What To Do If Your HANDS Are Too SMALL To Play Guitar?

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Are your hands too small to play guitar? Do you have any trouble playing those 'stretchy' scales and chords that other guitarist can play with ease?
If you have small hands, I do really understand your plight. I have fairly small hands too (many of my female students have larger hands than mine LOL), so I know how frustrating it is to not have that extra hand reach that other players naturally have.
At this point I would really like to tell you that there is a method to make your fingers longer - but sadly that method does not exist.
There is good news, though: even if you have short fingers there is a technique that you can use that will give you much more reach that what you thought possible, so you too will be able to play those 'stretchy' positions.
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[@rinjihalfelf1]

Finally, someone with small hands explaining small hands! Big handed folks just tell you to curl your fingers more. There's much more to it than that like dropping and relaxing the wrist, thumb position, guitar position, etc. Now, if a big handed person could follow all of these tips...

[@cosmic_JAV]

Yeah those are the same assholes who can play a note in the 3rd fret and the 11thfret at the same time lol

[@generalawareness101]

Oh, to use his measurements (I just did it because his fingers were very obviously longer than mine in the video). Middle finger to joint is 3.5in. Pinky to joint is 2.5in. Width like he measured is about 2.75in.

[@generalawareness101]

I am six months in and still stuck on module 1 with Justin Guitar at 15-20 mins per day of practising. My hands are so small that I have to bend my wrist in a bad way, so now I have 24x7 pain from tunnel carpal syndrome. Besides, I have yet to get any calluses as my fingertips are as sore as the first day. I purchased two Ibanez guitars with both having mild to SERIOUS flaws (serious as in the truss rod from the factory was tightened as far as it would go yet needed to be tighter to intonate it) that they had to be returned which means I am back on the Squire that has given me TCS. I am about to throw in the towel, and admit defeat as this is beyond ludicrous.

[@krish5445]

@@generalawareness101 How small are your fingers dude? Like in Inches. How tall are you btw? Are you a teen or older.

[@generalawareness101]

@@krish5445 6.5in the longest fingertip to wrist. 6.5-6.75in from thumb's tip to pinky's tip fully extended. Another factor is the palm of my hand. My sister has the same hand as I do, and my mother has about 1/8in shorter hand. What they have are slender fingers while I have my father's fingers of German heritage. Basically short sausages so the A chord I am so cramped I can't really ring it out as I should but I manage. I am 56.

[@Pbnj1379]

Thank you!! My tiny hands now have hope!

[@donnar278]

I do a lot of research regarding guitar playing, and hang around with guitar players, and NO ONE has ever mentioned this. I'm an adult with a hand size of the average 10 year old, from wrist to tip of fingers. The technique you show definitely works. But now I will have to retrain my muscles. Guess I'll be in pain for a little while. Thank you for this info.

[@williamolsen20]

I have small fat sausage fingers, but I can pull some stuff off. I have a hard time stretching the pinky.

[@robharms1659]

I have known so many people who just gave up because they refused to believe their hands were big enough. This should be a VERY early lesson for all beginning guitar players. GREAT video

[@veethorn]

This video is 4 years old but it is still so relevant. I gave up on guitar and learning my favorite songs and solos because I physically can't do it, this helped a lot actually and I immediately felt less strain on my wrist. It'll take a bit to be able to get used to playing hard chords like this, but I'm sure I can do it!!

[@dash4800]

yeah, a 3 1/2" pinky is only about 1 1/2" more than mine. You don't understand what small hands are. But this was far more helpful than most other videos.

[@alZiiHardstylez]

I have stupid fat, small hands. Broken my pinky and ring finger I don't know how many times playing basketball when I was younger so they're all sorts of mangled. It's something I'm really self-conscious about. I'm glad I bit the bullet and decided to give it a go. Even just a few days of stretching has helped a lot. It seems like us small handed friends have to try harder than normal handed people but there's no growth without pain, struggling more and getting past it makes you stronger. Hope you all keep shredding! :)

[@notfrnkiero725]

Lol my middlefingers is 2.6 inch and im shook when u say urs is 4inch

[@BrokenGodEnt]

@@justanaveragefighter2230 No he didn't. He measured from the top of the finger to his 3rd knuckle.

[@justanaveragefighter2230]

@@BrokenGodEnt oh ok

[@greenlee5030]

Okay @roy you’re profile pic of PERFECT!!

[@aliengrey6052]

Mine are three inches. Size does matter. If you’re stretching you can’t play consistently fast due to your fingers being under stress.

[@benbirkeciyim8620]

My middle finger is 3.5inc but they are (my fingers) fluffy like candy floss so can't do bar chords. I'm total beginner. Maybe I should lose weight first :D

[@chillywilly9573]

Thankyou for the advice. I'm 52, new to playing a instrument and pick up my first electric guitar a couple of weeks ago and I'm running into the same issue with proper hand placement due to small size of my hand and little arthritis. None of the videos that I've watched to get started ever talked about hand placement and exercising of your hands they just jump into trying to play cords.

