Fat Fingers Fix For Guitar!
Vložit
- čas přidán 9. 05. 2024
- Here's the skinny on fat fingers and guitar playing: it's not a big deal! Check out this video for the solution that's built into your hand!
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE EXERCISE to GET AWESOME TONE at authenticmusiciantraining.com
SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL!
LIKE THE VIDEO!
JOIN THE MAILING LIST FOR WEEKLY TIPS AT authenticmusiciantraining.com
My Links to Follow:
CZcams - / @AuthenticMusicianTrainingBWade
Instagram - / bryanwade01/
Facebook - / bryanwadeguitar/ - Hudba
I opted for liposuction on my fingers.
Thank you. I am always telling my student about lowering the thumb. Now I have yet another reason for it.
Yes, the thumb can be a bum!! Cheers, Jose!
Just to clarify, fat fingers aren't a problem, but fat fingertips can be. And certainly turning them in the orientation you show makes a huge amount of difference. Two more factors that I can see are how tough your calluses are, and how short your fingernails are. Tougher calluses on your fingertips let you fret with less pressure, since they are less flexible than uncallused fingertips. And long nails can hit the fretboard and stop your fingertips from pressing as hard on the strings. It's important to practice enough to build and keep the calluses tough, and keep the fingernails short - the more you trim them, hopefully the cuticle of the nail recedes to compensate.
@GarySchiltz , absolutely! Great points all around. Thanks!
Just started learning and that makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
I’ve built several guitars, both acoustic and electric. I generally made the nut width greater for the electrics. Or have a custom guitar built. It’s probably not as expensive as you think. Just get a standard Strat or Strat clone (maybe a Squire) and then have a wider neck bolted on. Problem solved.
@robinleebraun7739 is a wider nut width hard to find? AllParts? I'd imagine the bolt pattern is the same, yeah?
Guitar brands that have wider string spacing at the nut are Ayers ( AS model ) and Zager . I have both and this also helps with cleaner notes and less congested playing. They really are worth a look for acoustics. Good video.
Some Sigma have 44.5 and also some Parlour guitars also but forget the brand and look for 45mm (1.75 inch) nut widths. Not easy to get hold of but some are out there,Furch spring to mind too.
@@skintslots Agree with your comment, 1.75 inch nut for easier quicker learning too. I usually go back to the Ayers AS as it's halfway between a normal width and a classical width. Suits me.
@@soundssimple1 There's no way many of us have nearly 3k for a guitar. Furch are expensive enough but some are under 1k. My own budget is a lot less though.
thanks for adding this @soundssimple1 and @skintslots. I'm not much of a gear head so I love it when folks with your knowledge bring that element to the discussion. 😀
❤❤❤❤😊😊😊
Classical guitars have wider fretboards. So do baritone ukuleles. Try those.
You listed my favorite instruments! I dabble on classical guitar because I am very new to it and clumsy, but I am always playing and practicing on my beautiful Baritone ukes.
Thanks
Thanks
Fat fingers are definitely a thing. My fingers are shorter than my palm length and they do get in the way of playing somewhat. That's absolutely not to say that you cannot play with fat fingers, you definitely can, Gary Moore and Yngwie are two examples, but I see no harm in acknowledging that hanging long, thin fingers definitely makes it easier to play certain styles of music. Becker, Petrucci, Vai, Macalpine, there are things that they can do that many people won't physically be able to do due to hand size limitations, both fatness and length wise. I think we need to stop disregarding how younger beginner players feel about their particular hand shape and work out lessons and methods according to their own uniqueness rather than a one size fits all approach.
Hear, hear, @loosegoose9647 !
I agree. The free PDF linked in the description does just that. It helps players find their true fingertip, meaning the tiny spot where the bone is in the fingertip. Once you find that spot, you orient your hand so that you can be right on those fingertips when you play, no matter the size or shape of your hand.
The exercise shows how to start with the most important thing.
It's free.
Check it out!
Nice. Thanks. PS- I hear Claptons hands are big and the tips like octopus suckers. Cool. I do look at guitarists hands and they often are slender and long fingers!. Takes all kinds.
