Are my fingers too small?

[Rich44]

Hi, my bass is regular sized (34") and I have no problem reaching the top of the neck as I have quite long arms. However my fingers are pretty short and I can only seem to cover 2-1/2 frets and not the "finger-per-fret" which my tutoring book is telling me. Reaching the E note is fine as its got a thin neck, so everything else is fine. Is this going to be a problem or do I just have to improve my flexibility/strength? I really don't want to have to get a new guitar after a week if I can avoid it.

Finger sizes:
Little: 5.2 cm
Ring: 7 cm
Middle: 7.8 cm
Index: 7 cm

(The main problem Im having is with my little and ring fingers)

What size fingers does eveybody else have compared to their guitar length?

Thanks for your help.

[The Funk]

If you can't do the "1 finger per fret" below the 5th fret, just use a 1-2-4 technique. That means you play with your ring finger and little finger together in the same fret.

I'm not going to go and measure my fingers because that seems silly.

Another thing to do is make sure your bass is at a good angle for you. I play with mine angled up slightly (like in the pic in my sig). (Also, you should stretch your elbows out a bit).

You shouldn't have to worry about the amoung of reach you can get with your fingers.

Hope this helps!

Edited August 24, 2007 by The Funk

[chris_b]

Can you play the numbers you want to play? If you can then this is a rule which is irrelevant for you. Rock, Blues, Jazz etc is full of brilliant players who don't follow "the rules".

As long as you can cover one octave between your first finger and your little finger you'll just have to move your hand. Should not be a problem.

[Rich44]

[quote name='chris_b' post='50176' date='Aug 24 2007, 02:49 PM']Can you play the numbers you want to play? If you can then this is a rule which is irrelevant for you. Rock, Blues, Jazz etc is full of brilliant players who don't follow "the rules".

As long as you can cover one octave between your first finger and your little finger you'll just have to move your hand. Should not be a problem.[/quote]

Yeh, I can play the notes I want (using two-three fingers) but I was just worried about not having the "proper" technique. Just think it might start making things difficult when I try and learn chords in the distant future.

[leonshelley01]

I have quite large hands and still use a 1-2-4 when its convenient, even on an electric guitar. The one fret per finger is a rule that helps, but it is not set in stone. Find the method that is best for you, and as time passes and your fingers build up strength, you may find that your span increases anyway.

[Muppet]

I have little fingers like you have no problems playing a wider neck and spanning frets. I think it's all down to technique and finger placement. Some players grip the neck in the palm of their hand and roll their thumb over the top edge (in the same way as as guitarist). If you use your thumb as an anchor on the back of the neck then you end up with a much better reach up and down the fretboard as well as being more comfortable with wider necks.

[paul, the]

Mine are about the same length as yours and with a stretch I can play the first four frets of each string chromatically. I think I have improved with practice though as I used to 'jump around' a lot.

[guitarnbass]

No, your fingers are not too small.

Edited August 24, 2007 by guitarnbass

[Tait]

Sorry, a bit off topic, but why is it that every one else has a ring finger bigger or the same size as their index? Mine is loads bigger than my index

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='guitarnbass' post='50367' date='Aug 24 2007, 07:45 PM']No, your fingers are not too small.[/quote]

eddie agrees. You should definetly listen to this guy btw. He owns a jackson V I play a 5 string aswell and my fingers are the same size as yours (apart from my little fingers a bit bigger) btw so i really can't see how your fingers are a problem tbh. Oh and how long have you been playing, you won't be able to adopt thew "finger per fret" rule straight away. It took me a bit of time to do it on the guitar! So i reccomend you practice.

Edited August 27, 2007 by EdwardHimself

[Sibob]

No-ones fingers are ever to small, and those that have problems usually overcome them with in-genius technique inventions lol.

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0S1h9Q_Me8"]
DEBRA KILLINGS[/url] doesn't seem to have a problem and look at the size of that neck

I generally teach one finger per fret for things like scale runs etc etc, but for general groove playing and for muting purposes etc i use my index finger and pinky for most of the work, using my ring and middle to mute and obviously play notes when needing the extra stretch.

The more you play, the more your hand will naturally stretch out

Si

p.s.
i do kinda want us all to list our finger sizes now haha

[bass_ferret]

Playing one finger per fret is an excercise to improve fretting - not one of the 10 commandments. Cant think of a single song where the bass plays a chromatic fourth. It might be useful for building solo's but these are not usually played where it hurts.

[DirkThrust]

As Sibob said your fingers will stretch out with playing.

I started having lessons about 6 months ago and one thing I discovered when I had a tutor showing me the correct way to do it was that I could barely cover one finger per fret. It was mainly down to years of lazy playing technique. But with a corrected technique and some simple stretching exercises I noticed a rapid improvement.

Playing a bass requires quite un-natural hand movements and no previous normal life activity prepares your hands for it. Rich, I would give it a few weeks before you start thinking about a different bass

Edited August 27, 2007 by PaulMartin

[Tait]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='51444' date='Aug 27 2007, 09:11 PM']It's because we're manly...

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/695142.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/695142.stm[/url]

...and heterosexual.[/quote]

Thats probably it. But what does that say about the others...?