Members DaveAronow Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Frederic Chopin had tiny little troll hands and he played the crap out of a piano, an even tougher accomplishment then playing giutar with small hands, in my opinion at least to play the way he did... so yes it can be done. How bad do you want it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sitamoia50 Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 I also have small hands. Every now and again I wonder how different my playing would be or if i would greatly improve my playing with bigger hands/fingers..............but I then just think of Django Rheinhardt and the incredible lightning fast runs and just incredible technique he had with all of of what , two fingers. After that, size just doesn't seem quite as important and I just go back to practicing and just the all around love of playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chiro972 Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Jimi did NOT have small hands. Very long fingers. I hate having small hands, but it's what I got, so I try to live with it. I also broke my left thumb many years ago and it doesn't bend at the last joint, so fretting with my thumb is all but impossible. It definitely makes it hard to play SRV stuff because he used his thumb on the left hand quite a bit. However, one of the best guitarists that I know personally has extremely short, stubby little sausage fingers, so like all the others have said, you can go as far as anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TravvyBear Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Kurt Cobain had small hands. I dunno what some people are talking about, Jimi had huge hands, and long ass fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RIC N BACKER Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 I wouldnt think small hands would be problem with playing guitar. now if you were playing bass maybe.I have long fingers and they work well on bass. I find it more difficult cramping them together to try and play chords on a guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kingofthestring Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 they will probably make finger extensions in the future for guitarists i can see it now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yngtchie Blacksteen Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Michael Romeo has small hands, and plays some of the most insane guitar I've ever heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Another Brick Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Damn, I gotta get back to the Hollywood GC sidewalk and make some comparisons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloolight Posted May 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I wouldnt think small hands would be problem with playing guitar. now if you were playing bass maybe. I have long fingers and they work well on bass. I find it more difficult cramping them together to try and play chords on a guitar Short fingers mean your reach suffers. Skinny fingers can mean a lack of strength, as well as difficulty keeping adequate pressure on the strings when forming barre chords. Short, skinny fingers mean all of the above. Therefore, I stick to playing blues leads where chording is not the #1 job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beckman Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I think Prince has about as small hands as they come. He is what, 5'4". Did you see him at the Superbowl halftime show, or on SNL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloolight Posted May 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I think Prince has about as small hands as they come. He is what, 5'4". Did you see him at the Superbowl halftime show, or on SNL? Oh yeah, I forgot about him. You know, he's so good at everything musical that he tries that its easy to forget that he's also a sickeningly good guitar player. He doesn't need hands to play the guitar, though...he just uses his cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CrackerD Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Eddie Van Halen. Met him and his hands were small. Alan Holdsworth has giant hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I have it on pretty good authority (a bass player who played with Hendrix for a short time) that Jimi's hands were huge. That said, I suffer from the same problem as many others here -- I have the smallest hands and shortest fingers of any man I know. My wife's hands are considerably larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bunghole Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 My wife's hands are considerably larger. :eek: j/k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members duodecim Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Me too. I'm not famous either. A pattern emerges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nodachi Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 ME! jk, but seriously, i have TINY hands, and i don't think it slows me down or makes me sloppy AT ALL. course, i practiced about 6 or 7 hours a day everyday last semester... maybe that's why my grades suck... oh, and whoever said that the hendrix had small hands doesn't know what their talking about. the last section of his thumb could cover the entire width of the fret board at the 12th fret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members duodecim Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Andres Segovia is perhaps the most famous virtuoso with small hands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA I studied this piece for my final examination when studying classical guitar. How old's that guy? Pretty cool if your hands are still flexible enough to do these acrobatics at that age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zambasing Posted January 30, 2009 Members Share Posted January 30, 2009 I have small hands, and it sucks. Make me feel better by listing some famous guitar players who also have small hands. . Peter Framton, Brian Setzer , Keith Richards , Roy Rogers , Bonnie Rait , Paul McCartney, Laurence Juber , Mike Dowling , Nils Lofgren , Arlen Roth , Greg Martin , Geroge Benson , Great Musicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zambasing Posted January 30, 2009 Members Share Posted January 30, 2009 [Peter Frampton , Keith Richards , Brian Setzer , Nils Logren, Bonnie Rait , Jymmy Vaughan , Greg Martin , Arlen Roth , Rory Gallagher , George Benson , Marty Friedman, They All are Great Musicians and Guitarists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanoo Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 Tiny Tim! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoredGuitarist7 Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 ... Jerry Garcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ak47dragunov Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 yngwie's got sausages and he can shred faster than anyone out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seeds Posted January 31, 2009 Members Share Posted January 31, 2009 Shoulden't make that big of a deal for guitar. I can play either scale with no problem and have small hands but very good reach (I ues my pinky all the time). I would think it would be harder to play with really large hands. Anyways all this talk about sausage has made me hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lofton1 Posted October 26, 2009 Members Share Posted October 26, 2009 i have kinda small hands i guess. i thought it was better to have larger hands, then i felt really stupid when i saw a guy lay his guitar on the ground and play with his toes! its all about practice. don't worry about copying the greats in every single way, just do what works for you and make music your own. its more fun that way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Felix959 Posted October 26, 2009 Members Share Posted October 26, 2009 Frederic Chopin had tiny little troll hands and he played the crap out of a piano... That's gotta be the funniest thing I read all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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