finger independence for left hand

[Angelo M]

Hello,

I have commented in the past about my small hands. If I put my left hand on first fret, I can barely reach the forth fret with my pinky. In addition, I do not have good left hand independence. What I mean by that is, if I play a C cord and I want to hammer on the E note, I can barely raise my finger and when I do hammer on, it is muffled. This is ture for almost all chords.
Are there any suggested exercises to help left-hand finger independence?

[sunjamr]

Hey Angelo, here’s my take on your dilemma: Your guitar is too big. Obviously you can’t make your hands bigger, so the alternative is to get a smaller guitar. I have smaller hands than many guitarists, so my favorite acoustic guitar is a Taylor Baby. And my second favorite guitar is a Kala baritone uke, which is actually just a 4-string guitar. Little kids with small hands can play a baritone uke. They are the weapon of choice for practicing triads, CAGED chords, pentatonic scales, slides, and bends. If you haven’t ever tried one, I recommend you should go down to your nearest guitar store and try one. You’ll be amazed at how easy they are to play. And life goes on.

Sunjamr Steve

[Terence H]

I have a similar problem. I don’t have small hands but my fingers are not particularly long and my little finger is quite short. Basically, I just work my way around it. You didn’t say if you were playing an electric or an acoustic. A Gibson scale length is definitely more comfortable for me than a Fender scale length. Youtube is awash with finger exercises and most of them are very good, but ultimately our hands are the hands we have. But if Django Reinhardt could play with two fingers there is always a way.

[Author]

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