Large hands with long fingers are common physical traits found amongst some of the best guitar players. I have small hands, and it sucks. At the end of the day, any physical limitations you may encounter can be overcome if you spend a lot of time practicing. You can begin by massaging your hands and forearms, then proceed to stretch your wrists and each finger. Feel free to check out our previous article on how to use a capo to get an idea of why you may need to use one. A good brand to check out is the Elixir Super Light strings. What about Red Volkaert (sp), small hands and chubby fingers = great tone. Begin all of your practice sessions with a simple stretching routine. Andres Segovia is perhaps the most famous virtuoso with small hands. Check out this video from GuitarLessons365 to get a good idea of how you should perform these stretches. You can post now and register later. Having too much tension is never a good thing because it can lead to long-term injuries. If you’re curious about the different scale lengths of different guitars, most manufacturers provide their specifications online. Currently with Liberty Park Music he is teaching Introduction to Guitar Playing for Complete Beginners, Rhythm Guitar to learn about strumming, chords and more, Guitar Essentials as a fast-track review course, and lots of Song Lessons on pop and rock hits. As you’d imagine, if you have smaller hands, you’ll want a neck profile that isn’t large or chunky. This was something that he’d never fully recovered from, but his determination to work around this limitation led to him mastering the ability to use just his index and middle fingers to fret the guitar. These are just two examples from a long list of great guitarists who have overcome serious injuries to their hands and fingers. They decided that they were not going to give up, and that determination led them to become some of the most influential guitarists of all time. The great thing about these guitars is that they usually come with a shorter neck length which will allow you to stretch across different frets easier. This may sound like a strange tip, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve encountered guitarists that avoid using their pinky finger. A lot of times, this is because they have their thumb over the top of the neck when playing the scale, but even when they put their thumb behind the neck, they still have problems. Again, Elixir makes a great set of. Like Steven Stills, Leslie West, Gary Rossington? Randy Rhoads played several guitars, notably a Gibson Les Paul, which again, isn't a short-scale guitar either. If you’re having problems reaching notes, there are a couple of techniques you can use to make your guitar playing life easier. © 1995-2019 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. All you have to do is keep your head down and continue working on your craft and you too can become a great guitar player. Ze first began his journey playing original music and top 40s pop tunes around the country's popular venues. Do these exercises slowly and gently. It hasn't kept him from becoming a fair. You can begin by massaging your hands and forearms, then proceed to stretch your wrists and each finger.   Your previous content has been restored. It may seem impossible to become a great guitarist when you have certain physical limitations, but it really isn’t. Once I have the Jag accompanied by the Guitar Sheath I know I have done all I can to improve my playing and technical skills. This is something I tell everyone regardless if they have massive bananas-for-fingers or if they have small hands. The other part of my solution is to improve the overall control of my guitar by using a new product called a Guitar Sheath. You can also spend a few minutes on Instagram watching tiny 8-year-olds shred on the guitar as if they’ve been playing for decades. A guitar’s neck profile relates to the shape of the back of the neck. If you have large hands, it’s easy to get away with not using your pinky as you can always stretch your ring finger to fret those notes; but if you have small hands, you’re going to have to get used to using all your fingers. The way to solve this is by placing the pinky finger on the note you’re trying to reach, and then leaving it there while stretching the index finger back to the note it’s supposed to be on. Personally, I prefer medium gauge strings as they’re a nice balance between ease-of-playability and tone. My Ibanez JS1200 is 25.5 but just fits perfect. Angus Young has always been a Gibson SG guy, and that isn't a short-scale guitar. If you don’t have to stretch as far if you use your pinky finger, just go ahead and use that finger then. My suggestion for electric guitars is to go with .009-.042 strings. Do a quick search of Ed Sheeran’s live performances and you will see that he often performs with his Little Martin acoustic guitar. If you listen to some of his recordings, it’s actually pretty crazy how he’s able to play at such speeds while only using two fingers. This forces you to put your thumb and hand in the position they need to be in to make the stretch. I too have small hands but I've been told I'm an 'accomplished' guitarist (although I have been playing for 19 years). Other guitar brands have their own names for the different neck profiles, but they