Hand span, spurred by short fingers

[dnic]

We have been discussing hand spans and pinkie lengths in another thread. Thought it might be kind of an interesting topic on it's own.

I've also heard of very good players missing a finger or two. Phil Keagy for one.

so lets list our numbers and if we personally are missing any digits.
And what type of music we like to or would like to play. Is this "to" weird?

So for me the pinkie length (from knuckle to tip is 3 7/16" and the pinkie to thumb stretch is 9" even. The type of music I play is rock to modern/ pop Christian. And also a kind of rockabilly surf music. A genre all it's own. Also Clapton type blues like Crossroads. Just starting to work on that stuff so it's still a little ragged but I'll get it.

Dane

Edit; I still have all my phalanges.

[hoz]

This thread seems border-line too weird, but interesting, haha.

Who's Phil Keagy ?

How about Toni Iommi?

Somebody should standardize guitar player cards:

Stats: pinkie length: 3"
Pinkie to Thumb stretch: 9"

Prefers 24 3/4" scale length.

Early influences was Hendrix, Clapton. As you could imagine, got the thumb over the E-string trick down! I'm working on everything. I just started getting back into the Ventures, Link Wray etc. You know, Dane, we're like opposite!

[cknowles]

Yup definitely a bit weird!
Pinky length 2 1/4 hand span 7 1/2"
Play rock to modern/ pop Christian, Folk (Bob Dylan, Paul Simon), Blues (Knopfler, Clapton, B.B. King, Leadbelly), country (Valdy, Stan Rogers, Garth Brooks) Pretty much any style where there is articulate guitar work.

[dnic]

Hey guys I'm trying to make a point here so fess up. It's not that weird. I didn't ask for anything personal. I will beg and it won't be pretty.

Thanks to those of you who have already complied. Your checks are in the mail.

dane

[dnic]

And oh yes. Phil Keaggy is....
There's a couple for you to ck out.

Looks the the finger in question is on his picking hand.

dane

[notdaniel]

Pinkie length 2 1/2"

Thumb to pinkie stretch 8 1/2"

Preferred playing style is a kind of southern progresivish metal.
I excitedly await the arrival of my check ;D

[cknowles]

Jerry Garcia was also missing a finger on his picking hand.

[quarry]

Just noticed this thread, so I'm a little late...

Pinkie: 3 1/8"

Span: 9 1/4"

I play "classic" rock and blues music; Allman Bros, Humble Pie, Wishbone Ash, Hendrix, Stones, etc...

Even with my fairly decent span, I suck. But I'm not going to stop playing!

[dzguitar]

How about Django Reinhardt? He was most notable for playing some very impressive jazz runs with only his index and middle fingers. His third and fourth fingers were paralized from being severly burned at the age of eighteen. To this day his influence and playing are legendary.

Another particularly good or great guitarist was the late Duane Roland of Molly Hatchet! I played a few opening shows with them back in 1982 and he "smoked" the guitar playing a lot of his pentatonic scale runs with his index and middle fingers too... he was also a hell'ava slide guitarist!

[dnic]

Sometimes I think the large span may not be a benefit. As I mentioned somewhere I can barely close my hand around the thin Ibanez necks. And moving long fingers quickly is like, well, picture a giraffe being quick off the line.

So I can see where long fingers and a long span could be very beneficial for chording but the shorter fingers may be better for leads. I'll have to remember to ck the guy I play with. he's the lead and I'm more the rhythm. I have been working on lead stuff for awhile now and I'm improved but compared to this guy I'm still in preschool. Oh well.

dz I'll have to look up this django fellow thanks for the heads up. What are your numbers?

later,dane

[dzguitar]

My pinkie measurement is 3" and the thumb-to-pinkie measurement is 9". I feel like my fingers are rather short but I get the job done! I play classic rock, hard rock and metal. I am the lead guitarist in my band... we're only a three piece

[irishrover]

pinky is about 2 1/8 and pinky to thumb is around 7 3/4. i play fingerstyle and a little bit of slide. i feel very very cramped on a neck under 1 7/8 at the nut. both my teles and strats have warmoth widenecks on em.

oh and the pinky on my left hand dosnt have any feeling in it. so i play thumb over the top alot.

