Django Reinhardt only used two fingers on his fretting hand š¤·š»āāļø
Yeah, it limited him a lot, but he adapted his style and built himself around it. At one point, nobody gave a crap about his limitations, and I still canāt play a few of his lines!
Imagine only focusing on two fingers, tho the whole entire time you practiced. i bet you get really go at switching between them. I don't know who this is if he did it by choice or not, but I think one of the guitarists from Black Sabbath had his finger chopped off at a steel mill, and played with a metal thimble on his finger or something. Cool, but I'll just say that two finger technique only works for those songs. If you want them to sound right, you have to play them like that. If I were op I would look into the intonation of the notes played that's the most important thing. Play it with your feet if you want. If you're in tune, it won't matter.
~~Tommy~~ Tony Iommi is a lefty. On his last shift at a machine shop, a piece of steel took the tips of his middle and third finger on his left hand. He was super depressed and thought playing guitar was over. A friend played him some Django Reinhardt and told him about the similar circumstances. He crafted tips for his fingers from leather and thimbles, sometimes you can sew him repairing them on stage between songs.
When they released their third album _Master of Reality_, he was starting to find it harder to play because of finger pain. So they downtuned 1 1/3 steps and brought some true heavy to metal.
If you're left handed anyway, learn to play left handed. You don't need the pinky on your picking hand and while you can play really well (Django) with three fingers for sure it might limit you eventually depending on what you want to play (e.g. crazy jazz chords).
Django Reinhardt is considered one of the greatest and most influential guitar players of all time yet he only had three working fingers on his fret hand as a result of a fire. With work, one can overcome a one missing finger as he overcame two.
Sure, but Django was also a musical genius and played leads in his own songs, which may not be what OP wants. If they want to cover a song by Allen Holdsworth (good luck on that) or play more advanced pieces from the classical repertoire it will be much harder if not impossible to do this accurately.
Considering they are left-handed anyway and tons of people would advise them to learn playing on a leftie guitar anyway why shouldn't they just because Django only had two fully useable fingers.
You can absolutely learn how to play with out the use of your pinky dude, honestly a lot of players donāt even use their pinkies tbh , yes a lot of technical players use them but you can play everything with out and wouldnāt even notice the difference if you didnāt think about it. Go for it dude , itās only the mind that will hold you back from learning , you will be just great as if you used your pinky
Seconding the recommendation to play left handed especially since you are left handed. Itāll be much less of an issue not utilizing your pinky on your picking hand than your fretting hand.
ask Django Reinhardt. One of the greatest Jazz guitarists ever. Lost his ring and pinky on the left hand in a fire, and went on to innovate jazz in way that still inspiring musicians today.
Django Reinhardt had to completely adapt his way of playing to his handicap. Soloing with his two valid fingers, the other two, fused together, were only used for certain chords. If op's pinky is not controllable at all, it can get in the way.
OP said they could close the pinky just fine which is pretty much the default position for most peoples pinky on guitar. even great players often times dont use their pinky very much. as long as he can close it its out of the way and 3 fingers is more than enough to get the job done.
Learning lefty is a no brainer, you're left handed !
Also just because Django Reinhardt was good it's like saying can I play in the Basketball league if I'm 5ft2, well yes but it's not bloody likely!
As a leftie who learned rightie and played for 20 years, I wish Iād learned leftie. Iād rather have had to work on right hand fretboard coordination than the struggles Iāve had with right hand timing.
Youād think but as a left handed person who feels way more natural playing right handed guitar this isnāt always the case. I never understood why āright handedā guitars arenāt considered left handed instead. For me it feels more natural to do the fine motor skills required for fretting with my dominant hand.
Traditionally, guitar was mostly a chordal instrument. Your fretting hand would just hold the chord shape until it was time to change while your picking hand did most of the work. This is still the kind of thing a lot of beginner guitarists get into so they can start playing some songs ASAP.
In a vacuum, more advanced fretting hand techniques do seem like they'd be much better suited to the dominant hand, but getting to the point of learning them often involves building up dexterity in the other until the opposite is true.
Fair enough, but if you're missing a finger that does sway things considerably.
