Hand size impact upon guitar playing...

cacophony · October 2014

afternoon all. this has bugged me for a while, does the size of your wanking spanners have any impact upon your ability with the guitar?. serious question, i have small hands (and feet) for quite a decent sized bloke, and really struggle with barre chords and much of the fretting as shown in instructional videos, books etc. i can stretch to 3 frets at a push with my finger span, but even then i have to twist my body so it looks like i`m having some sort of seizure mid song. justinguitar keeps saying that constant practice and stretching will enable the hand/fingers to reach further in time, but, if you fingers/hands are just small, then no amount of stretching will put an extra inch on your fingers, (if it did then.... no, i`ll leave that) are any members here in a similar position? and does an inability to barre etc seriously have long term repercussions on how good i`ll be able to be eventually?.

are there any small handed guitar gods?.

steamabacus · October 2014

I think Tal Wilkenfeld dispels any notion that small hands are a hindrance in any way - she's tiny and she plays a full scale Jazz Bass. Quite well, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25q8nWZQGaQ

Danny1969 · October 2014

Well the physics of having a small reach will hinder some things, you can't make your fingers longer than they are no matter how good you are. You can be inventive though and find other voicing that are sound the same but are easier to reach.

The stretching thing gets easier though, I don't have the biggest hands but can play chords across 6 frets just cos I've pushed the limit of that again and again over the years

mart · October 2014

Yep, everybody finds bar chords hard to begin with, and the stretches also get easier as you go on.

But small hands might do better on a guitar with a short-scale and/or a thinner neck. Both are readily available - Fender just released a bunch of shorter scale versions of their standard range, and there are lots of other options available.

Sambostar · October 2014

Randy Rhoads had tiny hands and a 3 inch waistline but had a massive and extremely accurately and tonefully executed raw sound.. If anything, small hands make you build your strength up and perfect your technique more than spangle fingers. I have never liked spangle fingered players with fourth fingers longer than their index. To me, they by and large just can't translate any feeling or tone on the guitar. I guess because they have found the thing more accessible in the first place so never bothered trying or maybe it's because they are so long that they can't control them decently. Something about moment of forces or somethink.

I would guess that, like dogs, medium size is best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOAgS4pHoZw

timmysoft · October 2014

I have tiny hands, especially for a big guy! I'm 6'1" and 14 stone, but I was blessed with size 8 feet and the smallest hands ever, to the point where one of my nicknames is "small hands". I do struggle with lead guitar and moving around the fret board at speed is an issue, but I've built up a lot of strength and power so what I actually do is played with consistency. I've also developed my own style, because I couldn't do the stuff that more nimble fingered guitarists could do.

stickyfiddle · October 2014

I have relatively small skinny hands for a bloke and it's never stopped me. Learning piano as a kid helped with stretching but you will find you can reach at least one more fret after 6 months than when you can as a beginner.

Some players have big hands (Hendrix, @Bucket) but it's not essential - strength is more important and that comes naturally as you play more.

mike_l · October 2014

I don't think hand size matters, what matters is how much time the individual has put into practising the guitar.

cacophony · October 2014

i don`t see how stretching will make any difference to some of what i face. but i get the points about using different techniques, i`m already having to do that, on scales for example , when justing demonstrates the pentatonics he uses a different finger for each of the four frets, there`s no way i can do that as my hands just arent physically wide enough!, and even if i did stretch my hand so that my little finger can creep into the fourth fret it`d be so stretched and extended that it`d throw out the shape of the rest of my paw and have absolutely no strength behind it to fret a string. so i have to rely on just using two finger for scales, which means more movement of the hand, it seems normal to me but may look laboured to an onlooker. for the record i`m 14 stone plus, 5` 11, and have size 6 or 7 shoes and take size small in disposable gloves.

mart · October 2014

mike_l said:

I don't think hand size matters, what matters is how much time the individual has put into practising the guitar.

Stop making excuses. Next you'll be telling me that if I want to improve my playing I should practise more, rather than just buying a shiny new guitar. And everybody knows how crazy that idea is. 8-|

mike_l · October 2014

mart said:

mike_l said:

I don't think hand size matters, what matters is how much time the individual has put into practising the guitar.

Stop making excuses. Next you'll be telling me that if I want to improve my playing I should practise more, rather than just buying a shiny new guitar. And everybody knows how crazy that idea is. 8-|

Don't forget I'm the bloke who keeps acquiring more dirty pedals............

randomhandclaps · October 2014

If you have really ridiculously small hands there are plenty of ways you can work around it and practice techniques to improve your playing but ultimately really small hands may make you unattractive to women, which after all is the most likely reason you started playing in the first place.