[Mach Twang]

My pinky is 2.75", index to pinky span is 7.5" and the thumb to pinky span is 9.25".

My musical tastes run the gambit from Adam Ant to ZZ Top. But I really enjoy artists like Tom Waits, Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, Leone Redbone, Jeff Buckley, G.Love & Special Sauce, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, old KISS (pre Dynasty), Nick Drake, King's X and Paul Simon, uhg. I could go on and on.

As far as what I like to play is anything that I can wrap my head and hands around.

I'm really glad that Django was mentioned, he was my inspiration to get past, over and around my own particular injury.

Back in the late 80's I was day jobbing at a plastics injection molding company making tri-lenses for Ford cars. We loaded our parts into wire cages that were about 3' wide by 5' long by 3' high. Even empty these things were heavy. Well the foreman that night was out doing what ever foremen do when they aren't around and my bin was full. So I yelled at my floor leader that I need help loading a new one. She's about 5' 2" tall, about a hundred and nothin' and pushing 50. I asked her twice if she could handle moving this thing and she assured me she could lift just as well as any man.

(Cripes my thumb is aching just talking about it.)

Well, we lifted the cage and she didn't clear the foot and it caught on the trolley and dropped, rolling over forward and dumping all my work to the floor ruining it. Not to mention my left hand that is caught in the wire cage and twisted to the point that it launches me over the bin and to the floor and wrenches my left thumb backwards dislocating it, completely destroying the tendons, ligaments and other such connective tissues...

When I got to my feet my thumb was jutting awkwardly up and back in a completely unnatural position. Then things went all wonky and I remember stumbling to the break room and sitting down. The ambulance came and I was whisked away to the local ER where my thumb was set and I was sent home. Follow up visits with the doc were bleak and he referred me to a hand surgeon at the University if Wisconsin Madison Hospital.

After an examination and consultation he asked me what I wanted out of the operation. I told him that above all else, I want to be able to play guitar again. He told me that while possible, it wouldn't be easy. It was then that he told me about Django and his injuries and how he over came them to become one of the greatest guitarists in the world. Big shock here, my surgeon also played guitar. I left the office feeling better about the whole thing. Three weeks later the surgery is over and done and two long years of physical therapy starts. I worked hard with my therapist and made slow steady progress.

It's been 20+ years since my injury and while my thumb isn't 100% functional, I can still play. I don't have much grip in that thumb anymore, I can't close my left fist completely, it swivels around oddly from time to time and the joint aches when it gets wet and cold. But above all else I can still play, not very well, but I'm still a pickin' and a grinnin'... Thanks Dr. Rau, you are my hero.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is the only video footage known to exist of Django playing. Rock on you manouche madman!


If anyone is interested, there is a great documentary video about Django and his loyal band of gypsy jazz followers called Djangomania. I own this and watch it often!

[dnic]

It has been awhile sense I looked at this thread and about time to explain why I started it.

I believe it was "wirewraper" who had another thread going about having shorts fingers and he was looking for a guitar with a very thin neck and being frustrated about having played for awhile and not really improving. Most of us that responded said practice, practice, etc.

Only a few of us have spans of 9" or over. irishrover with a span of 7.75" likes wide necks 1 7/8" and up. And twang has overcome a very serious injury because he loves to play.

This is not in any way meant as a slam on wirewraper but I think demonstrates that playing guitar or probably any instrument isn't so much about physical limitations but about our passion for the instrument.

I don't mean to come off like some pro player because I'm right there with quarry, "I suck", but I love to play. So until they tell me to shut up and go home I'm staying at it. And then I'll play at home.

Later,
dane