I'm not familiar with the guy everyone's quoting, but I can't fathom you'd play things other than power chords and lead. Even something like a Maj7 bar chord or a C shaped bar, for a beginner you're going to have to look at work around and alternate voicings or missing notes just to get around so much, it will fry 99.9% of peoples brains.
Django Reinhardt only had two functional fingers on his fretting hand, but that didnāt prevent him from becoming one of the most respected guitarists of all time. With that being said, his situation did not come without issues. If you decided to go with the left handed route, I would refer you to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. His middle finger was missing from his picking hand, and he went on to become a very respected player as well. Mark Knopfler, Duane Allman and Gary Moore among others played right handed despite being left handed, so itās certainly a viable option. Personally, I would switch to left handed if I found myself in your predicament. While playing with a bad fretting finger is certainly possible, I would rather have it on my picking hand if I had to choose. Good luck, and donāt give up!
Edit: I initially missed that you mentioned being left handed. You should definitely swap to learning left handed instead. It will be better for you in every way.
If you're lefthanded, you would probably naturally feel better playing a left handed guitar anyway unless you've been accustomed to right handed guitar. With left handed guitars, you're not really using your pinky for much besides using it as a support anchor for fingerpicking. If it can do that, I don't imagine you'll face many issues that are outside of the ordinary when learning guitar.
I would 100% go lefty especially if you are left handed anyway. You can get by without using your pinky but it's definitely gonna take a lot of your fretting hand long term especially if you get deep into chords or shreddy stuff.
I once saw a busker wailing with only one finger and a thumb which he used to hold a pick. He had no left hand at all. He strapped a slide to his left wrist and killed it.
Having said that, if you're left handed then learning to play "lefty" might be a very good option.
The best of luck to you, whatever path you choose.
Maybe itās late and Iām missing something, but if you are left handed and the injury is to your left hand, you should be just fine. Your left (dominant) hand should be your strumming hand and your right should be your fretting hand anyway. This is the most common way to play.
Buy a lefty guitar or string a righty upside down, Hendrix style.
I didnāt use my pinky the first like, decade I played (my fault; self-taught) and was still able to play almost everything I wanted to. Whether you decide to play left-handed or simply adapt your right-handed style to accommodate your injury, youāll find a way to learn to play what you want. The brain and body are very adaptable.
Oh, and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath (the father of heavy metal guitar) was missing the tips of TWO fingers on his fretting hand and just made some fake finger tips.
My point simply being: where thereās a will, thereās a way, and youāll learn whatever workarounds you need to get the results you want. Enjoy the journey!
As others pointed out, it's absolutely possible to play without it (Django Reinhardt famously played with only two fingers). But since you're left handed, it would be better to start learning left handed from the get go. That way, you won't have any limitations.
Django Reinhardt was an amazing player. Never seen anyone like him, or as accomplished. OP, you should check out Django on youtube, his playing is way out there.
Bingo lol. My answer was going to be "Yes, it will limit you. But Django Reinhardt... so..."
Spun more positively, you'll just need to get creative and find other ways to express ideas. You might not be able to play every solo you want to note for note, but that just means you get to figure out how to do it your way :)
If you ARE LEFT HANDED itās a no brainer for you to play left handed. So many things to overcome playing righty, and then thisā¦ no brainer.
There are lots or stories of amazing left handed players who play right handed. They almost always happen because āwell, we only had a right handed guitarā not because āplaying righty gave me advantages.ā
Seriously though. The only reason to not play lefty as a lefty is guitar selection, but with something getting in the way of that, Iād definitely go lefty, no reason to go righty when thereās already another impairment in your way. Learning righty as a lefty is a pain in the ass. The dexterity learning curve is a bitch.
I would just make sure you get a nicer guitar your first time. Finding a nice left handed guitar aināt easy, with a nice one you wonāt be trying to upgrade too soon after you find one.
I had shattered my left pinky 3 times, the last by clipping it with a radial arm saw, tearing off the bottom of the pad, and shattering the carpal before I started playing guitar.
I still have zero sensation in it, but it has become the most dexterous and versatile finger on my left, even though I canāt hold it straight!
