Conference napalm::guitar

    
    
    
                   LARGE hands might be a bit cumbersome to play with,
    but ,I believe, LONG fingers would be a major advantage.  especially
    when playing some of the more modern hammering techniques or doing
    some whole tone scales that cover two or more positions. 
    
    

	Jimi used to play bass notes with his thumb.  Long fingers 
	couldn't hurt.

	An interesting side note for those of you who play guitar: Your
	left hand (or right hand if you play lefty) will eventually
	have stretched tendons at the thumb. If you don't beleive me,
	take your hands and touch all of the fingers and thumbs together.
	Now spread those fingers and thumbs apart as far as they go, but
	try to keep the left hand fingers touching each other. There is
	about an inch an a half to 2 inch  difference in how far the tip of
	my right thumb is from my left one (my left one stretches further -
	I play right handed guitar). The fellow that showed me this, years
	ago, had very small hands but a gigantic reach & his was about
	4 inches between tips of the thumb. Try it & see.

								Jens

    .3 - Well Son Of A Gun! It _Does_ work!

    Alan Holdsworth also has huge hands!  He's all over the fretboard (at
    the same time!).
    
    I have reasonably long fingers and I think that it helps most of the
    time.  I do have a little trouble playing about about the 17th fret
    because my fingers tend to get tied up.  This is probably due more to a
    lack of practice at playing in that area of the neck then strictly
    because of the size of my fingers.
    
    re: .3  I tried it too, that's wild!
    
    Greg
                                        

    I have rather huge hands, and I can make one comment which may be
    of interest.  There's at least one chord I finger in a non-standard
    way... this is your basic A chord (unbarred).  I have to use the
    1 finger on the 3rd string, the 2 on the 4th, and the 3 on the 2nd.
    There's no way they'll fit otherwise.
    
    								Marc

Re. .7
        I have pretty long fingers, but the one problem I've always had
    is that the first joint (from the top) of both ring fingers only
    bend towards my palm.  Therefore, I also have to use three fingers
    to play the open A shaped chords, not because my fingers are too big, 
    but because I can't avoid barring the high E string, also.
    
    I don't know if it's genetic, or what.  Anybody else have that
    'problem'?
    
    Rodney

    Re: bending fingers.
    
    I have that problem, too.  I just say, to heck with the first string,
    if it doesn't want to sound, I don't need it!  In fact, I think I just
    won't bother stringing it at all after my next string change :-)
    
    I think it is hereditary.  Cracking your knuckles would probably loosen
    things up, but I've never been a big fan myself.
                                                    
    Steph

    
    >> Cracking your knuckles would probably loosen things up, 
       
    Nope - cracking your knuckles gives you atheritus (sp?), which 
    will make your joints stiff and restrict your playing.

> < Note 1352.10 by CHEFS::DALLISON "Its Katching !" >


    
>    >> Cracking your knuckles would probably loosen things up, 
       
>    Nope - cracking your knuckles gives you atheritus (sp?), which 
>    will make your joints stiff and restrict your playing.


Last I heard/read, this was not substantiated by research.  The available
evidence indicated that cracking knuckles does not cause arthritis or anything
else.  Further research is probably needed.

Bob

    Arthritis is a degenerative nerve/bone DISEASE, it can't be caused by
    any physical action.  I don't think they know for sure but, it's 
    generally thought to be hereditary.  Regular exercise of the joints in
    question can help ward off the onset of the disease.
    
    That's an old wives tale that it can be cause by "cracking your
    knuckles". 
    
    Greg

    
    That's funny, an _M.D._ told me that cracking knuckles made you more
    susceptible to arthritis!  I've also heard that it was often psycho-
    somatic.  Sometimes diseases that begin as mentally induced take on
    a life of their own.  In other words if you're going to get arthritis
    at some point, cracking your knuckles probably isn't going to improve
    anything.
    
    Guy

    
    I have an 18 year old friend who started regualy cracking his 
    fingers/knuckles at the age of about ten or eleven.            
                                         
    He now has GREAT difficuly in typing and would find it *impossible*
    to play guitar.

    
    Anyway, it's one thing to have large hands, and another to have large
    fingers. I mean, what tactics do you use if you simply have fat
    fingers and you have difficulty holding a string down without damping
    its neighbours? I suspect it's largely a matter of technique.
    
    Richard.

    I tried the thumb stretch test and, like everyone else that replied,
    it worked on me.  I asked my guitar instructor, Peter Clemente,
    to try it and........it did not work.  His thumbs stretched the
    same amount. I even pulled on both of them while he held his other
    fingers together and got the same amount of stretch.
    