all generally have these three common shapes. A shorter scale length also allows you to perform string bends with ease as there is less tension in the strings. All you have to do is keep your head down and continue working on your craft and you too can become a great guitar player. As much as possible, you want to avoid putting your thumb over the neck, like you’re gripping a baseball bat. This can not be farther from the truth. My suggestion for electric guitars is to go with .009-.042 strings. I have developed a lot of stretch in my fretting hand though and can reach pretty well. Phone: (781) 352-7261 | Email: derrick@beginnerguitarlessons.com. Having smaller hands usually only presents problems in the fretting hand, so the following 10 tips focus mainly on working around that obstacle. A good brand to check out is the, . Martin LX1RE Little Martin is a 6-string acoustic-electric guitar with Sitka Spruce top. I too have smaller hands and have chosen a Fender Jaguar as part of my solution. This can not be farther from the truth. Personally, I find it much easier to play a 24 3/4 scale length (Les Paul) then the 25 1/2 scale length (Strat) - and I have 2 of each of those guitars. A set up will also ensure that your guitar’s intonation is on point which helps to avoid any out-of-tune notes from arising. If you’re curious about what you should practice and how you should practice, feel free to check out any one of the online guitar courses available at, Introduction to Guitar for Complete Beginners, Introduction to Guitar Playing for Complete Beginners, An Introduction to Cha-cha-chá Drumming: Rhythms and Applications, 6 Excellent Practicing Strategies Commonly Missed by Pianists, Strange Fruit: Black Lives in American Music, How to Help Musicians During Times of Quarantine, An Introduction to Latin Music: Cumbia History, Overcoming the Social Distancing Blues: Ways to Boost your Spirit and Relieve Stress while in Quarantine. This will ease the tension throughout your hand and arm and save you from fatigue. At the end of the day, having small hands really isn’t a limitation when it comes to playing guitar. Make me feel better by listing some famous guitar players who also have small hands. × Piano, Guitar, Drums & TheoryVideo Tutorials Available 24/7Anytime, Any Place, Any Device, Begin all of your practice sessions with a simple stretching routine. I presume Satch has small hands as he's a small guy. Guitar Music Practice. Here are two examples of guitarists who have overcome some big hurdles in their musical careers. Name me some famous guitar players with small hands. bloolight, May 19, 2007 in Electric Guitars. For further clarification on using "regular" sized guitars with small hands, think back to the famous guitarists example used in the beginning of this article. Remember to stretch your fingers in different directions. I can play fairly decent i suppose. Put simply, there are countless legitimate reasons for using a capo. He was a pioneer for the gypsy jazz genre and many of his compositions have since become standards. If you’re having problems with barre chords, it might be due to not being able to stretch the second finger away from the first finger. Learn how your comment data is processed. 25.5" scale guitars can sometimes feel a little big and 24.75 sometimes feels too scrunchy to me especially on the upper frets...I usually choose a 25.5 scale guitar. Jerry Garcia was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. The first thing I usually tell them is that one of the most famous rock guitar players ever had pretty small hands – Angus Young of AC/DC. Eventually, through the music of John Mayer, he found a strong attraction to blues music. However, this didn’t stop him from using fingerstyle techniques. If you’re curious about what you should practice and how you should practice, feel free to check out any one of the online guitar courses available at Liberty Park Music! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. 10 Tips for Guitar Players with Small Hands. Do these exercises slowly and gently. Certain chords will also be much easier to play if you use your pinky finger instead of your ring finger. by Ze. Powered by Invision Community. This may be a slightly complex chord voicing, but the same idea applies to any other chord or scale. But what do you do when you have thick sausage fingers that are short too? For example, most Gibson guitars use a scale length of 24.75 inches while most Fenders use 25.5 inches. There are plenty of other examples of great guitarists with small hands if you investigate this topic online, but that doesn’t make it any easier for a beginner who is struggling to do scales or open chords. The Guitar Sheath is a form fit , easy on easy off answer to the problem of unwanted guitar movement while playing or practicing in the seated position. Display as a link instead, × Here we have reviewed a few acoustic, electric, and classical guitar that would be best fit for fat fingers or small hands: Best Acoustic Guitars for Small Hands 1. The reason why we don’t measure straight from the nut to the bridge is because if you look at the string saddles on the bridge, every saddle has a slightly different position. Phil Keaggy has small hands. Having small hands would make mandolin playing easier I would think.