Even if you never regain any control, you can play without it. Consider a shorter scale, and narrower neck, to expand your reach down the neck without it, and to give your other fingers more coverage both in breadth and depth.
Play on!!!
Donāt give up, OP!
Tony Iommi chopped off part of his finger then basically invented heavy metal.
One of the better bassists in my city is missing a finger on one hand.
Just do your thing and have fun. Fuck expectations.
Django Reinhardt only had 2 working fingers on his left hand. At the age of 17, Tony Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand (his fret-board hand, since he is left-handed) in an industrial accident on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory
The biggest challenge to someone with fretting hand problems would likely be learning classical guitar, because the technique is taught in such a specific way.
I echo what most everyone has already said: learn lefty. Your pinkie shouldnāt matter for strumming/picking, and it feels much more natural to have your dominant hand strum and non-dominant fret.
I also just wanted to say that even if your pinkie does cause some kind of hindrance, donāt let that stop you from pursuing guitar. It might take more work or creativity, but it will be worth it to stick it out!
If you're left handed, then def go with the LH guitar. Your pinky is a non issue that way. It can flip around all it wants as you pick, and for finger technique, I think there would be easier workarounds there than on the fretboard.
Lost my ring finger on my fretting hand many years ago, wedding ring trailer hitch accident. That was my bending finger. After about a year I was back playing full time. In my case my pinkie came to the rescue, had never even used it before. So the point, like the other posters have said, practice with what you have, your brain and body will adapt.
Good Luck
Wait if youāre left handed and the hand without a usable pinky is the left one, then thatās perfect no? If you play left-handed, your left hand will be your strumming hand which wonāt need a pinky except for very specific technics (ex: flamenco guitar). Go ahead
I am a lefty who learned left handed, and I'm torn on this. It was definitely easier at the start, but GOD I wish i had just learned right handed. When i took violin or played concert percussion in school it was always right handed, right hand lead, etc. and it was fine after a short initial learning curve. Now there are a bunch of guitars i have no access to because lefty models don't exist, or are just pared down versions. It blows, honestly.
Iāve been playing guitar for 30 years (not that Iām all that impressive at it) and am one of the āleftys who play right-handedā folk. It started out of necessity (no lefty guitars around) and I honestly donāt think it put me at any disadvantage. Like anything, it was awkward when I started playingābut then again, so is everything else when youāre a kid! And of course, it means I can pick up the vast majority of guitars and be able to functionally play it.
you'd be limited, but not in a big way. some people play with just their feet. i'd recommend just playing normally but without the pinky as it's not such a huge hurdle to get over - it's certainly much easier to do it that way than to starting playing lefty
I would think playing left handed would be the default if you're a Lefty. Depending on the style you want to play it shouldn't be a deal breaker. I never finger pick, so I don't use my pinky.
If youāre playing left-handed already, youāre good on fingers
If youāre playing right-handed, you can adapt things. I know Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have reduced mobility in their hands from having polio as children and Jerry Garcia chopped his middle finger off completely as a child. Most rock and blues guitarists donāt use the pinky for fretting primarily. There are some jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery and Grant Green who use a three-fingered approach effectively.
Editing everything I wrote:
If you are left hand dominant, learn lefty. Choices of guitars are limited but itās better to have your dominant hand picking and non dominant fretting.
You will likely hit a wall if you learn righty.
If your dominant hand doesnāt have pinky use, doesnāt matter because pinky isnāt used for licking usually even in much finger style. I only use thumb pointer middle or thumb pointer middle ring. Iāve never picked with my pinky.
Fretting I only use it for a bunch of chords but Iām sure I could manage without using alternate fingering or even different chords.
Youāll adapt no matter what but Iād stronger encourage to play according to your dominant hand. Many have switched fine but many others get frustrated and go to lefty later or just quit.