[@alesbianhotmess]

Something I'd recommend for anyone with super short finger is high quality childrens guitars or even just trying to find places that make them smaller. Youl have the same sound but it'll be smaller and a lot easier to play certain songs.

[@MatteMike2345]

Short scale guitars like Fender/Squier Jaguar helps with their 24" scale length. A Stratocaster and Telecaster has a scale length of 25.5"

[@MLH_1231]

@@MatteMike2345 tysm! I got an acoustic guitar about 2 years ago, but had to give up because my hands are just too small and it would legit hurt to play (I would constantly get cuts from my skin scraping on the frets etc.), but I wanna try to relearn so I'll look into some smaller guitars

[@MatteMike2345]

@Mariah I don't know much about acoustic guitars. Sorry. If you want an electric guitar I recommend Fender or Squier. The Jaguar and Mustang has a short scale. They may need a little work on the frets if they develop frets that sticks out from the fretboard. It's an easy fix for a guitarshop. They probably fix it while you wait if they aren't very busy.

[@Squier123]

​@@MatteMike2345 I use Ibanez grgm21m with 22.2 scale length it's very nice guitar

[@mikeporter6786]

This lesson has given me some hope. Not only are my hands on the small size for a guitar player. Because of a birth defect I am missing half my pinky on both hands. I only have one joint per finger. They are exactly like a thumb. It can make playing guitar very challenging.

[@Updog89]

Apparently the legendary guitarist for Black Sabbath lost the tips of some of his fingers in an accident before they got famous. There is hope!

[@bobtaylor170]

Django Reinhardt, the greatest of them all, couldn't use the pinky or ring finger on his fretting hand because they'd been severely damaged in a fire when he was 18. I know you have a serious handicap in learning to play guitar, but don't give up. There are several voicings for most if not all chords, and you should be able to find at least one of each which you can play.

[@MatteMike2345]

Well, your situation makes me humble. I complain about my small hands but you are having a much bigger challange. Like Sarah and Bob Taylor says, nothing is impossible. The guitarists they refer to has acually developed their own technics and therefore also a uniqe sound. Find a way to play that suits you, not necessarily following tips that work for the average player and you will probably get there too. I will never more complain about my own hands but I will keep on saying that it really helps playing on a guitar with shorter scale like the Fender Jaguar with it's 24" scale length. Keep on rockin!

[@bobtaylor170]

I will add this: I do think it's an advantage for a guitarist to have long fingers. I have a good friend who has perfect guitarist's fingers - and no interest in playing! But then, as weird as it may be, history tells us Stalin had a beautiful singing voice. It's always better to have the soul for something, even if your technical problems madden you.

[@cosmicman621]

@@bobtaylor170 🐝🌈💫

[@phoebemoore1516]

my hands are even smaller than his though... my middle finger is just over 3 inches ;-; I feel like it is impossible aha

[@mari-wj1mu]

Same

[@NathanielBTM]

I'm a Male, 21, 5'7 but my hands are tiny, I have stubby fat short fingers. My middle finger is 7cm. Around 2.7 inches. I measured up from the crease line at the base to the very tip. Been playing for close to 7 years. Primarily metal and dont really run into many problems to be honest... only have some problems with stretchy chords or riffs with big gaps between frets. which usually space between 4 frets apart. I've been playing 25.5 scaled electrics, but I might get a 24.75... or even a mini guitar Around a 23-24 and putting really heavy strings on. Like 16 - 75ish, switching stock pickups to something good. Maybe get a DigiTech drop pedal for changing tunings. The thing I worry about is how the guitar will handle those heavy strings, should be decent with adjustment's... It might have some intonation issues. I'm worried about fret buzz and tuning issues... But it'd be a neat experinent to see how it would sound. I'd dream to have weird like... 25.5 - 24 fan fret, 7 string guitar. That'd be interesting lol. I've only seen up to a 26.5 fanfret 7 string which Olly Steele uses from Monuments.

[@K9Mako]

I don't have any, but I'm still interested in how the tits come into play. Were they muting out the strings or what? Glad you got it figured out regardless. ; )

[@controllerbird7460]

mine are 2 and a half

[@RatherGeekyStuff]

@@controllerbird7460 Many have even smaller tits than that.

[@cleverkev79]

You are now my guitar mentor. I'm an overweight person with hands small from being padded with human fluff. You helped me find a better way. My hero.

[@digitalintent]

Thank you for this. My fingers are the same length as yours. So refreshing to not see a person with big hands giving advice to us small handed folk... like the vast majority of videos about this topic. It's like a very handsome guy giving dating/relationship advice to those men who are average to ugly. Those people, the big handed and gorgeous folk, are already 90% there.

