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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[rinjihalfelf]

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...

[Pbnj]

Thank you!! My tiny hands now have hope!

[donnar]

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.

[notfrnkiero]

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

[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!!

[phoebemoore]

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

[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

[chillywilly]

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.

[robharms]

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

[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! :)

[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.

[dash]

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.

[ecbennyj]

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.

[mikeporter]

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.

[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 !

[cleverkev]

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.

[ImBeck]

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

[Jamie_of_the_Glen]

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

[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.

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.