ChrisMusic · October 2014

Get a grip on yourself man !

Oh, judging by the OP you have already tried that :P

I am assuming that you are fairly new to the guitar.

Finding a guitar with a neck profile that is comfortable is probably a good move, although as your technique improves your guitar preferences may well change too. Classicals are on the whole pretty wide and flat, acoustics often have chunky necks and can be quite wide too, electrics vary widely from Music Man JP ultra skinny profile through to Gibson super chunky 50s profiles, (N.B. other makes are available too). There is also the issue of scale length. Try as many guitars as you can, as often as you can. You will probably gravitate to something that you find more comfortable.

If your index finger can reach across the full width of the fretboard, then it is only a matter of time and practice, growing calluses on your fingers, and developing strength and stamina in your hand, wrists and forearm, and barre chord shapes will come. You might want to check out something like the PowerBall as an aid to developing hand and finger strength, it may help speed your development on guitar. The SuperNova is available off the shelf at most Argos stores. I am exploring how useful this can be in developing guitar technique more quickly, so if you try it I would love to get some feedback. It is also good for rehabilitation from some injuries which are an ongoing risk in everyday life.

http://powerballs.com/music.php

http://powerballs.com/rehabilitation.php

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/q/POWERBALL.htm

Awful American marketing style video >here<

Learning to stretch your finger span will help, but also takes time and practice.

You could try your scales higher up the fretboard where the frets are more narrowly spaced, and then over a period of time when you are comfortable in one position move back towards the nut with the same scale shapes but with slightly wider fret spacing. We have all gone through this stuff, so you are not alone.

monquixote · October 2014

It doesn't really matter how big your hands are unless you are going to get into some of the mega stretchy shred stuff.

For 99% of things you'll want to play it won't be a problem.

You can also buy something with a skinnier neck. Pacificas and Squier Classic Vibes being good choices for not too much cash.

ICBM · October 2014

I think I've just compensated by using more movable shapes than big stretches. There are definitely some things I can't play because I can't reach that far, but that just means I have to find other voicings or things to do.

ThePrettyDamned · October 2014

I have small hands, but this has led to me using different chord voicings.

Example - rather than A Major shaped bar (which I can do, and often do) I will quite often use the first finger on the root (a string), thenthird and fourth fingers on the octave and third, or fifth and third if I want a fuller sound. Or I'll use a mini version of the C shape chord for another three note chord shape in the 'piano note' order, which is a really nice voicing.

Both of these shapes lend themselves to embellishments, even if my hands are smaller than my ex girlfriends. Who was genuinely diddy - 5 feet tall. Just.

digitalscream · October 2014

Another relatively small-handed dude here...which is why (at a very early age) I "invented" tapping to compensate - I couldn't make 7-fret stretches high up, so I got the hang of quickly tapping with the second finger on my picking hand without moving position too much, the idea being to use it as an "extra" fretting hand finger.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw EVH doing it

Anyway, the point is that you can compensate by adapting your technique. Look at this:

Smallest hands in the known universe, but most of us couldn't play like that if we wanted to. Don't make excuses, make changes.

cacophony · October 2014

that was what i was asking in the op, those of us with tiny hands, what do we do to compensate?. how to play `around` the problems it presents us with. i already compensate by moving my hands and arms more than most probably have to, i`ll just have to learn a few more tricks

*takes socks off*

ThePrettyDamned · October 2014

digitalscream said:

Another relatively small-handed dude here...which is why (at a very early age) I "invented" tapping to compensate - I couldn't make 7-fret stretches high up, so I got the hang of quickly tapping with the second finger on my picking hand without moving position too much, the idea being to use it as an "extra" fretting hand finger.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw EVH doing it

Anyway, the point is that you can compensate by adapting your technique. Look at this:

Smallest hands in the known universe, but most of us couldn't play like that if we wanted to. Don't make excuses, make changes.

She has some incredible economy picking technique. Also, hers is one of the few sig guitars I properly love.

musteatbrain · October 2014

Frank Gambale seems to manage. Here's a link to some more nutters talking about their hands: http://www.sneezefetishforum.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=49910

cacophony · October 2014

erm, what exactly where you looking for when you found that?. just out of interest like...

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Hand size impact upon guitar playing...

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