justin Sandercoe shows another method, though - with fingers 2-1-3.