@mikegaglio yes, a lot of famous guitarists have long fingers. In my 30 years of teaching I've noticed that even players with long fingers still have issues to overcome. Their middle fingers often overextend and curl when the others are straight. I don't think there's a perfect hand position, just different pros & cons.
Cheers!
❤❤❤ the D is not the problem it is the A. & Bar shape A
@whatknotcovfefe just practice it gets easy and becomes second nature
@whatknotcovfefe Don't use the first 3 fingers with open A, either use fingers 2, 3 & 4 or bar with the first finger. If you bar the open A chord, don't worry about the 1st string ringing (the skinny E string on the bottom). That is an E and you already have an E on the 4th string (D string). Of course, if you WANT to hear that \E string ringing then you need to do the spatula technique.
Try that and let me know how it goes.
Cheers,
Bryan
Also, @whatknotcovfefe, did you try the free exercise here at authenticmusiciantraining.com
Yeah , I’m sorry but most electric guitar necks are just too narrow for some of us beginners with thicker finger tips “ ie the middle finger muting strings next to it while chording. Peoples fingers were smaller 75 years ago !! 😮
Hi, John! One way to get more room on a fretboard is to use an electric 12 string and only put the standard 6 strings on it. That can give you more real estate. : )
@johnCjr4671 its all down to practice nothing more
I'd just like to add to the fat finger maestro list like Red Volkhardt, George Benson and Frank Gambale, both at the very top of the jazz tree and both have tree trunks for fingers.
@bertieborough yes! I referred to my teacher, Robert Newton, in the video. George Benson was his hero! Robert had the same picking angle and sweep thing going. He played fusion and could go anywhere with the guitar. I don't have any good recordings of him because he just loved to play live.
Thanks for your contribution!
@@AuthenticMusicianTrainingBWade I will too that some of us have small hands but fat finger pads. This is often overlooked by lots of reviewers but many people,like myself,find the pads at the tip of our fingers are a bit flatter or fatter. This is the main reason I like wider nut widths given I have smaller hands overall. Guitar necks are made too uniformly as so many of us have different physiological and biological make ups. The big problem with far eastern,not just China but even the quality Japanese models,made guitars seem to have been designed with typical smaller Asian hands in mind. I wish this would change as Yamaha are lovely guitars but the nut widths and string spacing are largely far too narrow.
Yeah, I remember "folk guitars". They often had slotted headstocks and slightly wider nut widths and were made for steel strings. Usually small body models. Kind of a hybrid of steel and nylon styles for fingerstyle. A friend of my dad had a couple and he played ragtime on guitar! I remember seeing a Takamine several years ago. Might find one on Reverb.com.
Did you try the exercise at authenticmusiciantraining.com ? That may help with some of the width issues. The tip of the bone in our finger is very narrow so if you come right down onto the string you can be more "narrow". The exercise helps you feel that narrow tip in your finger and use it for more precision.
Try it out and I'd love to hear if it helps in any way. It's free so it's not like buying a Furch for $3,000!
Here's the link again and good luck!😀
Bryan
authenticmusiciantraining.com
I think these play alternatives tuning
Thanks
you do not have any idea what it is like to play to play with short fat fingers ! If your fingers are stubby and fat you can not position your hand to not mute strings !
@mikemcneil8268 what is it like? Are there any chords that you can play cleanly? Do you avoid certain chords or harmonies? Do you use 6ths for solos?
You're right, I don't know what it's like. Please tell me. : )
@@AuthenticMusicianTrainingBWadeyes there are many chords I can not play. I can not play a C chord , E ,A and Amin I play with only two fingers . I can not bend my fingers at the first joint so as to play on the tips,if I position hand to play with the tips then my palm is muting the high E string ! Your fingers are much longer and more flexible than mine !
This video did not provide any useful guidance. I appreciate your sincere intent though.
Hi, @philipliethen519. Thanks for your reply. How could this video have helped you more?
Sincerely,
Bryan
@philipliethen519 did you try the exercise at authenticmusiciantraining.com ?
It's free