Guitar Fingers

My issue is this, I have somewhat large hands and the tips of my fingers seem to restrict me on playing guitar. I get frustrated so I put the guitar down and not returning to it for quite some time. Any one have any encouraging words or similar issues?

Hi

you dont say what type of guitar you are trying to play?

try a guitar wiith a wider neck an accoustic or classical.

you can get different widths in guitar necks go to your local guitar shop and try some.

I'm 6'6" 252 lbs. and use the same excuse. I simply can't play an open A or a B chord with 3 fingers fitting into that tight space. But it's just an excuse, as people with way more physical issues learned to play guitar. Google Django Reihard who had only 2 fingers and could play like the devil himelf.

But if you are indeed twice the size of Meatloaf, here's your solution:[br][br]https://www.biglouguitar.com/

I don't believe that it's always "just an excuse". A physical limitation is a physical limitation.

i.e. I'd never run well in poorly fitting shoes. Same with guitar. So I agree with you that looking at a guitar that's a better fit is a potential solution for the problem the OP describes.

Case in point example. The very contemporary Yamaha APX600 fretboard with its scale length, radius, profile, action, tension and string spacing is IMV perfectly suited to smaller hands and builds. And I love it. Now to put perspective on that, I'm not small definitively at 5' 9" - statistically average western male height outside the US where it's an inch taller at 5'10", albeit of non-ectomorphic build with fingers and hands proportionate just on the smaller side of (glove) medium. So neither large, nor long slender, fingers.

Fingering open A on the APX's lower fretboard, generally I use the 'Justin preferred' fingering of the conventional voicing or single finger rock A regardless, as apart from facilitation of chord changes in some progressions, it is coincidentially a tidier fit. Equally I can also swap about to use the conventional fingering instinctively, which I was taught originally many moons ago, but, ...on the APX to say of the latter fingering 'it's crowded' would be understatement. I find it requires unnecessary on the fly cognizance to consistently obtain a clean A with it. Now that's with relatively smallish proportionate fingers. With large endomorphic or stocky mesomorphic hands especially carrying a bit of excess weight, IMO it'd be a very tall order - again understatement. Even on my other two acoustics with more generous conventional string spacing where conventional fingering of open A is more accommodating, it is still a case of an 'I'm glad my fingers aren't any larger' fit.[br][br]

Were it me with fat fingered large hands which couldn't effect a clean fingering of conventional open A with tenacious practise due the fingertip width being too large to fit all three, a new guitar which was a better personal fit, or alternatively, pefecting the single fingered rock A would probably be my go to preferred solutions.

Originally Posted by: mruth551

My issue is this, I have somewhat large hands and the tips of my fingers seem to restrict me on playing guitar. I get frustrated so I put the guitar down and not returning to it for quite some time. Any one have any encouraging words or similar issues?

Hi there. I think I can offer some encouragement. I don't have particularly large fingers but they sure are clumsy. I found that by going to a wider neck helped a lot. It gave me more room. So maybe when looking at guitars check the nut width. There can be substantial differences here.

But here is the funny bit. Once my fingers got more accustomed to the fret board they seem to have ''learned" how to be more accurate on the guitars I have with narrow necks.

I still make mistakes but it does seem to improve with time in. The guitar I play most now is a Seagull S6. This has a fairly wide nut.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by: William MG

Originally Posted by: mruth551

My issue is this, I have somewhat large hands and the tips of my fingers seem to restrict me on playing guitar. I get frustrated so I put the guitar down and not returning to it for quite some time. Any one have any encouraging words or similar issues?

Hi there. I think I can offer some encouragement. I don't have particularly large fingers but they sure are clumsy. I found that by going to a wider neck helped a lot. It gave me more room. So maybe when looking at guitars check the nut width. There can be substantial differences here.

But here is the funny bit. Once my fingers got more accustomed to the fret board they seem to have ''learned" how to be more accurate on the guitars I have with narrow necks.

I still make mistakes but it does seem to improve with time in. The guitar I play most now is a Seagull S6. This has a fairly wide nut.

Good luck!

Did going to the wider neck make it more difficult to play a chord like G where you’re stretching your hand across the neck?

Originally Posted by: mntano01

Did going to the wider neck make it more difficult to play a chord like G where you’re stretching your hand across the neck?

Ease of fingering a chord voicing is not just the nut/fingerboard width, but a combination of several interdependent factors. Nut width, neck profile, fingerboard radius, scale length, string spacing, action, string tension, fret size.

What is constraining or facilitating, comfortable or uncomfortable is relative to each individual's hand size & finger shape IME.

Large hands, long slender ectomorphic spider fingers....well you can figure it out. Made to play guitar.

Big hands with big thick or stubby fingers really need to try many necks until finding a good fit IMV. You'll know when you've hit paydirt.

Small hands with proportionate fingers, as a general rule avoid wide or chunky vintage necks like the plague FMM.

For anyone not having either large hands or an ecto build with spider fingers, I wouldn't venture over a 43mm nut. Tried many. Own ten for basis of objective comparison currently. Just my perspectve based upon my experience appreciating IMMV.

Originally Posted by: mntano01

Originally Posted by: William MG

Originally Posted by: mruth551

My issue is this, I have somewhat large hands and the tips of my fingers seem to restrict me on playing guitar. I get frustrated so I put the guitar down and not returning to it for quite some time. Any one have any encouraging words or similar issues?

Hi there. I think I can offer some encouragement. I don't have particularly large fingers but they sure are clumsy. I found that by going to a wider neck helped a lot. It gave me more room. So maybe when looking at guitars check the nut width. There can be substantial differences here.

But here is the funny bit. Once my fingers got more accustomed to the fret board they seem to have ''learned" how to be more accurate on the guitars I have with narrow necks.

I still make mistakes but it does seem to improve with time in. The guitar I play most now is a Seagull S6. This has a fairly wide nut.

Good luck!

Did going to the wider neck make it more difficult to play a chord like G where you’re stretching your hand across the neck?

Not really. The actual difference in width is just a fraction of an inch (aprx 2 - 3 mm) but it really makes a difference in how comfortable I am on the fret board.

I will echo what manXcat says about trying different guitars. Took me a long time of looking and trying out different guitars to find what felt comfortable. For a beginner that can be very uncomfortable in a music store filled with musicians but I struck up conversations and found people understanding which removed my embarrassment.