Can reach improve with time (for older players)?

I'm a new member, in my 40s, and have been playing for about a year. While I am comfortable making most common chords and transitioning, I still feel that some shapes are almost impossible to make without increased flexibility in my fretting hand.

I have recently started using the spider exercise from the beginner course, but my tutor mentioned that I had left it too late for any significant physical changes to my fretting hand. Is this true? Will some chords/shapes always be out of reach (no pun intended) for the older player?

I've not managed to find an answer to this question in the forum, so apologies if you come across this question elsewhere.

Your tutor got that wrong, Providing you have no physical disability, you will continue to improve your flexibility.There are exercises on this site that address this issue but, right now, I can't point you to them.

I'm sure someone will come on and guide you in the right direction.

If your tutor got this wrong, where else has he mislead you?

Guitar Tricks will always give you acurate information and their tutors are second to none in my opinion.

Joe

Hi guitar1916,

Joe is correct. With practice, you will improve your flexibility. It takes a lot of time but it will happen!

Here is another lesson to helps with finger dexterity, check it out: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=12648&s_id=659

And for more info on how to toughen your fingers in general, check out this lesson: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=28617

I hope that helps!

Originally Posted by: Joe105

Your tutor got that wrong, Providing you have no physical disability, you will continue to improve your flexibility.There are exercises on this site that address this issue but, right now, I can't point you to them.

I'm sure someone will come on and guide you in the right direction.

If your tutor got this wrong, where else has he mislead you?

Guitar Tricks will always give you acurate inforation and their tutors are second to none in my opinion.

Joe

I don't have any issue with my hands so feel quite comforted by the idea that I can improve my reach with time.

Thank you for your reply. This is a new area for me, so it's been hard to separate good from bad advice.

Originally Posted by: Guitar Tricks Admin

Hi guitar1916,

Joe is correct. With practice, you will improve your flexibility. It takes a lot of time but it will happen!

Here is another lesson to helps with finger dexterity, check it out: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=12648&s_id=659

And for more info on how to toughen your fingers in general, check out this lesson: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=28617

I hope that helps!

Thank you very much for these! It's exactly the type of thing I was looking for.

I returned to guitar when I was in my early 60's after a nearly 35-year break from playing. Needless to say, any skills I had were long gone and any physical capabilities, e.g., stretch/reach, left with the playing skills. About the best I had was memory, as in, 'I remember when I could do that...' See it here, https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/finger-stretching-exercise-te-101 Over time, my strecth improved about one and a half frets. To measure it another way, I initially couldn't do the exercise below a fifth fret start but ultimately could do it all from the first position/fret.

It's a great exercise that not only works on stretch but also helps dexterity a little and serves as a great warmup for practice sessions.

Speaking of warmups... those too are important in helping with reach, strength, endurance, 'chord shapes', etc..

Improvement might be slower for older players but it is not stopped simply because the calendar pages turn.

Good luck, have fun.

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Hey & welcome to GT!

Originally Posted by: guitar1916I have recently started using the spider exercise from the beginner course, but my tutor mentioned that I had left it too late for any significant physical changes to my fretting hand. Is this true? Will some chords/shapes always be out of reach (no pun intended) for the older player?

As Joe correctly mentioned, as long as you don't have some physical disability, then you should be able to gradually increase your hand & finger strength & dexterity. Progress will be slower than a younger person! But with enough patience & effort it's completely normal to see progress.

Eventually it's possible that arthritis can slow you down. And that can present as early as your 40s! So you need to be careful with your hands. Work toward using the least amount of pressure & tension as possible to fret notes.

I have a few exercises aimed at improving strength & dexterity. But first always make sure you warm up with stretches!

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=19585

Then you'll be ready for these trill drills.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=22705

And this exercise is a great way to focus on building pinky strength & dexterity.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=17205

Hope that helps!

Just one other thing; hand and finger size will determine how much you casn stretch. Much like being 4'11' and hoping to dunk a basketball, the size of your hand will also determine the stretches you can do.

I have fairly average sized hands but some stretches I see other guitarist doare just not possible for me.Even then, you find ways to adapt. Much of guitar playing is your ability to adapt what you can do physically to what you want to play.

The main riff for Foreigner's 'Dirty White Boy' is near impossible for me to do cleanly (until I learned the Mick Jones does it now with an alternate tuning!!! He looks to tune up a whole step). But to play it in standard tuning, I can't do it as well as I like and I've been playing it off and on since 1986...

Originally Posted by: guitar1916

I'm a new member, in my 40s, and have been playing for about a year. While I am comfortable making most common chords and transitioning, ....SNIP... I still feel that some shapes are almost impossible to make without increased flexibility in my fretting hand. ....SNIP...

Will some chords/shapes always be out of reach (no pun intended) for the older player?

Apply weakest/limiting link triage.

IME&O limitation of individual reach is primarily a function of hand size and finger length/shape (total span). Fact. Age per se is irrelevant to this.

Secondary consideration is flexibility. Anything affecting this will reduce potential "reach". e.g. Body type. Luck of the draw genetics. Obviously, one can't do anything about this other than maximise what you were born with and buy guitars which are a optimum physical fit for you rather than by the brand on the headstock or endorsement tacit product placement or otherwise by someone with hands like Steve Vai if yours aren't. In the particular neck characteristics. Of note, we've never had it better in that regard.

What one can do with our 'born with bits' is make the most of what we have with flexibility & strengthening exercises, but most importantly IMV&PE, put in the time and slog on the strings. With persistence, repetition and time, flexibility and reach both will improve to their max potential, the third consideration of infirmity notwithstanding.

The most obvious two conditions are arthritis and, or, other injury or deficit e.g. neck surgical nerve injury surgical affecting digit strength or functionality. Although as Christopher touched upon, arthritis can occur earlier, as a general rule, it doesn't kick in in one's forties IMEoL. OTOH being older has significant advantages to learning guitar IMV, the notable exception/negative is reduced maximum potential motor-skill speed. Although the fingers get faster with practice the more one one puts in, peak potential to be a gun shredder has passed IMV. That's a young man's, or woman's, game. How is it that song made famous by The Byrds goes...

To everything (turn, turn, turn)[br]There is a season (turn, turn, turn)[br]And a time to every purpose, under heaven

etc....

Cheers,

manXcat