[@StephanieJacobs604]

THANK YOU for actually offering useful advice! Sooooo many people say "just practice". And it's like, uh no, 'practice' will not help you if you can't play it at all, even once. Tell me HOW to do it, the first time, and then I will have something to practice!! So. Yeah. Thank you for being the voice of actual reason.

[@ecbennyj8078]

I have small hands, much smaller than yours. I used to complain about this all the time and even cursed in the air for been born this way. Then I realized Angus Young, one of the best guitarists in the world, is only 5’2 and has tiny hands. Also, Prince is only 5’3, has tiny thin hands, and is a legend as well. Now, people with small hands can feel better about themselves.

[@vtyw93]

I thought that guitarists who claim that hand size doesn't matter at all simply have bigger hands and don't relate to the same struggle. I still think I was mostly right because they cite Andres Segovia and other people who supposedly have really small hands (but they don't!) and really those examples tend to show that they don't know what small hands are. My hand measurements are very similar to yours and I looked up the statistics: most of my measurements are in the shortest 5% for men, which roughly corresponds to the average measurements for women. So kudos to you, you've proven that I have no excuses where all the other online videos and guides and discussions have failed.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Wow, I did not look at the actual statistics, I was using only my first hand experience (pun definitely intended)... thank you for doing that! It's very interesting to know.

[@cosmic_JAV]

With the research that you done, do you think that hand size plays a direct correlation in females that can truly shred in a guitar?? Since even the top % of women's hand sized are near average of a man's?

[@cosmic_JAV]

I know I did not ask my question in a very articulate manner and probably just seems like unintelligible jabber jaw. Sorry I'm pretty tired when writing that, but hopefully you get what I was trying to theorize.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Marty Friedman and Dave Mustaine have GIGANTIC HANDS and LONG SPIDER FINGERS that is why they can do a 12-19 fret stretch. Same with Kirk Hammett of Metallica.

[@sillygooseenergy]

As a sixteen year old girl with hands that haven't grown since fifth grade, I may not have hope. Edit: you're slowly changing my mind. Edit again: WHY DOES IT HURT SO BAD. MY BONES ARE BREAKING. Edit: I turn 19 in a few days and I'm still tiny

[@Rosaisabellas]

Pluto The Planet i’m literally in the exact same situation my wrist hurts so bad 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Salmonella_18]

You are me , I am your . Our story is same🙂

[@ZaraelsOldAccount]

*laughs in 2 inch fingers*

[@aBunnyThatWillChewOnYourCables]

My 5cm pinky finger feels dead just from watching this 😭

[@kozarervinkopi]

At least it look hugeeeee in your hands 🤭😉

[@d3thtr4p10]

One thing I can definitely recommend is to do stretching exercises on each finger. Really worked wonders for me!

[@DevinJuularValentine]

Some more tips from someone with smaller hands (3.5inch middle finger) who plays bass Angle the neck away from your body, this helps to keep the correct thumb position all the way up the neck. You can do this as you play. You know you are doing it right because your elbow will stay in the same position relative to your body, rather than stick out behind your body as your hand comes up the neck. Another tip is to take some time to think about the best places to play the notes and how to slide your hand position between them. So say you are playing on the 3rd fret, 5th fret three times, then the 9th, you will be changing hand position the third time you play the 5th fret so your pinky can get to the 9th in a shorter movement. This is an obvious example, but if there are some lines that are difficult, consider the route to get to them and where on the fretboard you are playing it. Extended range instruments, although larger in the fretboard, can also help because you get more access to notes horizontally on the fretboard, as can multi scale fretboards as they follow the ergonomics of your hand better.

[@Justafeller]

My hands are the same size as the guy's doing this video. Back when I first started playing in the early 80s I don't ever remember anyone talking about hand size so it wasn't a thought. Nowadays people want to compare everything and try to create obstacles for others. I can play anything on virtually any guitar. You can too. Never let hand/finger size get in your way. It's an excuse. It takes practice like anything else. I've seen a one handed guitarist play. You don't believe it? It's true. He's likely on KZbin. People are so obsessed with size of everything these days, it's ridiculous. Also, guitar manufacturers make so many different sizes and shapes these days you can find many many choices. Probably a 50s Gibson LP neck might not be a good choice as it's like a baseball bat, but even still I can play it. PRS makes a pattern thin neck that is super comfortable. I can play for 4-5 hours and my hand never gets sore. Good luck and don't buy into the bs people put out today. This guy is correct. Hand size will not stop you unless your hands are 1 inch long maybe.

[@dash4800]

more like nobody has every said to me how to hold the guitar so im just trying to figure it out with not guidance and when i did it the way he showed initially my pinky doesn't even reach the neck of the guitar. And the vast majority of "instructors" arent professional musicians. They are just people who did it themselves and happen to have long enough fingers to get away with doing it wrong. I've been trying to learn for 2 years with this problem holding me back and this is the first person I've come across that had anything helpful to say.