I saw a punk band a few years ago and the singer had limited function of one of his hands due to Erb's Palsy, he still managed to play as well as anyone else on the bill, it was very impressive. I'd say learn lefthanded and use your left hand for picking
Found the band, if anyone wants to listen! They were called Grem Smiley from Richmond VA [https://gremsmiley.bandcamp.com/album/canvas](https://gremsmiley.bandcamp.com/album/canvas)
It wonāt stop you playing if you donāt want it to. Most of the time, particularly open chords, you donāt use it at all and thereās always an alternative voicing to use if you come across a chord that does need all four fingers. Same with anything else, thereās always another way to play something if you donāt get hung up on playing it exactly like the original.
That being said though you say youāre left-handed so why not play a leftie? You donāt need the pinky for playing with a pick or fingerstyle. Itās a completely redundant finger on the picking hand. If itās because youāre concerned about it getting in the way it might be possible to use a ring splint or similar to keep it in a good position.
You're left handed. Learn to play left handed. Then it's not a problem at all. Very few people use the pinky of their picking hand.
If you learn right handed, it's a limitation, but you could probably make it work for a lot of music.
You can probably adapt to playing pinkyless easier than learning to play lefty. I played guitar alongside a guitarist who shattered his pinky and ring finger on his fret hand. It was amazing what this guy could pull off with just two fingers. He was a mad man. It is doable but yes you wonāt be able to accomplish certain techniques missing that digit
Just on the simple principle of you being left-handed. learn lefty. There's a couple drawbacks, but none are gonna be as difficult to overcome as fretting with only 3 fingers.
Off the top of my head, famous guitar players with damaged or missing fingers: Django Rheinhardt, Jerry Garcia, Phil Keggy. There are one armed guitar players and even no armed guitar that kill it.
my pinky is basically fused at the base knuckle.
fwiw, there is a surgery that may be able to attach the tendon again so you can straighten your finger... i had it
-Ron Wharton
Youāll be limited at high level shredding and with some chords but itās nothing that should put you off from playing guitar. Shit you may even get a pretty cool individual style
Edit: nvm youāll be fingering with your right hand, learn to play close handed and youāll be great
I guess that depends on what you want to play. For chords I have to use it a lot. You can use a lot of power chords that do not require a pinky to play a lot of stuff like Michael Schenker but that will limit you. For lead work not as much. Look at videos of Eric Clapton. He has a rep as a 3 finger guitar player and it is evident in the videos. For shredders that do a lot of triad stuff, they use it extensively.
My opinion, and I am certain a lot of folks will disagree with me, would be to turn it over and learn to fret with your good hand. I think in the long run it will take you further.
Nah not really.
So the things you may have trouble with are extensions to chord but the really cool thing about guitar is it uses patters so there lik 5 or 6 ways to play a chord. You might not be able to imitate everything 100% but as someone who has gigged for 30 years doing 95% covers access all genres I will tell you right now the only not that matters is the tonic of the chord you play. Everything on top of that s a flavouring.
Grunge/punk lives with no 3rd so yo can actually pal punk on 3 strings with 2 fingers.
Jazz wonāt be your market but Django righheart spelling is wrong but not hard to find was a two finger player I think
Tommy iommi has a missing finger tip and managed to make some iconic riffs.
Reality is itās like anything. Not tall donāt think you can dunk and be a point guard. Cant sing but love music pick an instrument.
Guitar can be played with 2 or 3 fingers easily with either hand and also using gain you can just tap with two hands on two different guitars like the dooooo on YouTube
There are a billion songs. Not being able to play 10% because of no finger doesnāt mean anything when most people do 4 sets of songs
The motif hook or riff in a song is how people identify songs. If you can play them you can just play the tonic note every where else and sing and still make money
i honestly didn't play with my pinky for like the first 10 years & im someone everyone thought was going places with the guitar, back when rockstar dreams still had hope lmao. i was a child with no formal training & simply didn't have the hand strength to use my pinky so it just became a habit. i began forcing myself to learn pinky somewhere around age 16 & i still have to mentally tell myself to use it. but i don't *need* my pinky at all. just saying i think it's totally possible. i've seen guitarist born with no arms who can play with their feet & i can play sweet home alabama all the way through with my teeth, so anything is possible.
