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So how hard is a four fret stretch for you at the 1st fret?


honeyiscool

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ZZ top Tush has a 5 fret section I cant get, as tab it goes


----------------

----------------

----------------

5 5 7 7 8 8 7 7

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

-----------------

 

 

I've seen people do it that way, and it is possible, but I much prefer it this way for stuff like that:

 

- - 2 2 3 3 2 2

5 5 x x x x x x

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

 

And get the bass string with my middle finger, you know.

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How far I can stretch will depend on where my other three fingers reside on the fretboard. If my first finger is fretting the b string then I can go pretty far on the e string with my fourth finger. If my first finger is barring all 6 strings, it can't go as far. The position of the middle two fingers have an impact too. I'd imagine it's this way for most people.

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I've seen people do it that way, and it is possible, but I much prefer it this way for stuff like that:


- - 2 2 3 3 2 2

5 5 x x x x x x

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3


And get the bass string with my middle finger, you know.

 

 

Cheers, I will give it a try.

(Hope the recovery/ move is going well:thu:)

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I've seen people do it that way, and it is possible, but I much prefer it this way for stuff like that:


- - 2 2 3 3 2 2

5 5 x x x x x x

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3


And get the bass string with my middle finger, you know.

 

 

this is howI do that.

 

6 I can do but its hard

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5 easy? really? where are you talking about?

 

 

1 to 5.

 

I tried the lick you posted and found it to be quite easy.

 

Then again, I'm also 6'3" and have big hands. So there is that. Also worth noting is that I'm using a 25.5 scale guitar.

 

Downside is that I have trouble using my pinky past the 15th fret.

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1 to 5.


I tried the lick you posted and found it to be quite easy.


Then again, I'm also 6'3" and have big hands. So there is that. Also worth noting is that I'm using a 25.5 scale guitar.

 

My span is tiny in comparison. I really struggle to get the 5 between 3 & 8. Further up the neck, no chance. :cry:

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Do you mean just the 4th to 6th string (135xxx)? or the full bar F min9 (135111) or the nice sounding F add9 (135211)? Just the three low strings is hardly a stretch at all. The full chords need a little practice. Now five frets (1 to 6) is a helluva stretch in the first position but I wonder when you'd need to do that in the real world (since it brings you to the very same fret you started with if you just go to the next string). Do you have a musical example where it's necessary? Normally if you need to get that far, you'd leave the starting fret to reach the other one. Musician who are known to play with a nice flow don't do acrobatics just for the sake of it.

 

PS: ha ha, I just answered my own question. I'm learning Stefan shackinger's city light and there is a chord with a five frets stretch where the notes must be held (57x6x3x). It doesn't feel too hard in this case.

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I'm not a fan of thin necks these days but they do make it easier to stretch across the frets. If you don't own a thin neck, try it the next time you're in a guitar store and I think you'll see what I mean.

 

Also, it's easier to stretch across the frets of an LP vs a Strat. A Jaguar or Mustang are even easier.

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Tried on my classical with a thick neck:

 

Index finger -> Pinky on these frets:

1->5 easy

1->6 uncomfortable but usable

1->7 my pinky reaches but I'm not sure I could do anything musical with it

 

I don't have big hands AT ALL, but I have been playing a while and the last couple years I've been practicing a lot of stuff that requires longer stretches.

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Well, doing that blues pattern, I can reach from my first finger on the first fret on the low E and use my third finger to fret at the 3rd fret on the A string, then use my pinky up to the 5th and 6th frets on the A, but I have to cock my wrist into a more classical angle to reach the 6th fret. With my first finger on the 3rd fret of the low E and walking up the A string from fret 5 to 7 to 8 (as in Tush but on the E and A strings), that's a lot more comfortable for me to do.

 

I don't have very large hands. Not to be quasi racist or anything, but Americans have larger hands than Asians but my hands are among the smallest that I've seen on American men. Most of my girlfriends/wife (at separate times of course :) ) have had just slightly smaller hands than I do though my fingers are... meatier.

 

:lol:

 

Some guitarists have freakishly long fingers and/or extra large hands... Steve Vai, Robert Johnson... I think I remember reading that Holdsworth could reach from the first fret to the 8th fret and from the 8th fret, he could reach to the 22nd. I might be slightly disremembering, but whatever the actual reach was, it seemed pretty inhuman compared to my hands.

 

:eek:

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