[@dash4800]

@@Justafeller Also I hate the kids argument because kids are naturally adaptable. They have incredible dexterity and flexibility and can do most physical activities far easier than adults can and without much physical pain associated with it. So learning how to do this as a kid vs as a 30 yr old adult is not really comparable.

[@hadeskay6091]

@Classic Max This is such a good point. In fact while the original comment poster might be well meaning, it comes off as advice on persistence, which the other person lacks for the problem they have at hand, as opposed to an exploration of a solution. And the more I think of it, the whole paradigm of persistence and determination shoots itself in the foot because by itself, it gets nobody anywhere and the person is likely to get disheartened (for example if they kept persisting with their index and thumb grips as opposed to the middle finger and thumb grips). And I feel (I could be very wrong, as this can be confirmed or denied) but Id guess it's in some ways, "if I went through the trouble and pain to get here so SHOULD you."

[@lalruotsangjoute1872]

I wish my finger was long as this comment😂😂

[@danielleelizabeth9417]

Yeah it’s not about making excuses about it is about being efficient and finding the right techniques. I think all kind of hand sixes should be addressed because it will provide you better techniques and habits in the long run. To just say “push through it.” with no technique nor taking the opportunity to listen to wisdom passed down by someone with a similar stature is like ignoring wisdom. I get what your saying in the sense that you still pursue what you need to. However everyone learns from others; many people get into playing instruments from listening to their idols jam out. If one of my idols had something to say where it could enrich my playing I would damn well listen. If I am passionate enough about learning I am seeking out guidance to better myself I don’t see what the down side is.

[@Mightydoggo]

You can´t even imagine how encouraging this is. I got gifted an E-Guitar and kinda "promised" to learn something on it for next time, but I was really concerned that the guitar is just too big for me since I´m only 1.50m (guess that´s somewhere around 4´11" in fantasy numbers?) so you can imagine how small my hands are. It works *way* better this way, though I still have to kinda force the wrist around the neck and I´m muting the last string somehow. Still a lot better than before.

[@iPervy]

My hands are much shorter, but usually don't have to much trouble stretching to reach far positions. I have much more trouble at times with my fingers being to fat though haha and end up having a hard time pressing a string down without effecting the adjacent string. (And I use a classical guitar)

[@CharlieRootsMusic]

U and I are in the same boat, short ,fat fingers.

[@Rin-cj2de]

oMG same

[@theblytonian3906]

You are full of it. Zero cred. Those of us who can play credibly whilst recognising the disadvantage and limitations know it.

[@mangoorange6683]

short sausage fingers

[@Stanzafly]

My hands are also smaller than this guy's. But I do finger stretches with my fretting hand and as a result, my fingers reach almost two inches farther than my other hand. You can do stretches and strength exercises and both will help with your finger flexibility and reach. Good luck.

[@stevenwarner9156]

Wow, I really have small hands for an adult male, then. My middle finger is just about 8 cm/3.14 inches long. I am 185 cm tall, so my hands look even more out of place! Still doesn't stop me from playing most pieces, but I have found that I need to buy a shorter scale acoustic to play certain tunes by Tommy Emmanuel, especially with certain chords which use the thumb which then restricts the arch in your fingers. Even with my diminutive digits I managed to become a music graduate, so it doesn't need to be a big deal.

[@spencerthu2956]

Let me say to everyone that left a comment about having small hands or fingers....its very brave of you and commendable ! There are a ton of rude shallow people out there that make fun of this issue and that sucks! It can really mess you up and make someone feel horrible! So good on you guys! Im right there with ya! I myself gave up trying to play guitar long long ago! I love guitar ,i didnt want to quit but my ring finger and pinky finger cant do anything ! They are odd and really stubby! I couldnt do most chords and anything that required using all 4 fungers ! I am wondering if there is such a thing as fingertip extensions?!?! If they are out there id maybe consider giving it a go one more time!! Its not my only problem!!! I also have ADHD and maybe Autism, learning music and things like pro tools or anything on computer makes my head spin and my brain actually will hurt or something!!! This sucks because the positive that comes outta that is i constantly have ideas for songs or riffs! I believe many of em could be really good. I just dont how to create it or make it happen! My dream is humble but i dont think it will happen! My dream is to make an album or CD etc... Id always have that and could always listen to it or share it with others! Impossible broken dreams really frickin sucks!!!

[@Edward-MTBKR]

Thumbs up for a guy with small hands actually doing this subject. I also found a short scale guitar (Jaguar, Duo-Sonic, Mustang) helps a lot.

[@jdown79]

You got my sub for "it is what it is" at the start. Some people don't want to work for their goals, good to see you not waste time on them

[@bikamouse]

This is a brilliant lesson. my hands are slightly smaller than you and I was finding that working on a standard 4 fret spider walk at the 7th fret for finger independence that my little finger was always at a weird angle and I could not effectively control it. Moving the thumb as you suggested while initially seemed to add some stress to my forearm allowed me to get in a better position. Its still going to take some work and practice but it looks like a great tip.

