Hi Nynvolt,

Wow, what a story! I am glad to know you are back on the guitar after all you have been through!

I have taught many students in the "real world" who have injuries or disabilities. Of course, every single case is it's own unique situation, as is yours, but I have yet to find that the injury or disability prevented the student from making music on the guitar and really enjoying it. It may require some work-arounds, but that's the nature of the beast I guess.

I imagine it is possible that your injured finger will continue to slowly improve - nerve damage can continue to get better for years. And I also imagine there will be some limitations you'll just have to live with due to your injury. It's also possible that playing guitar is good physical therapy for you and will contribute to the healing process!

In the meantime, it sounds like you are on the right track with careful practicing, trying to nail down the best angle that you can to get the best tone. Gently retrain that finger to do the best it can.

A couple of other thoughts come to mind for you: maybe you might experiment with some other techniques that do not necessarily ask as much from that finger. Bottleneck/slide guitar comes to mind. Also, experimenting with some open tunings which can make chord voicings a whole lot less of an athletic pursuit than standard tuning.

Keep us posted - and have fun!
-Lisa McCormick