Members nuke_diver Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I need that! I have bigish hands but my ability to stretch is poor probably because I didn't start playing guitar when I was young and flexible but when I was old and decrepit What I should have done is learn the Jeff Healey way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted August 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 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. I have the benefit of having really skinny fingers that can easily play all the way up to the 22nd fret and they can do pretty big stretches because they've been trained from an early age. Since I have a lot flexibility, I prefer having small hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I've probably got about 20 people started playing guitar in my life and helped and/or given impromptu 'lessons' to another 20 or more and fat fingers seem to be far more of a challenge than skinny fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Picture a toilet seat then picture someone with hands/fingers able to spread to the edges. That's how big my hands are. I can do super long stretches but need to concentrate on other things to make me a better player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I can play a blues shuffle in F, with 13's, on a telecaster. hooo yah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members genesis3 Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 fret 1 to 6 is doable for me, but I've never seen a lick that needed going from 1 to 6!..I'd just jump to the next string (Holdsworth probably has them though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatspotter Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 1 to 5, no problem. ZZ Top lick in post #2, no problem. That's it for me, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Weiner_Bomb Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 This is why I like to play 24.75" scale fids. 1-6 I can get accustomed to. It's still quite a reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GreatDane Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 You know, this stretch (used for sixths or ninths, usually) here (see, I used a 25.5" scale guitar).It's not completely easy but I find this to be a pretty simple stretch. Now, five frets, that's hard (although doable)... six frets is not possible with my hands. just checked this now. a four-fret stretch is easy. five-frets isn't bad either. six-frets OK. seven-fret stretch is difficult, and completely impractical, but if i ever needed to, i could get there. eight frets is not possible with my hands. true story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I find I'm able to reach across all 22 frets on this guitar but I'm having difficulty with my chord voicing and phrasing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 8 they say Mendelsohn had a 12" wingspan (from pinky to thumb) mine is 8.5" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted August 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can span about 8.5" from pinky to thumb as well. A 180 degree stretch used to be the only way I could reach octaves on a piano Letter paper for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can span about 8.5" from pinky to thumb as well. A 180 degree stretch used to be the only way I could reach octaves on a piano http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/1341/photo2lmp.jpg Letter paper for reference. You're placing way too much emphasis on fret reach. Watch this video of Shawn Lane. He does a stretch at about :56. It isn't even a difficult stretch. What's more important is the combination of all the aspects of his dexterity and execution. Put this in perspective. Your fret reach doesn't make you a virtuoso by any stretch. [video=youtube;uF1rM2dSAZ4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flintc Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I do a number of songs where I have to do similar things, and it's a matter of wrist angle as much as anything. For example getting in and out of this chord quickly: 1069openxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 4 is easy. 5 is easy. 6 is difficult/not doable. This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members warriorpoet Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can get 1-5 prett easy, 1-6 with some stretching, but 1-7 requires a slide to get there. At that point, though, why not just play in another position? I developed more flexibility thanks to the prevalence of the D5 chord in modern worship music. Thanks Hillsong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members benzem Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can span about 8.5" from pinky to thumb as well. A 180 degree stretch used to be the only way I could reach octaves on a piano Letter paper for reference. I got 9.5:) But my pinkie doesn't bend that far. And my hands are definately not that large. So, what's the next step, here:o Hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I just checked on a piece of paper. My finger spread is just slightly passed 8.5". This is the equivalent of a dork measuring contest for guitar nerds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members warriorpoet Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 ~9.5" 10" is a keeper Mangrove Snapper ...and I agree with jrockbridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blazingblake Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 4 isn't hard 5 not to bad, my palms are kind of wide but I have short fingers I span 8.75 if I had long fingers I could really stretch. But what does it really matter the late great Randy Rhoads had little hands from what everyone has said EVH claims not to have big hands. Jimi had big hands as well as SRV, Chris Squire the bassist from Yes says he plays bass because of his big hands. You have to play the hand your delt lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 My pinky to thumb is 10.5 but really, shouldn't your stretch be from index to pinky? My thumb doesn't come into the equation with long stretches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I'm planning on evolving an extra pinky so that I can do it. Update at 11 Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 My pinky to thumb is 10.5 but really, shouldn't your stretch be from index to pinky? My thumb doesn't come into the equation with long stretches. You're correct. While some people do use their thumb to fret or mute strings, a decent stretch will have the thumb positioned behind the neck. Therefore, index to pinky is the measure that would matter for guitar fret-hand spread, not thumb to pinky. The reason this got forked up is that the geek who started this thread is a pianist. The thumb to pinky spread does matter for note reach on a piano. As for guitar, not so much....unless you play like Jeff Healy or Stanley Jordan. The OP is to blame for this thread derail. I'm officially calling the time of death 1:00 am MST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 You're correct. While some people do use their thumb to fret or mute strings, a decent stretch will have the thumb positioned behind the neck. Therefore, index to pinky is the measure that would matter for guitar fret-hand spread, not thumb to pinky.The reason this got forked up is that the geek who started this thread is a pianist. The thumb to pinky spread does matter for note reach on a piano. As for guitar, not so much....unless you play like Jeff Healy or Stanley Jordan.The OP is to blame for this thread derail. I'm officially calling the time of death 1:00 am MST. There was a thread on delcamp's classical guitar forum that asked people to measure their hand and say what scale length they preferred. There was a strong correlation between thumb-little finger span and a much weaker correlation with index-little finger span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I find I'm able to reach across all 22 frets on this guitar but I'm having difficulty with my chord voicing and phrasing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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