[@ally7253]

This is exactly what I'm dealing with... can you say there's been an improvement after almost a year?

[@nickyt1050]

OMG, Tommaso. SOMEONE on the internet who actually UNDERSTANDS and can EXPLAIN left hand technique! I never thought I'd see it outside of a classical guitar context.

[@MrHandsomeStudios]

He doesn't have small hands compared to me. My middle finger is 8.5 cm or 3.346 inches and I've always used this technics as shown to stretch farther. The problem is that it's much harder to do pull and pull offs because you don't have as much space to do so with short fingers. One other problem I find is that when fully stretched you can by misstake hit multiple notes at the same time rather than the desired, because the space between the note and fingers is less (the fingers are flater when stretched). This makes it much harder to play faster stuff. When playing Cowboys from hells solo you need to do a 20 to 12 pull off stretch and because of the note and finger distance that you can use is shorter, it's harder to hear the notes.That's a problem I have. If you look up guitarists, you will find that angus young is the only one with simmilair hands like me, maybe even shorter. But he also has always used sg's during his carrier that has smaller neckdimmentsions, (38-39 mm nuth widh, 17-19 mm at first fret thickness, and smaller distance between the frets). Personally I only can play absolut everthing with guitars having smaller distance between frets and thickness at first fret 18-20mm. I can play the same songs on a regullar guitar with 22mm thickness at first fret and regular tele or les paul fret distance but I can't do it with full speed. So I would say that yes, size of hands does matter. Hope this helped :)

[@kaas7274]

Damn, your fingers are still 1 cm longer than mine haha, I am envious.

[@Mincraftia100]

Still bigger then mine

[@goodx_charlie4142]

Your hands are bigger than mine.... Bar chords can suck it!

[@johnperry8081]

8.5 is not small Closer to average

[@ninacoded]

Thank you so so much ! This changed my guitar playing experience! I was struggling so much and I feel like everyone just expects you to hold your thumb in the right position but if you don't know about this middle finger- thumb positioning thing everything else is pointless... thank you so much !

[@mikelbt]

Surprisingly, my middle finger is the same as yours and using your technique, I can make the stretch. My problem is my pinky which is about 3 inches and stops below the knuckle of the ring finger. Even though it gets to that fret, it's muting the adjacent string because I just can't get enough arch. But I'll keep trying these tips and hopefully can stretch things out a bit.

[@tas64]

I have a 3 inch middle finger and this worked for me! Thank you!

[@mrsfineanddandy]

Yaaaaaas! I found an adorable Italian to show me the right way to hold my new guitar and get my little fingers to move! I'm 52 and I've decided I'm going to unleash my inner teenager and finally learn how to play. Grazie mille!

[@dennywolfe8557]

THANK YOU! During isolation, I decided to start learning how to play guitar. In just two weeks, I've grown frustrated, but knowing it's a fixable technique issue, I can start implementing these changes now!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Glad I could help!

[@Jamie_of_the_Glen]

An effective, mindful model for left hand position and relaxed technique. Thanks.

[@nico3641]

Finally a teacher with the same hand size as me. Thank you!

[@cade5850]

I CANT DO IT

[@marselijaneredford3161]

THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD IKR

[@eva9310]

yes you cannn

[@mitrakenp.2263]

We*

[@unnatural6edq]

I've been working on this for forty minutes. Can't do it, either.

[@VioletPrism]

Omfg are you me lmfao

[@toto3544]

thank you so much for this, my smalls are much smaller than yours i measured haha but this video has genuinely helped me get so much better since i watched it

[@NiechoBGC]

This was encouraging, gave me hope. I'm a guy, but I also have smaller hands than even many of my female friends. I'm sure some of the 3-finger position maneuvering along the neck leaves me looking much like a kid trying to scale a toddler gate. This video gives me hope. ❤

[@2020heinsite]

The outtakes at the end were priceless, and a reminder to anyone listening to someone with an accent or struggling to speak in English. Remember, they most likely speak at least two languages. Most of us have all we can handle with just one. ;)

[@enricobarbieri4463]

Yeah, I'm italian, and I'm currently learning portuguese, apparently my italian accent is rather strong when I speak portuguese, and thanks to that people usually end up mocking me. I usually end it quickly by showing off the fact that I can speak 4 languages already, along with lots of dialects. And seeing as my accent is flawless in those, that usually shuts them up rather quickly

Thank you, thank you. Our hands are the same size and I was having difficulty reaching to that fourth fret with my pinky while practicing scales. Now I get it.

[@Mattieval]

I have the same size hands, pretty much. The only time I couldn't play a chord was in "Home" by Allan Holdsworth, and even then I could play it sitting down, but not when standing up. Keep all finger joints engaged as best as possible, aim for the palm to be parrallel with the bottom of the neck as much as possible (which can often feel like the right side of the palm is closer than the left, but remember the pinky is shorter than the other fingers). (Feel free to delete my comment if you don't think that's useful to your viewers)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

This is useful (and I don't delete comments :) ) Thank for writing this!

