Small hands?

[irishdarling]

I recently got an guitar and have been trying to learn how to play it. Most of the lessons are going easily and I'm learning pretty quickly but I am having a large problem with my hands.
I know that they say with exercises your hand coordination and ability will get better, but I'm having a hard time being able to stretch my fingers during certain chords.
I had the same problem with the piano, as my hands can't stretch an octave.

But basically I was wondering does hand size make a large difference in playing the guiter, and will it get easier with practice. Or is there anything I can do specifically to get all the notes?

Thanx :D

[reix29]

I too have small hands..I can't stretch my fingers too much....I can't even play a classical guitar because it has a broad fretboard, but just because you can't stretch doesn't mean you couldn't play fast?!! try it

[Polera]

Doesnt make much of a difference. Sure you cant do what Stevie or Jimi did ... using the thumb etc... but lets face it.. u can be a good guitariest without being them.

[GuitarPsy]

my girl got the same problem, though she always finds a way to compensate her little hand-problem ;) small hands could even be usefull because large hands got trouble with those small frets, always look on the bright side :D

[aschleman]

I find that people with smaller hands generally develope a style that is all there own in terms of technique. I have moderatly sized hands and I don't have much trouble, but people that I know have small hands. Every girl that I have ever tried to teach how to play guitar end up saying "F' THAT" because their hands are too small... but just like you said, with practice it will all come together. Try simply stretching your finger a little bit before playing. You can also try to practice some chords that challenge your small-handedness repetativly. That should allow your muscles in your hands to adapt to what you are trying to get them to do. Good luck with it!!!! you'll get it!

[mc9mm]

But basically I was wondering does hand size make a large difference in playing the guitar?

No


will it get easier with practice?

Yes



Or is there anything I can do specifically to get all the notes?

Like you said, practice. Lots and lots. There's not much more to it than that.

[oracleguy]

Looks at Malmsteen's "stubbly-chubby" digits. Need I say more? :eek:

[aschleman]

Malmsteen is a good example how finger size is a part of your styles evolution... Yngwie basically does speed runs... that's mostly all he does. Sometimes I wish I had small fingers to be able to rip through some of his runs, but I don't. I have longer fingers that allow me to make chords that a lot of people can't make. So that is my style... As for the person that started this thread..... small hands doesn't make you any less capable of learning how to lay. It's just one of those small things that will probably influence the way that you play. Maybe you'll be able to fly around the fretboard like Yngwie.

[wissam ibanez]

it's not a problem man
i have this problem and after thee years playing guitar
i forgot it.so don't care just make your life a guitar. :cool:

[Renisenb]

I recently got an guitar and have been trying to learn how to play it. Most of the lessons are going easily and I'm learning pretty quickly but I am having a large problem with my hands.
I know that they say with exercises your hand coordination and ability will get better, but I'm having a hard time being able to stretch my fingers during certain chords.
I had the same problem with the piano, as my hands can't stretch an octave.

But basically I was wondering does hand size make a large difference in playing the guiter, and will it get easier with practice. Or is there anything I can do specifically to get all the notes?

Thanx :D

I do what a lot of people here mentioned.
I just keep with it and forget about it after a while.
I have small girl hands. It stinks. :(
For a while I thought I'd never get the pinkie note right on my violin. After the first few months I got it. Now I just have to get it on guitar. Biggest difference is how hard the string is to push down, and that there is actually a fret to refer to on the guitar. Reason it took so long with violin is I had to memorize the pinkie note spaces since there aren't any frets.

[cray159]

hmmm.... this got me thinking, i play power chords using my 1st and 4th finger, while i think most use their 1st and 3rd, does it really matter, or should i start trying to use my 3rd finger instead of my 4th for power chords?

[Akira]

hmmm.... this got me thinking, i play power chords using my 1st and 4th finger, while i think most use their 1st and 3rd, does it really matter, or should i start trying to use my 3rd finger instead of my 4th for power chords?

I don't think it really matters; i've played powerchords using my 1st and 4th finger since I first picked up the guitar.

[Andrew Sa]

I play power chords using first and third, I initially played with my fourth, but changed that soon, I incorporate alot of power chords with additional notes into my playing, so I like to use my third finger, so that I can add in a higher note(either a flat 6th or a 6th or a seventh, even an octave) I usually add this not for certain beats and lift it for others...I quite like the effect it creates(obviously which note you add depends on what chord you are playing and in what key you are playing)...

But generally, hand size matters very little...the best bassist I know has tiny hands...and he is playing on a Yamaha John Pattituci 6string bass, which has a neck as thick as a tree

[PonyOne]

it doesn't really matter. i don't have tiny hands; though my fingers are only as long as my girlfriend's (she's 5'4 and i'm 6'0), my palms are fairly big and muscley; "dad hands" as i've heard described.

i was pissed off at first when i started playing and was like "great, i'll never be able to play." it's simply not true. my best advice is to just stop thinking about it and just do it however it works for you; if one of your friends can use his or her pinky to play this note this distance away from the other notes in the run, and you can't, figure out how to move your hand in such a fashion that you can or learn where to hit the same note on a different string that's closer. there's always a way around things.

i did know one kid though who was only 4'11 and he had miniscule hands... he played a custom shop Jackson that had the thinnest freakin neck ever and a slightly smaller body than normal... that was the only way it would work for him, but, he had hands like a 9 year old's.