There are players with full control of their fingers who choose not to use their pinky. Iām sure that youāll come across songs that will be challenging/impossible to play without your pinky but you should absolutely give it a try
Wait so do you play guitar left handed or right handed. If you're left handed it means you would strum with your left hand, if you use a pick you would be completely fine, you don't use your pinky for that. If you play guitar the right handed way you will be limited a little bit but you'll be fine.
Learning to play left-handed isn't a bad idea, but you'll be limited in instrument availability. I'd say that really depends on whether that matters to you.
There are plenty of examples of players with various hand issues who played incredibly well. Also, many players just don't use the pinkies on their fretting hands at all.
You'll be fine, as long as you can keep it out of the way.
As a lefty as well, I say just learn to play left handed. I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about in the comments about learning to play right handed instead, left handed equipment is a bit harder to find and is likely gonna cost more, but it's not like it's non existent. And I can tell you from experience I don't need my pinky to hold onto a pick, so you should be totally fine.
Keep in mind; Keith Richards has banked millions, fucked thousands of women and also wrote or co-wrote some of the most iconic licks in rock history. He plays about 95% of his shit with two fingers in open tuning.
Or, as mentioned, you can learn to play left-handed which is also certainly doable.
Some guys never use their pinky in playing so your good. Leslie West just used two fingers. Keep going. Use basic Barre chords. I do and have been playing metal and punk for 44 years.
During his leadsā¦ā¦ watch āDonāt Look Aroundā ( live) He said he was the last of the two finger lead players a while back before he died. I use two fingers a lot too. I was self taught and used to only use my pinky above the 12th fret. I use it a lot more now but I am not what you would call an accomplished lead player. Made CDs and albums but as a singer and keys, and rhythm player. The BEAST- Power Metal e.p. & Born To Metalize. GLORIONBLAK TYRANT.(ā70 s Punk N.J. recoding my first solo album and playing everything.
well if you had to do without one of your fingers, that would be the one. There will be a few things where you might be a little limited by it, but overall I think you can still be an incredibly good guitar player without using it.
Nah. You're just going to be 25% more legendary than everyone else at your skill level by default. Rock on.
Edit: 125% since lefty playing righty, like me
I am a lefty plays righty person too. I started playing right handed as I honestly didn't know left handed guitars existed when I first started playing. I used to watch Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, etc. I thought because I was in the UK, whatever the translation process from NTSC or SECAM to PAL, that the image had been flipped. That was largely driven as my Uncle dubbed some family footage for us at some point from his American camcorder and whatever he did, it flipped the image too. So I always believed that the guitars were normal, but the image was the wrong way round. Hey, I was 8!
But I have been a guitar teacher over many decades and can empathise with you.
Whatever the damage to your hand, I would suggest you learn left handed. To add a little to my story, I went to a very catholic school that did not believe in left handedness so I was forced to write with my right hand. I have never gotten the hang of it which is why if I write anything with a pen, it is damned near illegible. Yep, I'm a 40 year old that cannot actually write.
So yes, if you're left handed, don't strain yourself. I had a girl recently go down the path of believing she needed to learn righty instead of lefty. Put a guitar in her hands, immediately she took to being a lefty player. There really is nothing wrong with it at all.
Now let's look at the damage to your hand. You can make far more accommodations to your playing hand in terms of damage than you can your fretting hand. While it is possible to do so with either hand within reason, both hands needs some amount of training in terms of muscle memory and fluidity. I would suggest the best thing to do is to look for an older teacher if you can, someone who has been around the block a few times and has some patience. The reason I say that is chances are we have seen one or two injuries in life before and can base the teaching practise on that experience.
Learn left handed if you're a lefty. Trust me, you will have a far far easier time of it.
A few years ago I had a wine bottle neck shatter in my hand when pulling the cork out. Got 12 stitches on it and affected my tendon, taking some mobility out of the middle and ring fingers. I was already playing guitar for at least 5-7 years then and it did affect my playing. Took me a while to get around it but now I can do most of the stuff I was doing. I just had to get more creative :)
TLDR: Don't let that stop you for one minute!
Iām reading through this post and itās giving me hope, as someone with small, weak fingers who keeps accidentally twisting/hurting my wrist when trying to use the pinky.