[@georgewash2626]

I have learned about having short fingers and playing guitar ..?? Live with them, my free lesson !

[@jamesmaxwell5415]

Great video and now I have the measurements to buy you custom gloves for Christmas :)

[@hardtopart3346]

You are not English or American.. why do You use inches to measure?

[@peterpiazza5935]

Jose Feliciano was only 5' 5" tall and blind to boot and played guitar very well.

[@yeetspageet5679]

Sitting with my guitar in the classic position increases my stretch from 10-16 to 10-18. Difference between me ever playing the tornado of souls solo or not.

[@AlfredEiji]

Damn. This was perfect! I’ve known my thumb was a big part of it, but I hadn’t seen anything to validate my speculations. My hand is about the same size as yours, but my pinky angles in and the second pinkie joint collapses whenever I press down, so playing a 4th finger is just at out painful.

[@netijen1535]

I'm a girl and my hand width and length of middle finger is at 2.7 inch and I always thought that it's physically impossible for me to play barre chord. but well there's a man who played guitar with his feet, so why can't i. I've also been trying the technique you show here before for some time and i'll keep trying lol

[@retronickmusic]

Check out TOMO-ZO, guitarist of Gacharic Spin / Doll$boxx. She is teeny tiny itty bitty...and absolutely SHREDS on full size Strats, PRS, and Explorer style guitars. If she can do it, you can too...And I have absolutely no excuse whatsoever😂

[@trendpact1023]

My middle finger is 3 in and I’m a guy ...

[@gleek18]

My fingers are short and my hands are small. My middle finger is only 2 and 1/2 inch barely. My pinky is 1 and 3/4 inch. I can do basic chord guitars and I always struggled with bar chords. I love playing but this physical limitation is depressing. Cause I really want to be good. I wanted to do some fingerstyle but I just can't reach the broken chords. And let me tell you, I tried. But just it's physically not possible for me. I've been playing for years. Sorry I ranted. Hahaha. How are you all's playing?

[@leonelalbarran8237]

My hands are small too 😢

[@SongOfItself]

Thumb/finger position and stretching are surely important, but in my experience it also matters how soon in life you start. I took up guitar very late, at 44. I didn't need to go for stretchy fingerings to encounter problems - my small-ish hands wouldn't even stretch far enough to play C major clearly. I knew it was going to take time, and I was ready for it. I also chose to believe those tutors who said it was never too late to start - but I know now that it can be. I practiced literally every day, and loved a lot of it, but three years later I could still fret the open C-major shape properly only if I put a capo on the 2nd fret of my acoustic guitar - to lessen the distance. And I could never, not once, play the common G-major shape, with the pinky on the string 1 and ring finger on string 6. It was quite useless! I am sure if I had started as a child or teenager, my hands would adapt, but past a certain age they will not do that. That was when I switched to the ukulele, and now I can play nearly anything I want and just enjoy it. But the guitar, it turns out, was not for me. And when I started on the ukulele, I also started teaching my son, who was six at the time. Today, 18 months later, his hands are obviously still much smaller than mine, and even he can easily fret chords that I have trouble with. And he's much faster than me, flying up and down the ukulele fretboard and landing where he intended 99% of the time. And best of all, bar chords took him weeks, not months or years. So I guess how soon you start may matter as much or more than how big your hands are, or even how much time you have spent practicing.

[@Emilyatplay]

Thanks for the tips! I have really short fingers, inch shorter than yours. it's all about technique!

[@Citizen_J]

Damn, my hands are abiut the same size, just sliiightly wider. I find my issue (not a big one) is the tips of my fingers are roundish, and that part sometimes brushes up against adjacent strings. Practice practice practice!

[@brucemonahan8134]

The difference often overlooked is hand size and finger length are different in ratio as far as neck coverage. Also thumb length is important.. You can have a large hand and small digits. For Inspiration just look up Danny Gatton.

[@humabout]

I was taught to put my thumb in line with the trust rod, and while I still have nightmares about "Don't broomstick the guitar!", I can easily trill a 4th and hit a tritone. I'll edit with hand measurements to see if this comment is worth keeping... EDIT: Middle finger tip to 3rd knuckle is 4", pinky to 3rd knuckle is 3", and palm at 3rd knuckles is 3 1/8" wide. Hope this is a useful data point.

[@cindyantulov8797]

My middle finger is almost 1 and a half inches shorter than yours! I still persist but want you to know, you don’t have problematic small hands. Good for you!

[@tkenglander6226]

Yeah, his fingers are long compared to ours!! (Mine are similarly sized to yours.)

[@ImBeck]

Thanks, i started playing guitar a few weeks ago and have been struggling, this was a much needed video for me!

