Do Long Fingers Help or Hinder Guitar Playing?

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i have quite long fingers, i think...but i seem to be able to play okay...they did get in the way and annoy me when i started out though...

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i have quite long fingers, i think...but i seem to be able to play okay...they did get in the way and annoy me when i started out though...

I'm a guitar teacher. If you have long fingers and you are playing ok then obviously they don't hinder. There are tradeoffs to both long and short fingers- neither is better. If one's technique is good enough, it doesn't matter. It is easier to do long stretches with long fingers, but usually there is no excuse for even doing long stretches unless you are trying to look cool for an album cover. If you can reach 4 frets with 4 fingers, that is enough. People with short fingers always think they would do better with long fingers, but the truth is, of the students I've had, the ones with the best right hand stability had short fingers. Fingerstyle- people with short or thick fingers get a better tone easier. In the end, it's all about technique, and what you do with the physiology you've got.

help !!

Having short, stubby digits, I envy players with long fingers. Now I think about it, most of the great guitarists have long fingers.
Jimi Hendrix's hand was so big that he was able to use his thumb as a barre, while fretting with the other 4 fingers!

it doesnt matter really, people always think that long fingers are better for guitar, or piano, but it doesnt matter, a short fingered person can be just as good, or worse.
you may be able to reach further for a stretch, but thats not essential!

"they did get in the way and annoy me when i started out".. wtf?! sure it's better when you have long fingers.
I'm a pianist and at school we had to stretch our fingers every day during the warm up. the worlds best pianists have long fingers cause they can learn stuff more easily and during the most meanest parts of the composition can get through flawlessy with ease. the same about guitarists. but I agree that having shorter fingers doesn't necessarily affect playing. you can have short fingers and can play the instruments as good as the ones with long fingers only you have to exercise more.
so overall, yes- long fingers do help playing guitar.

Lengthof fingers has no bearing and contrary to what people say. Djanjo Reindthart has only 2 fingers and short , and he could do sweeps on the gitar as if he had 10 fingers.
i have long fingers also and big hands. So when I play on the upper registers , it gets cumbersome and you have to adjust your fingering.

It doesn't matter in the slightest. It's what you can do with your fingers that counts.

One of my favourite jazz guitarists, Johnny Smith, was once at a gig by another great jazz guitarist, Tal Farlow. Farlow had very large hands, and the person Johnny was with commented that it was Farlow's big hands that were part of the secret of his sound. Johnny thought about this and reflected that not only did the great Django Reinhardt have only two totally functioning fingers on his fretting hand, but the great maestro of classical guitar Andrés Segovia had short stubby fingers.

Django had basically two good fingers on his left hand. Segovia had short stubby fingers. Johnny Smith had medium-sized fingers. Tal Farlow and Jimi Hendrix had really long fingers. It doesn't make any difference.

I agree w/ Evelyn and to an extent Matt. Size does matter. In addition to Hendrix. look at Montgomery, Montoya, Fripp, Parkening, Johnson and a host of others. I'm suprised leftie does not mention Garcia along w/ Rheinhardt. Sure it may be more difficult for a man w/ large hands (as opposed to long fingers) to play the upper registers, but it is more a question of nimbleness, not size. Don't you think leftie that Hendrix flourished in the upper registers? As for lexo, it is news to me that long fingers are not an inherent advantage, but nothing burns brighter than practice. I would add Chet Atkins to your excellent examples of Segovia and Smith..

Doesn't matter too much. BB King - short, Nick Drake - long.

Technically Drake was probably better, but who cares? Everyone finds their own style. I would describe mine as "awful" and I have long fingers.

it doesnt matter!!!

just check toni iommi story