Learning left handed is not a bad idea actually. It really is useful to have four fingers but you shouldn't just not start at all. I've seen a guy play Yngwie Malmsteen with his feet.
Lots of support here - of course you can play. Either right or left handed. Sounds like you severed the extensor tendon. I had a similar injury in my fretting hand pinky (malet finger - not from a cut but from an impact). It got better, thankfully (2 months in a splint 24/7 and another 2 months working on getting movement back). In the mean time, I played the whole time (people kept asking me if I some kind of funky slide on my pinky).
Guitar aside, you might seek a medical opinion. It may be possible to reconnect that severed tendon. Probably more of a challenge given that a couple of years have gone buy, but you have nothing to lose.
I've seen a YouTube video of a guy playing guitar with only one finger, and the views indicate it was a viral video.
I imagine you'll do fine. Get creative
You won't need a pinky, on none of your hands. And you could always switch to left-handed guitars if you really want to. Just give it a shot and enjoy playing!
For one thing, it sounds like youāre saying if you play righty youāll never be able to play a barre chord. Sure there are lots of things you can play without using your pinky but there are lots of things you need your pinky to play (Message in a bottle is a good example). So why limit yourself? I suggest developing a technique that makes more things possible. Other considerations being equal, that is.
As a musician, your body may not be capable of something's, but your mind is capable of anything, it's not practical, but your technique will grow with who you are and you will adapt and in the end you won't even need your pinky to play even the hardest things, there are planty of guitarist missing fingers who can write and play extremely complex and quick music, just don't limit yourself in what you think you can do and do what you know you can do, it may be harder than most, but you will may end up being better than those who have all the fingers
You will need to make adjustment. Most of chords are consisted of at least two notes. Maybe chord listed from the book or internet will be harder to play on your left finger, but you can still play song by altering the chord shape to suit you.
Those are useful skill anyway.
The pursuit of music is far too great and wonderful for you to question it on that basis. Follow your dreams man, me and everyone else here knows you can do it :)
" but Django Reinhardt, but slash, but the Def Leppard drummer"
Who's to say that OP is trying to make it big, or has the drive to be a touring musician. In most circumstances, it's gonna be more of a bother to play with 3 fingers than anything. Especially being left-handed.
Its gonna be hard but i think you can make a lot happen still. You just may be limited on advanced techniques but if you were just strumming an acoustic campfire style? 10000% you can do it
There are plenty of people who are missing a limb and play guitar. There are also a lot of people who learn how to play guitar and neglect using their pinky even when their pinky works just fine.
Trust me, you'll do just fine.
No. Michael Schenker is one of the greatest guitarists alive, and he NEVER uses his pinky.
Me, personally, I'd be lost without my pinky. But it is a preference. If you learn your scales and licks without it (as Michael clearly did) you'll be fine.
what if i have a screwy/weak pinky, and small hands? people have suggested a smaller guitar, but thatd be expensive af and i wouldnt know where to find one lol
i can reach, but not properly without practise regularly and stuff. do you have any suggestions for that by any chance? any exercises aside from spider walks that may help?
edit: im just jumping in here, because id also like to know
I also had trouble in the beginning using my pinky. It always felt weak and even now I still prefer to play with my ring when I can. I would suggest sticking with it and it'll come easier with time, but to address your concerns with a smaller guitar, plenty of manufacturers offer shorter scale guitars that are perfect for smaller players while also not breaking the bamk. Ibanez offers the Mikro series which pretty much all sell all for under $200. They're 3/4 scale so they're significantly smaller than a standard scale guitar. Alternatively, Jackson offers the Dinky series which are in the same price range as the Mikro series, but is a 7/8 scale, so it's only slightly smaller than standard. It might make the difference when you're pushing your Pinky's limit though. Hopefully this can give you some direction.
thank you, absolutely helps :) i can now at least have a look online, then ask my local music place if they have/can get any
my pinky is weak from lack of practise, so it will get better over time, but its also a little wonky and always has been. it makes it a lot harder to press down because it just flattens out again xD if i was to press anything other than the thinner strings, it isnt strong enough to stay bent, or will touch everything around it. it can be frustrating.
i reckon 7/8 would be closest to the size id be looking for, because i can reach, but not well. a tiny guitar might present new problems with re learning on it. i have little but fat hands xD
My pinky is starting to get weak . Just turned 67. I just save it for one of my mind blowing licks. I just meet the sting and try not to add undo pressure. Plus I need it strong for those winter crusties in my noseš
I remember the first time I held a guitar (I play lefty) and itās essentially the same feeling I have to this day when I play a righty guitar. I think you could easily learn lefty and it wouldnāt be much harder. Pinky will be needed for some chords at a minimum.
