this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Small Hand Advice (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by rei@lemmy.world to c/guitars@lemmy.world
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Hello, I am new to guitar (3 weeks) and I am practicing every day (a bit too much some days which could be exacerbating) and I have pretty small hands. I think my middle finger measures about 3 inches.

I played a lot over the past few days and my left hand (fretting hand in my case) is sore not in a good way I don't think. I kind of have to contort my hand if I am up near the head stock fretting 1 and 4.

I am not discouraged. It seems like all youtube videos just say don't give up with small hands, not exactly helpful. I'm plenty motivated and want to keep going but I don't want to injure myself.

So all that to say any advice on being able to fret well by the headstock with small hands? I also think my wrist is not in a healthy position but I can't reach my fingers far enough apart without doing some hand yoga.

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[–] rigatti@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Having good form, like others have said, will go a long way. Some things about that which I didn't see mentioned are: try to keep your thumb centered on the back of the neck and get the guitar in a position so that you can move your elbow outward, almost to the point that your hand is parallel to the fretboard. This will keep strain off your wrist and let your fingers stretch more easily. Another thing is, if you're playing standing up, it'll be much easier to play if your strap is short and the guitar is high. It might not look as cool, but you'll see some real technical metal players do this because it really does help.

[–] rei@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by hand is parallel to the fretboard, do you mean perpindicular, oh or do you mean parallel with the frets themselves?

[–] rigatti@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah it's hard to explain with words rather than visually. Check out how Ana Vidovic is positioned in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBKFMB-yPg

There's almost no bend in her wrist, so her hand can stay relaxed.

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