[@brycegorman2383]

Good lesson for anyone of any hand size. Thanks Tommaso

[@user-zm6qs9je4w]

Dude I'm thinking about learning guitar and have pretty small hands(I think similar measurements to yours?) I'm glad you made some tips ^^ Keep up the good work

[@Oi-mj6dv]

My stretches reeeeeally improved when i started exploring 3nps pentatonics. Its Shit at the start but it becomes very doable at the end

[@tarared7668]

My middle finger is 2.5 inches, small asian woman here with fingers like a kid. But I can play guitar even barre chords with my 3/4 guitar, I have Ibanez mikro with 22.2 scale with 9s string. I bought Taylor gs mini recently with 23.5 scale had a hard time with it since it comes with 13s string which is rough on my fingers. Im planning on returning it and stick with my 3/4. Size really matter, u have to be comfortable playing. Start with 3/4 then once ur good get a full size electric guitar with lighter string. Angus Young use 9s string on his electric guitar.

[@CGCEifel]

My middle finger (Top > 3rd Knuckle) is 3.8 inches. I'm 51 now and when i took my first guitar class in school 35 yrs. ago they made fun of my "sausage fingers". And told me i won't get anywhere on guitar. They were pretty wrong. Let's keep it at that. A couple opportunities i missed as an electric player though: I mostly chose the "wrong" (rather uncomfortable) scale 25.5" (Strat) for my guitars. I should have gone for the at least a little more comfortable 24.75" (Gibson) scale right from the start. You usually don't think about these things as a beginner. Colors and Pickups are much more important, i know ☺. But: Last year i bought my first Duo Sonic. It has a 24" scale length. My first guitar to come in "my size". So glad i found this thing. Finally know how it feels to play effortlessly after 35 years. On the other hand i have a baritone Squire with 30" scale too. So i approach from 2 sides: 1. Increase physical abilities "fighting" with a long scale > 30". 2. Have a guitar that supports my actual physics > 24". Easy. Don't let them tell you, guitar won't work for you bc fingers.

[@wendyberrios5957]

For me the ONLY problem is my tiny little pinky. It’s disproportionately smaller than than the rest of my fingers. The thing is a measly 2.1 Inches or 5.5 cm. I play bass and my lil pinky has to travel what feels like the Pacific Ocean to get to the E string 😂

[@therealnagel]

Same

[@Hello-fp6je]

BRO ALLY FINGERS ARE ABOUT 2 INCHES 😭

[@vanerdy]

Thank you so much for showing and explaining this. I love playing guitar but some chords and finger stretching on triads is too difficult because of my short fingers. I envy people with the perfect guitar hand proportions lol!

[@marietessier3534]

Wow. Mind blown. Thank you so much!

[@gengar2148]

My hands and fingers are very small too (middlefinger 8,2cm|3,2 inch, pinky 6,1cm|2,4 inch) and there are definitely chords, that i just can't play, no matter how skilled or stretched my fingers are. I've been experiencing this with "The Crusade" by Trivium and "Neon" by John Mayer. So frustrating.

[@tehalexy]

Get a smaller Scale then and smaller nud with.

[@PurpleLightning6was9]

Damn, my hands seem to be the same size as yours and I've always thought they were slightly above average. My hand is wider though, so maybe that's why I never have problems stretching.

[@johnletitia]

Wow, thank you

[@chosenideahandle]

Your hands are the same size as mine, so it's nice to see this. I just found a video of a guy teaching to play with small hands and he has a 2 3/8" middle finger.

[@bfitbcool1589]

You solved my problem now i can reach my hands all teaching exercise but one tell this good work brother

[@DRTyD]

Thank you for this.

[@gadz8843]

ur methods man are amazing.cant find anything similar.

[@vidhantarora963]

Thank you!

[@carlosm3895]

we have the exact same size pinky and palm! where i'm from people in general aren't particularly large. i played in a classical string ensemble and some the best guitar players there had small asian lady hands. good stuff

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I have short fat fingers I thought I couldn’t play because of that. And I mean fat fingers like doing a power chord with ring finger and adding the octave with my pinky my pinky would be touching the fret. All that it meant for me was having to be more precise. To be more precision which u need anyways you do stretching exercises and in just a few weeks you will notice a huge difference. My fingers are so fat that many other guitar players would say idk how you can play with them. So don’t use it an excuse. There was a guitarist 100 years ago that shredded on an acoustic guitar with only 2 fingers.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yup. Good old Django. And what a fantastic picking hand Django developed to compensate!

[@fortunatejeremy]

Thanks for this insight into technique. For some dumb reason I never thought of moving my thumb. I can more easily stretch my picking to play blues riffs now. Still hurts a bit but it's way easier.

[@kanchandas3172]

Very interesting! Thank you!

[@Elucidator-]

This was VERY helpful. It gives me some much needed confidence to pick up the guitar again, as I quit based on this excuse. @MusicTheoryForGuitar, thank you.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

My pleasure!