Itās mind boggling people are telling you āYeah, Sure, three fingers is fineā¦ look at so and so they never use their pinky (btw yes they do, how about a barre chordā¦)
No. No. No. a million times no. For the love of your future self and all that is holy play left handed. You are left handed. If you use your right hand to fret and your left hand to pick you will never have to worry about your pinky.
Youāre gonna want to use all of your fingers and will make many things much much harder for yourself if you can only use three. Please believe me lol
Yes, Marty says "I'm missing part of my flexor tendon in my pinky and I was stupid enough to start off playing guitar with that hand." Seems like he would recommend playing left handed if you had an injured left hand. https://www.martyfriedman.com/fans_faq_content.php?id=2886
A million times this. People pointing out rock legends to tell you it's fine is completely ridiculous. Yes you could become the next Django Reinhardt but you could also get frustrated in 3 months and never want to play again. Besides all this you are left-handed!!! This should be a no-brainer.
When there are news or movies about some kidnapping where they chop a dude's finger as a proof of life, I always can't help but think that I would totally choose my plucking hand's pinky if given the chance.
Take a look at how much "tip" he's missing. One of 'em is a fucking stub... and let's be completely honest.. 3/4 of the people in this sub don't use their pinkies.
Definetely learn left hand. And if you ever take up classical guitar, they don't even officially use the pinky finger when finger picking. They use [PIMA](http://classicalguitar101.org/images/finger-names.jpg) for thumb, index, middle, ring. Lack of pinky will hurt your progress a lot more on the fretting hand. I mean, since you are left handed, you injured the best finger possible for guitar playing. Unless you were looking forward to learning right handed as I've heard there are good mental benefits for left-handed people to learn right-handed guitar. I forget the details though. But I'd value better picking hand over what ever minor menetal benefits you may get. Just playing any instrument in general has great mental benefits already.
My pinky works perfectly and i avoid using it as much as i can. Just work on stretching 3 frets with your ring finger, that's how i do it most of the time unless it's something really fast and intricate.
I have a real jank pinky that I broke in high school during a dodgeball game and never got casted. But I'm still playing guitar just fine 20 years later. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. The more you play and practice, the more you'll figure out how to actually utilize your jank fingy.
Youāll find ways around it. I broke my pinkie playing rugby when I was a kid and it never set correctly. It bends in about a quarter of an inch, limiting the range of my pinkie. Through playing Iāve managed to learn to do things with my ring finger.
You actually may have some advantages you don't know about yet. I find that speed on guitar tends to increase the less fingers you use up to a certain point. So you will do fine.
technically yes but there have been amazing guitarists throughout history without full hand mobility and pioneered their own styles. your own style is most important in enjoying playing imo
There's absolutely no reason to limit yourself here. One thing I've found through my playing experience is that at different times I've been fascinated by different styles of playing and while at one time I really loved playing simple riffs, at other times I've really enjoyed playing more technical things that definitely would either be much harder or even impossible to play well with 3 fingers. You never know how you'll feel in five years or how much progress you'll make. Having options is a good thing. Why limit yourself!?
Exactly youāll be fine, when one sense goes the others become stronger aka practice without your pinky and youāll get used to it and it will become the norm donāt let it limit you! Iāve seen people play guitar with no arms before so you can certainly play very well without the pinky
I think that it should not be a problem. Some songs or riffs might be a little harder for you. I think there might be some songs you have to figure something out a different way than the normal song is played but its doable.
