christhammer666 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 hi guys got my ibanez sr300 purely for the fact is has a small neck 38ml at the nut as i have real small fingers im still struggling quite a bit with my small fingers ie if im running down scales and go from the 1st fret a string to 4th e string ect anyone got any ideas to make things easier ie excercises or should i start doing yoga stretches on my fingers thanks jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestar Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 [quote name='christhammer666' post='1338274' date='Aug 12 2011, 10:58 PM']hi guys got my ibanez sr300 purely for the fact is has a small neck 38ml at the nut as i have real small fingers im still struggling quite a bit with my small fingers ie if im running down scales and go from the 1st fret a string to 4th e string ect anyone got any ideas to make things easier ie excercises or should i start doing yoga stretches on my fingers thanks jamie[/quote] Hi Jamie, Yoga stretching fingers sounds good. Warm up excercises for your hands wrists and fingers before you start playing are always a good idea especially if you're stretching. I have very small hands too and have found that 1 fret per finger on the left hand can end up being quite painful and tiring but have a pretty good stretch having been playing for years. However best advice I can offer is to keep practising those scales keeping your thumb and hand fairly fluid and mobile on the back of the neck and move around rather than stretch your fingers too hard, especially if you haven't been playing long; a good classical hand position with plenty of air between the neck and he palm is good. Also don't use excessive pressure I read some good advice a few years ago suggesting that if you fret a note and release the pressure to the point where it starts to buzz you'll be surprised to find how little grip is actually needed to hold down a note cleanly. This will enable you to move around more deftly too. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 A short scale bass worked for me while I was getting used to it. I'm fine with a full scale bass now but if I have been doing a lot of guitar work, I tend to run scales on the Viola before picking up the Jazz Stretching etc is the most sensible way forward. Just keep going but don't push to hard to quickly as you can do damage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christhammer666 Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 i have been playing for a few years on off but have just started playing after having an operation on my picking hand. i have always struggled maybe it is im pushing down to hard i play a lot of rock and metal and some time i really do dig in.maybe i should start watching john myung more closely that guy is so smooth makes me look like lemmys demented love child Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Try and relax as much as you can. I did a lot of octave runs across the strings when I was young to help improve my stretching ability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coilte Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 [quote name='lonestar' post='1338291' date='Aug 12 2011, 11:19 PM']Hi Jamie, Yoga stretching fingers sounds good. Warm up excercises for your hands wrists and fingers before you start playing are always a good idea especially if you're stretching. I have very small hands too and have found that 1 fret per finger on the left hand can end up being quite painful and tiring but have a pretty good stretch having been playing for years. However best advice I can offer is to keep practising those scales keeping your thumb and hand fairly fluid and mobile on the back of the neck and move around rather than stretch your fingers too hard, especially if you haven't been playing long; a good classical hand position with plenty of air between the neck and he palm is good. Also don't use excessive pressure I read some good advice a few years ago suggesting that if you fret a note and release the pressure to the point where it starts to buzz you'll be surprised to find how little grip is actually needed to hold down a note cleanly. This will enable you to move around more deftly too. Hope this helps.[/quote] The above is all very good advice. When playing on the lower frets (1-5) use the pinkie and the ring finger together. If for example when playing a note on fret 1 and fret 4 on the E string, there is no need to keep the index finger on fret 1, once it has been played. Also instead of stretching between frets, use your thumb as a pivot to sort of "swing" from on fret to another. Gentle stretching before and after playing, is always recommended...no matter what size your hands are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_bass Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Don't let small hands hold you back. Mine are not only small but child like as well lol. Good advice above, I'd be careful about doing any finger specific stretching though as could hurt yourself. Practicing scales over & over gradually moving down the neck is the sort of thing that should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 [quote name='christhammer666' post='1338302' date='Aug 12 2011, 11:40 PM']" lemmys demented love child"[/quote] Ha ha what a brilliant name for a thrash metal band. I find putting my thumb on the back of the neck helps, rather than having it on the side with the marker dots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 if youre fingers are very stretchy and bendy then maybe go for it but there are very few guitarists imo who perfect their technique by including this method - noteable exception being allan holdsworth - the overstretching thing just looks so unnatural and uncomfortable i have medium sized hands and tend to stretch as far as is comfortable or practical and then slide the whole hand position to avoid overstretching have a study of some video clips of players with smaller hands and watch how they adapt to see if you can pick up any ideas - one that seems to spring to mind is the guy in that swedish jazz band that poeple keep posting on here but the life of me i cant remmebr their name at the moments - he seems to have small(ish) hands but finds his way around a trb6 wit very little if any excessive stretching can anybody help me out wiht the band name please am having a sunday morning senior moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-basser Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Practice practice practice, obviously don't overstretch things to the point of pain but I have utter midget hands and I play a 6 string Dingwall with no major issues (37" low B!). Don't be afraid to use 4 fingers across three frets round about the first fret if you have to, for octave stuff round there I still find index and pinky easier than index and ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 You shouldn't be stretching! You should be moving your hand so that your fingers are in the right place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Don't let it hold you back. Look up Steve Bailey, he does some massive stretches on those 6 string basses of his, made even more difficult with them being fretless and he has very small hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Exercise and warm up techniques sound like a useful suggestion. They certainly worked well for me - I don't have particularly big hands and have multiple old breaks across both hands and fingers. A little effort and technique practice works a wonder. Thereafter it's all about finding what's comfortable for you. Whilst I wouldn't openly advocate bad technique, there is a balance to be had - in both your playing and writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 There is always the suggestion of moving to smaller scale basses in threads like these. Fine if that's what you want, but you shouldn't have to purchase a whole new bass under the circumstances. I have small hands and have never found it to be an issue to play any kind of bass guitar, it's just a case of not over stretching when you play. Don't keep your fingers clumped together, space them out and use the tips of your fingers to fret notes. You shouldn't have to be stretching too much at all to play, and if you feel like you're fighting your bass then get it set up so that you're not having to dig in so hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Still, there is one advantage to small hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 [quote name='steve-soar' post='1339967' date='Aug 14 2011, 08:06 PM']Still, there is one advantage to small hands.[/quote] Small gloves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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