Home › Forums › Beginner Guitar Discussions › Practicing techniques for short fingers
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July 22, 2021 at 6:26 pm #262527
Hello everybody. I just joined this community but have been playing for some time. I’ve learned to play this or that but i am understanding even if you could do something, doesn’t mean you should do it, because i lack consistency, and my foundation has more holes in it then swiss cheese. What i am asking is, is there any episodes here that focuses on short, stubby fingers, that have been broken multiple times, to retrain them for some dexterity, and fluidity? I have practiced the G,A and E pentatonic scales till i’m blue in the faces but don’t seem to be progressing much. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanx.
Success doesn't happen through spontaneous combustion...You must set yourself on fire.
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July 23, 2021 at 12:09 am #262542
Hi Tony,
Welcome to Active Melody!
Brian has created a huge library of great sounding lessons here so there’s something for everyone and I’m sure you will find something to your liking and abilities.
I think there’s a big misconception among people learning to play guitar who think their fingers should have certain length or width, their hands should be big enough or small enough etc etc. What your body parts look like has very little to do with what you can play.
Brian often mentions that he can’t do certain stretches or his thumb is not long enough to wrap around the neck and so he comes up with his own way of playing. In fact, almost everything Brian plays does not require any special finger or hand dexterity. After you go through a number of lessons you will learn to adapt the songs to your own way of playing.
If you think your short fingers prevent you from playing better, check this guy out:
or how about no fingers at all?
So I think if there’s a will there’s a way, Tony. Play your own way 🙂
🎸JoLa
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July 23, 2021 at 9:39 am #262579
Thank you for replying. I agree, there is no limit but what you place on yourself. However short fingers aren’t the problem. Yes, you have to work little harder, but my problem is consistency. In a nutshell, I am asking if there are drills to train broken fingers to move fluent. If I’m making sense. Thanx.
Success doesn't happen through spontaneous combustion...You must set yourself on fire.
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July 23, 2021 at 11:35 am #262589
Hey Tony, welcome to AM.
I don’t think there are any lessons here specifically aimed at rehabilitating fingers but there are a number of lessons that feature licks or runs that require alternate picking and some fluid finger movement. I find the best approach for me is to take it very slowly, one note at a time not even worrying about correct rhythm… just get one note after the next under your fingers VERY slowly. Once comfortable with that, set a metronome or drum track on a very slow tempo and work on getting the correct rhythm… again, VERY slowly… like, REDICULOUSLY slowly. The next step would be to increment the tempo up slightly and get that working, then up it again a bit, work it until smooth, etc., again and again until you come up to the target tempo. You are training your fingers, but also your brain. It takes patience and determination, but I don’t know of any other way. Whenever I shortcut this on a tough passage my playing always suffers.I know that fluidity is one theme on lesson EP401, and EP369 has some nice finger work to be done. I’m sure you’ll find many “lead guitar” lessons that can offer material. Best of luck. And fear not, you are NOT alone on this journey. We’re all working on it together!
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July 23, 2021 at 3:22 pm #262601
I am only an advancing beginer, but I think I am progressing rapidly here.
May I suggest a few things…
1. Play everyday, for at least 15 minutes, as per a plan… not noodling. Keep 15 minutes for songs that you love and whatever you wish to play. Anything extra is bonus.
2. Do some spider variations for 2-3 minutes per day.
3. Learn the CAGED system of chords, how chords are spelled, and the CAGED major scale shapes. Sing as you play the notes, firstly da-da-da-da, and eventually the name of the note you are playing (this is mind gym, it is difficult, but in 7 days your finger will start following your voice).
4. There is Nothing called weakness, your speciality is your strength. Try out pieces that express your thought with lesser notes and more emotion.
