SMALL HANDS, STUBBY FINGERS, ARTHRITIS AND MORE
I studied guitar while in elementary school; I had small hands. As an adult, I have small hands and the “sausage like” fingers of and associated with psoriatic arthritis. In addition, I have fibromyalgia and a few other things which result in pain, stiffness, and weakness in my hands, fingers, arms, and shoulders. One would think I have no reason to attempt to play the guitar much less fingerstyle where both hands have to work in coordination and fluidly.
Four plus years ago, I was curious if my guitar which had not been touched in 47 years was saw dust. All of those years, it was in the back of one closet or another. The case was locked and I couldn’t find the keys. A lock smith picked the case, looked at the guitar, and offered me $5000 for the guitar my father paid $200! I went home and tried in vain to play it. Surprisingly, the strings were fair, but my left hand couldn’t hold the strings to the fret board, and my right hand couldn’t hold a pick. I am oppositional enough to persist rather than declare defeat.
One day while driving somewhere, I saw a guitar repair shop and stopped in and presented the owner and head luthier my problem and showed him my hands. I didn’t even know what a luthier was, but knew there were people who repaired gutiars. He suggested a lighter weight/gauge of strings and something called a “set up.” Surprisingly, this worked. He offered me $8000 for my guitar and posted pictures on Instagram which resulted in several offers. Nonetheless, I still have the guitar, a Gibson L4C made in 1959. Apparently, in its day, it was more than the guitar I circled in a Gibson catalog, it was one of the premiere guitars used by eminent jazz guitarists.
I already knew the legendary Les Paul had chronic rheumatoid arthritis in his hands and his right arm following an accident while in service was set in a position so he could play guitar but he was unable to flex it at the elbow! I did not know the following: The brilliant Gypsy jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt following an accident had a paralyzed right leg and 2 fingers on his fretting hand were badly burned and paralyzed. The doctors wanted to amputate; he refused, and miraculously continued his virtuoso career. Contemporary Phil Keaggy had an accident and lost his right index finger. To see him play, P, M, A, C, sometimes as hybrid picking is fascinating. The late Pete Huttlinger (road manager and lead for John Denver and others) won a National Fingerstyle Championship and played Carnegie Hall; at age 49 he suffered a stroke with right side paralysis, recovered and retaught himself to play the guitar. Classical guitarist David Leishner recovered after 12 years of focal dystonia (cramps, tremors spasms, and curling of the fingers into the palm). He developed his own treatment methods. Whereas, Billy McLaughlin switched to playing left-handed when afflicted with dystonia (cramps, tremors). Allegedly, Eric Clapton has peripheral neuropathy which causes weakness, numbness, and pain to minimally the hands. Jerry Garcia lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead lost a finger in an accident. Tommy Iommi lead guitarist for Black Sabeth lost the tips of his right hand middle and ring fingers, for him his fretting hand, in an accident. Mark Goffney learned to play guitar and bass with his feet. He was born without arms. What am I complaining about? There are many stories of professional musicians rising above what logically would be physical limitations and becoming and/or maintaining an elite level of their craft.
Admittedly, these guitarists, many you may not know, have/had far more talent than myself, but for me, it pointed to some hope. While my situation is not theirs and vice versa, four years later, and a lot of encouragement from Leah, I am no longer a beginner guitar player. Yes, it takes so much patience, so much time, so much persistence; yet, whenever I meet a professional/famous guitarist, we discuss hands and fingers. I will assure you, so far, I have not met any guitarist who has perfect hands and fingers. They make or find accommodations. When we see and/or hear a performance, usually we would never know their limitations or more accurately how they have risen above the same.
I have learned several things which will be presented in other forum entries, but the tease is:
Guitar and string selection and set up. No, you do not have to get a guitar built to your specifications or spend half your savings to do this! For me, it was a set of $8 strings and a $65 set up!
Accidentally, out of necessity, and without intent, I have become a bit of a Guitar Geek. In part, this came from nothing more than experimenting with several different string varieties, picks, sitting positions, etc. Looking at youtube videos on guitar repair, string comparisons, etc. Four plus years ago, I had no idea how a guitar pick up worked, the different sounds/tone of woods, and how to repair a guitar. Please keep in mind, I know how to replace a hot water heater, but wouldn’t do it, and for sure, I would not repair a guitar.
In the future, the following will be discussed in simple language and how they relate to small hands, stubby fingers, arthritis, and more: string gauges/tensions/materials, guitar nut widths and scale lengths, guitar sizes, flat vs. radiused fretboards, and probably most importantly getting a guitar that is comfortable and playable for you rather than what the big box guitar store sales person wants to sell you. There is also a luthier’s semi secret way of measuring hands for a guide to guitar size! Think of it this way. You would not buy shoes that were too tight or loose. Let me pass on some tips. Les Paul found an easy solution, he used an extra large size guitar pick! There might be a very simple solution for you!
Sometimes, it is nothing more than trial and error experimentation; yet, it important to know what to try. When, I was in graduate school a professor told me success was based upon patience, persistence, to some degree intelligence, and most importantly, and I will not use his profanity, tolerating and dealing with obstacles. Extending this to guitar playing, it would seem talent should also be included, but I know of no way to quantify talent and to say who has enough talent and based upon the guitarists I mentioned above, talent does not discriminate when faced with small hands, stubby fingers, arthritis, and more.
