Son with injured finger learning guitar question

Hi there,

I have a right handed 17 year old son who is quite musical and taught himself how to play the bass last year. He wants to learn how to play the guitar, but he badly injured his middle finger years ago on his left hand and is physically unable to bend it at the top knuckle, so he can't play a right handed guitar properly.

We rented him a left-hand guitar to try, but I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether it would be easier to teach himself how to play left-handed on a left handed guitar or would it be easier to use a right handed guitar flipped upside down like Hendrix? I have no clue so I thought I would ask the experts.

So far he's finding the left handed one quite challenging.

Thanks!

Does he play the bass left handed?

He plays the bass right handed and does everything right handed. I guess he has to use his fingers slightly different for the guitar and says he has a hard time because he can't bend his middle finger independently due to the injury ?

Originally Posted by: wongywongytoo

I have a right handed 17 year old son who is quite musical and taught himself how to play the bass last year. He wants to learn how to play the guitar, but he badly injured his middle finger years ago on his left hand and is physically unable to bend it at the top knuckle, so he can't play a right handed guitar properly.[/quote][p]It depends on how much dexterity he has left in the rest of his middle finger & exactly what his musical goals are. Some styles of music are less demanding than others.

Originally Posted by: wongywongytoo

We rented him a left-hand guitar to try, but I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether it would be easier to teach himself how to play left-handed on a left handed guitar

...

So far he's finding the left handed one quite challenging.

A person's dominant hand or side is what it is. Fighting against that is often difficult. I'm assuming he learned to play bass right handed. If that's the case, then I'm guessing that using any skill already acquired playing bass can be used to leverage into playing guitar right handed.

[quote=wongywongytoo]...or would it be easier to use a right handed guitar flipped upside down like Hendrix?

Hendrix played guitar left-handed. He often used right-handed guitars flipped over, but he changed the strings to a left-handed configuration (bass strings on top).

There are a few players (Albert King & Eric Gales come to mind) that play with a right -handed guitar flipped so the bass strings are on the bottom. But I'm not sure that really makes a difference in this situation. Your son's already having a hard time with left-handed playing & I don't think it will make any difference which way the strings are configured. I guess you could try it to see.

Bottom line, take him to a music store & let him try some guitars. Some are easier to play than other for different fingers & individuals. He might find a wider or more narrow neck easier to play.

Where there is a will, there's a way. People, especially kids, with enough motivation are often unstoppable. :) Best of success with it!

Thank you so much, everyone. I just spoke with him today and we are going to return the left-handed guitar that we rented and he's going to try again with the right handed guitar we have to see if he can figure out 'his jenky finger', ha ha.

That's great advice about the width of the neck, etc too. Thanks guys!

where does that middle finger go if he tries an alternate fingering.

Must be frustrating if he's trying to follow the usual recommended fingering.

Some people only use 3 fingers anyway as they have a weak pinkie.

I f he develops the pinkie in to use he still has 3 fingers in play.

Maybe has to take a great leap forward and learn to play with triads

or even barre chords using the 5th string and his index or pinkie barreing the A shape

or slide guitar.

Sure Christopher could develop these ideas in to a more practical format and advise.

Awkward but he seems to be open to trying any of the alternatives if it gets him playing.

Sure he'll get there with that great attitude.

Dave

Originally Posted by: wongywongytoo

Thank you so much, everyone.

You're welcome! ddidler mentioned exercises that can help. This series of exercises is not aimed at your son's problem. But it does show how to use alternate fingerings in order to build strength & work around problems in a way that might be beneficial your son's situation.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1292

If he has problems with using his middle finger in some situations, then he might be able to develop workarounds with his other 3 fingers. Best of success!