    Peter has always taught me to play with the thumb as a *guide* rather
    than a means to exert pressure on the fingerboard.  He even has
    me play my pieces with the thumb an inch away from the back of the
    neck to get me out of this *bad* habit.  He has me use the bicep
    in my left arm to exert fingerboard pressure.  He claims that thumb
    pressure causes immobility of the left hand, which is fine if you
    only play in first position.  It would seem that because he has
    made an effort to eliminate thumb pressure in his playing, his tendon
    did not stretch.  Sooooooooooo
    
    Stretched thumb tendons may not nescessarily equate to *good* playing.
    
    Like I say, mine was stretched.  
    
    
                      jt
    

    
    I dont have fat fingers,and,i dont know how to overcome the problem,
    but,have you ever seen Roy Clark play guitar?His fingers are very large
    and he is one of the best guitarists around.
    
    Mike
    

    
    .15 >> what tactics do you use if you simply have fat fingers 
           
    Go on a diet !

    
    
    
    	Yeah... and to "hitch-hike" on Mike's reply, Danny Gatton says
    players make fun of his short fat fingers all the time, but he's
    supposed to be one incredible musician.
    
    Steve

    Anybody ever see a photo of Andres Segovia.His fingers were like
    big toes but I don't think anyone would dispute his versatility.
    
    Kev.

    
    I have pretty short stubby fingers, which incidently match my overall
    build :-).  I guess that I had a good teacher in the early days cos' I
    have no probs with long stretches for exotic chords & I am pretty quick
    on runs.  People have commented that I use my little (pinkie) finger a
    lot more than most but I put that down to a good teacher teaching good
    techniques. 
    
    	Cheers
    
    		Pete 

    I guess if we asked the anthropologists they would have some theory
    about adaptation. There's things I can't do (or do in a traditional
    manner) because of my short "stubby" fingers, so I figure another
    cut at that particular lik or chord, or I just don't do it! One
    thing is fer sure, short of exercises for muscle tone and flexibility
    (none of which, I partake in), yer stuck with the paws ya wuz born
    with......
    

    
    
    This is sort of a generic question about hands and I couldn't find
    anywhere else to put it so......
    
    I am a little worried about the strain playing the guitar is going to 
    put on my hands......I have been practising like the devil for the
    last month or so (I started to see an improvement and it spurred me
    on like nobody's business) on average I am doing 5-6 hours pratice a
    day.....and my missus is thinking of leaving...oh well.
    
    Back to the point.....my left hand has been feeling 'tight'
    recently....not painful.....although after some scale practice it does 
    ache a bit, so I back off for a while. I don't really know how to
    explain the feeling other than to say it feels like I have given it a
    good workout and the muscles are trying to adjust to the new load.
    
    Am I gonna sod anything up here? Reading notes about tendonitis etc,
    has put the willys up me!! On the other hand I don't want to stop
    practicing....if anything I want to practice more coz I have a loooong
    way to go.....any comments?
    
    J.

There may be a certain amount of tightness that will just have to be tolerated.

But...

You can probably seek out some athletic people to help show you how to maintain
your body as you push it harder.  Maybe things like stretching, warming up, etc.

Also, in the course of classical lessons I'm taking now (I'm really a blues
rocker) I'm learning how to use my arm and wrist positioning to lessen the 
tension in the hand.  It's difficult to describe and demonstrate even in person
so I won't try here.  It's a new, as in the last few years, technique for 
classical that I've been able to directly apply to my other playing.

If you want, I'll have a go at decribing it for you, just send mail to 
PASSES::COLLUM.

Good luck,

Will

    Working any muscle in the body constantly will soon cause 
    injury. At least a day of rest a week will allow muscles
    to heal. Note weight lifters alternate workouts to allow
    healing, or skip a day if doing a full body workout.
    
    chuck

re: Hand problems


	Hey, I'm an expert! ;-(

	The fact is that you really can't woodshed for hours at a time without
taking some reasonable breaks. Try to limit it to 45 - 60 minutes on with at least
5 to 10 minutes break in between. Also make sure you loosen up before you
practice and warm up with slow scales before any heavy shredding.

	If you do a lot of typing, take frequent breaks and stretch when 
you take breaks.   

	Trust me, the 90's are the decade of computer related injuries. 
We started to see it in the 80's and it's only going to get worse.  Take care
of your hands, they can't be replaced.     

Another "expert". :^( 

Because of tendinitis, I had to stop playing, writing and typing (except
two-finger pecking) for two years.  I've been recovering for the past two 
years.  Probably the most important thing I learned - other than not overdoing 
it to begin with - is stretch/warmup/stretch/practice/stretch/rest/practice/
stretch/rest/cooldown.  

I learned some simple stretching exercises that make a huge difference in 
my stamina.  The stretching goes from the fingers all the way up 
to the neck.  When I play a lot, I end with a *real* cool down - cold 
compresses or ice water.  

In a nutshell:  Keep your joints loose and flexible and pace yourself.

Bob