I have small hands

sheesh

recommendations for a guitar for people with small hands anyone?

Karl Hungus

sheesh wrote: »

recommendations for a guitar for people with small hands anyone?

No.

It's not the size of your hands that count, but what you do with them. For example, Shawn Lane had small hands, and he was an absolutely staggering good player. See here.

I myself have small hands too, and it's never gotten in the way of playing. Any regular guitar will be fine, honestly. If you don't have fingers like Hendrix and Vai, it doesn't really matter at all.

Frankiestylee

How about one of those hilarious pink mini hello kitty guitars that Fender are pimping?

leninbenjamin

Karl's right. dexterity, flexibility and strength are much more important than size.
it shouldn't ever come into your instrument decision, but if it ever bothers you enough in the long term you could always do like Keith Jarett did as a kid and just stretch them while watching the TV to increase the span.

sheesh

I remember being told to do that by a guitar teacher. it works. but their still small!:(

gillyfromlyre

small guitar

gillyfromlyre

Hubbys about 6ft 2inches but has tiny hands, he bought a kids guitar last xmas and he was doing fine until he smashed it over his friends head in a drunken rage one night

murphaph

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

Hubbys about 6ft 2inches but has tiny hands, he bought a kids guitar last xmas and he was doing fine until he smashed it over his friends head in a drunken rage one night

Jeez, with friends like that.......

gillyfromlyre

ahh, hes grand, just a bit petulant at times, his friend was winding him up about the little guitar

-=al=-

id love tos ee someone getin hit on the head with a guitar at a party, id laugh for a while

Karl Hungus

sheesh wrote: »

I remember being told to do that by a guitar teacher. it works. but their still small!:(

The fact that they're small isn't going to change, but as leninbenjamin says, it's all about dexterity, flexability and strenth are what's important. If it works, stick with it. There are no short cuts, no tricks and nothing to make things easier, except practicing the right things to fulfil your goals.

Believe me, I've been where you were, and was quite disheartened. My hands really are quite small, but I'm playing 7 strings these days with ease, and that's wider than normal 6 string guitars, but when I was starting off, even some chords on a 6 would be insanely uncomfortable for me.

I used to have huge problems when I'd play something that had a 2 fret stretch between my middle and index fingers, it freakin' hurt like a bitch! But as I was getting more into learning off my scales, and for any 3 note per string majors, I couldn't avoid that stretch, so I just worked at it. Now I can do it effortlessly, and it feels very natural for my fingers to stretch that way. Not only that, but I can stretch much further without effort.

Another thing that's important is proper posture for your fretting hand. You simply can't accomplish as big a stretch if your thumb is wrapped around the fretboard as you could if your thumb is centered at the back of of the neck. It's simply the way hands work, because when you're gripping the neck your fingers are tighter together. I've read some lessons from Rusty Cooley, he advises putting your thumb right out to the very edge of the fretboard to accomplish a stretch if you have to, and it works, your fingers get a much greater span that way.

Just keep at it, keep practing, work on dexterity and flexability, and remember about posture.

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

Hubbys about 6ft 2inches but has tiny hands, he bought a kids guitar last xmas and he was doing fine until he smashed it over his friends head in a drunken rage one night

Frankly, I think you're trolling. I don't see how your husband's childish idiocy has any relevance in this thread, and advice of getting a small/kids guitar is outright wrong.

Please don't come onto this board trolling again.

lucyburn

My boyfriend also has quite small hands (he's fingers are fairly long though) but he seems to be able to play guitar very easily.I think he's the best guitar player I've ever heard.


ps. Karl have you got a girlfriend?
if not i have a friend that's really interested in you, i showed her your pic and now i think she's in love.

-=al=-

lol, love it

leninbenjamin

lucyburn wrote: »

ps. Karl have you got a girlfriend?
if not i have a friend that's really interested in you, i showed her your pic and now i think she's in love.

that's nice... =_=

Karl Hungus wrote:

Another thing that's important is proper posture for your fretting hand. You simply can't accomplish as big a stretch if your thumb is wrapped around the fretboard as you could if your thumb is centered at the back of of the neck. It's simply the way hands work, because when you're gripping the neck your fingers are tighter together. I've read some lessons from Rusty Cooley, he advises putting your thumb right out to the very edge of the fretboard to accomplish a stretch if you have to, and it works, your fingers get a much greater span that way.

never thought about that before, but just from thinking about it now I've always done that instinctively. On some of the really big stretches i don't even bother with the thumb, the closer to the edge of the fret board it is the less useful it is in terms of aiding the fretting...

Patricide

Well if it bothers you get a short scale guitar, but id recommend trying to get to grips with it first cause youl be better off in the long run. Godin radiator is one savage short scale guitar, i have one and i dont think ill ever look back on my decision for my lighter stuff on guitar. Dead cheap too, especially second hand like mine.

Bob in Belfast

Small hands should not really affect your ability to play guitar.
Years ago when i first started learning i got a few lessons
and the guitar teacher had small fat fingers be he could still play the best jazz guitar i have ever heard.

sheesh

thanks for that everyone. have had a guitar for years but wondered what everybody else does.

Gaspode

I also have small hands and fingers. However, Practise is like most things the answer to overcoming this difficulty. IUnfortunatley I have found the lack of world-shatternig talent more difficult to overcome

fourmations

sheesh wrote: »

recommendations for a guitar for people with small hands anyone?

+1 on whats been said

I have small hands and used to have a complex
about it, but it doesnt matter, just practice away

the only thing i might suggest is to get
a shorter scale guitar, (gibson or copy)

fenders and most shredders have 25.5" scale
gibbos and the like have 24.75" scale
so the frets are slightly closer to each other

a fender jaguar has 24" which is quite short
(nice one on adverts at the mo)
ibanez sz has 25.1"

having said all that, its all personal preference
i have small hands but still like fender scale better

rgds

4

dazberry

Practice is the key, but in line with what fourmations said, the other thing might to be look at the neck width and possibly compound radii.

I'm defintely no expert on this - but my guitars fall into 2 camps, ~45mm and ~42mm widths at the nut. For the sake of 3mm, the 42mm necks feel so much easier/nicer???

D.