[@arielulloa4146]

i thought my hands were too small but they are almost exactly the same as yours

[@markjacobsen8335]

All of my fingers curve in toward the middle finger. My pinkies are even worse as the top knuckle actually bends toward the middle at about a 10 degree angle. When I put my pinkies together facing outward, they make a distinct V. I can't bend my pinkies without them popping. I still play and am determined to work through it, but I will consequently have more open strings than not. I enjoy playing alternate tunings. Nevertheless, I appreciate this new technique as it has given me at least one more fret of reach, which is also transferring over to better dexterity overall.

[@rogerfairhurst]

Thank you, it has made a small difference instantly. Well worth working on , great tutorial.

[@seankenneally6369]

amazing video, thanks man

[@WrestleToons]

Totally great technique, thank you, love guitar and do some basic chord songs for beginners on my channel, but will send them your way for vital lessons,,,thank you again.

[@ericnilsson2115]

Thank you for addressing thumb position being opposite the middle finger! I have fairly large hands and this really helped me play both barre and open chords near 1st position pain free! You explained and demonstrated a relaxed wrist very effectively too!

[@rockingrambo7340]

After long search i found this video i love it

[@slapahoe69]

3:11 I can do this but my pinky is literally a inch shorter then it should be so it will not no matter what reach the low e maybe the d sting if I'm lucky it's not that I have short hands and my technique is bad it's just I was born with Brachydactyly so my pinky bone didn't grow like it should have

[@renejohnkerkdyk5006]

Great lesson! This looks like a miracle but works every time.

[@olyellah]

I thought my hands were too small, I have really short pinky fingers so I was getting a little frustrated, but this video helps! Thanks :)

[@TheMrBrown]

Same measurements as mine. :) Cool!

[@MrAdamNTProtester]

This is an excellent & valuable technique video... not only are my hands smaller than Tommaso's I have an amputated thumb & my 4th finger can't straighten bcuz it got broke & never healed straight... so this is really going to improve my playing... I have been making gains in the past two weeks+... I am just a beginner >>> this video is really going to provide me with an important foundation to accelerate my talent development- Thanks Tommaso!

[@Re_Panda]

Thankyou

[@thegamingillustrator]

it took this video for me to realize that my problem has been that my neck is at a weird angle due to not owning a strap (it's coming monday.) I was thinking my fingers were just too small, because I can't reach the 5th fret of my bass while my fingers are on every fret before it, despite having extremely flexible fingers. my bass's neck forces me to tilt my wrist awkwardly because without a strap, I can't position it comfortably close to me without moving my bass from my knee to keep it up right.

[@MrStickman666]

thanks my friend im starting today with your theory.

[@kristenlee4495]

Thank you! This helped me in literally 5 minutes with things I’ve been trying to work out since I started in fall. More practice didn’t help, but this did!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

I'm really happy to hear this :)

[@user-yf2ry2mg8m]

Thumb up from me! Have 7.5 cm/3in middle finger and 5cm/2in little finger. Easily can stretch from 5th to 9th fret during regular play and can reach 10 fret with some effort in exercices but of course it's impossible to me to reach 12 fret. I can easily play 95+ percents regular chords but most if even not all chords which needs really big stretch can be easily substituted to another form without a big losses in terms of sound. So people who think that they have little fingers and who really have a little fingers - just practice. And of course you SHOULD to know the neck in terms of a music theory, it's really, really helpful. Sometimes you can get a great benefit from your '"little fingers" only with subtitutes all this regular and sometimes very boring barre chords like F 133211. If you play with a friend song like a... for example C G Am F, I will never play this chords in first position like my teammate with "big fingers" do. I will play the role of a lazy cow and this stuff will be something like that: C - x x 10 9 8 8(x) G - x 10 12 12 12 10 Am x 0 5 5 5 5 (Am7 actually but it sounds pretty good in this context) F - x x 0 5 6 5 (F/D or F6 chord with D in a bass but the same thing as above, it 's still a major F chord ) Try this, train this and you will see how your "small fingers" becoming not so small like you got used to think ;) UPD. I practically never play D/C/G forms with a full barre it's very difficult to me but I do not need them really. Bet you too :)

[@hirundufernando2154]

Exactly my hand size👌🤩

[@manuelgonzales6483]

You just won a new subscriber 😘❤️🎉🥳

[@AgnieRF]

Really helped, there is hope now (especially for my pinky)

[@Aristarkhos31]

Thank you for this video! Every tutorial I have watched has somebody with fingers that look so long. Lol. Bar chords are challenging as it is. This has made me rethink the way I position my fingers on and behind the fretboard. Plus, I love your accent man! "Don't hold it against me" 🤭😆

[@GrantSchinto]

Very helpful lesson. Thank you.

[@roycefaggotter6860]

Yes, thank you, for this video as I am having problems getting my index finger to low E without muting high E.