(Easier said than done though …. 😆🙏🍻)
Storming Heaven's Gate
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July 23, 2021 at 3:50 pm #262604
Welcome, Tony. I’m not sure what you mean by “lack consistency”. To me, a person who doesn’t play consistently is a person who is not skilled in timing. So your playing would not be able to follow a steady beat. Is that way you mean? If so, go out and buy a short scale electric bass (good for short fingers), put on a 12 bar blues jam track, and play along with it until the beat is burned into your brain. Dum-ta-dum-ta-dum-ta-dum is about as consistent as you can get.
As for short stubby fingers, my fingers are short and stubby, and will never be as fast as a pro guitar player. I accept that and deal with it by avoiding licks that are too fast for me. You can actually play some perfectly good licks just with one or two fingers.
Sunjamr Steve
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July 23, 2021 at 6:10 pm #262630
Thank you all for replying. Steve, what I mean by consistency is the way my fingers lay. For instance, I will be playing along for half an hour just fine, then they start coming down different, wanting to lay different so to speak. I dedicated 3 months to pentatonic scales, hour to an hour and a half a day and that didn’t do it. They have been broke around 13 times all added up and maybe it is something I’ll just have to live with. Michael, you maybe right and I need to just go to playing even slower, longer. I don’t know. Samanta, the caged system is awesome. Thanks again guys.
Success doesn't happen through spontaneous combustion...You must set yourself on fire.
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July 23, 2021 at 8:44 pm #262642
Hi Tony,
here’s my 2 cents:
Everyone has to find their own style, their own way of playing, in spite of physical problems.
– Django Rheinhart lost half his fingers in a fire and then practically invented jazz guitar.
– Bruce Langhorne blew 2 fingers off his right hand in a fireworks accident but used the remaining 2 fingers as Bob Dylan’s finger picking accompanist on 2 albums.
– Tony Iommi cut the tips of his fingers off in a sheet metal cutter (on his last day of work!) and went on to form Black Sabbath
– Brock Davisson has half-fingers and outplays all of us
The list goes on and on.
I’ve got an arthritis-twisted left index finger so I can’t lay a barre across the neck, so I avoid playint barre chords and just fret the few strings I need.You’ve got to work with what you’ve got. Find something that works for you and that you enjoy, instead of hitting up against frustration. Guitar playing should be about releasing the joy and love of music inside you – you don’t have to do it this way or that way, just whatever works for you that you can enjoy and play some of the soul inside you out through your instrument.
Good luck Tony, hope you find more pleasure in your playing. -
November 11, 2021 at 3:19 pm #280936
To gain dexterity: When you find a move that requires a span that you are unable to do, put a capo at a place that you can make the stretch comfortably. You will be in a different key; that’s just the way it is. Practice the difficult section until it is very easy for you. Next move the capo one fret closer to the nut and practice again until the section is easy for you. Repeat until you get back to the key that you wish to play in. It is possible that you may never achieve the dexterity that is required. In that case, there are three options: 1) be satisfied to play the piece in a key that is possible for you; 2) Alter the tune a little bit to avoid the impossible stretch; 3) transpose to a different key that has shapes that you can manage, then place the capo so that the new shapes ring out in the original key.
To gain consistency: I had the same problem of inconsistent fingering in my early days of playing. This is mostly a matter of maintaining your awareness and concentration. Everybody is different, so you’ll have to figure this out for yourself. Obviously, you need to eliminate external distractions. The internal distractions are tough demons to vanquish. One way to keep your attention focused is to use a progressive metronome. Start with an easy tempo, have the metronome repeat the beats a few times and then increase the tempo by an almost imperceptible amount, do repeats at that tempo, then increase again, etc. Make a game of how fast you can push up to without making a mistake. I use an app on my phone called “Tempo Advance”. After you force yourself to maintain consistent fingering through a few tunes, your brain will have figured out how to do it subconsciously.
BTW – Why are you devoting so much time to pentatonic scales? I’d guess that very few humans could play pentatonic scales for 60-90 minutes per day X 30 days without having major attention wander. I know a guy who did something like that on piano. He was OK (not great) at playing scales, but he couldn’t play a single phrase of music. He finally gave up all together. Find tunes to play.
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