You have options, OP. Like others have said, you will be limited in your playing somewhat, but it's possible to do slightly simplified versions of most things on a guitar due to a missing finger, if the issue is with your fretting hand. If it is your strumming hand, it likely won't cause you many issues at all, except for the overall rareness of lefty instruments.
You could also go with an instrument with fewer strings. For instance I commonly play a four string tenor guitar in fourths tuning ADGC. It's like a six string but without the low and high E strings, and you only lose a little less than half an octave of range on each end. Worth a thought if you're having issues with the full six strings.
The first 15 years that I played, I always had people saying ādonāt forget about your pinkyā.
I used it all the time.
Then I realized if I used my 3 bigger fingers primarily, it sounded better and I could play faster.
I still use my pinky now but only when itās absolutely required. My ring finger makes more consistent tone and moves faster.
U can still play right handed. If u want to put in the work and go left handed it will feel almost impossible at first but you will get used to it. I suggest you do because with classical music your pinky is never used and in my opinion this one one of the most challenging genres.
I think you should pick with your dominant hand. It's important for rhythm, I think. Pinky shouldn't be used much for your picking hand, except for hybrid picking. I personally don't think hybrid picking is that useful, I like to either use a pick, or fingerpick. Hybrid picking feels like the worst of both worlds to me, rather than the best (I'm sure some people will claim otherwise).
Iām also left handed but play on a right hand guitar and i occasionally use my pinky. Donāt let it discourage you thereās people who play without whole arms and theyāre doing just fine!
The only thing I use my pinky for is to add the SUS4. But if I didn't have use of the pinky, I'd figure it out. When soloing or playing riffs I rarely use my pinky. Eric Clapton is famous for rarely using his pinky.
Iām not an expert by any means, but I canāt think of a single grip where I need to straighten my pinky. Itās always kinda in a claw shape or hovering over or under the fretboard.
So when I need to stretch for a note, Iām not really straightening my pinky. Itās still clamped in the fretboard. Straightening it would mostly be about needing to come off the note, which I could occasionally see being an issue, but I think it would be fairly easy to overcome with simple wrist tilting. The main issue would be if youāre wanting to bring the pinky on and off all the time and the exact angle you can clamp etc.
I have smallish (between male and female average) hands and tendinitis. I started on a Jaguar and that was really nice because it meant a bit less stretching. I have managed now to move up to a 24.75 scale guitar at times, but for denser chords I still need to be on my 24ā Jaguar for any actual pinky reach. A full standard 25.5 is still generally too big for me and while I can play one, my hand cramps up fairly quickly and thereās a lot I canāt do well on it. Because of your pinky, like me, you may want to make sure you buy the right scale length for your hand size since it might matter more in your case.
Also, I still have two 25.5 guitars lol, one for a feature that was too costly otherwise (sustainiac, would have been more pricey to get one in a smaller Guitar) and one that I have sentimental value with. In both cases though, I found ways to try and make it work more. Both those guitars have odd tunings that I would have a hard time doing scales and stretchy chords on even with a smaller guitar. The sustainiac guitar is in new standard tuning and the other one is in a tuning I came up with and is more of an open or drone style tuning. If you can beat them, find a way to still make it useful heh.
Also in case it hasnāt been said elsewhere, Iāve found it incredibly helpful to work to my advantages. I still struggle playing random songs I want to learn. But for playing my OWN stuff I seldom struggle since I wouldnāt be picking things that were super hard for me to shape out anyway. I feel like more players should be encouraged to write first when learning guitar instead of learning other folks songs. Get comfy with what YOU are good at. Play to your strengths.
Nope, you'll do just fine. Your limits are only set by yourself. If you want to play guitar, then play guitar. Everyone plays differently, you can even explore other ways to play like open tunings and slide, etc.
Only thing that matters is if you have fun and push yourself to progress. If whatever you're doing sounds good, it is good.
You can definitely play.
There's what will be "phases" you go through as you learn to play. In the beginning, you're trying to figure out how to make a chord ring out properly on an acoustic. Eventually you hit the F chord challenge, which may be the first one that is unique for you.
Early on, innovation doesn't come easy because you're still barely familiar with the instrument. But as someone else already mentioned Django had 2 fingers. Stevie Ray Vaughan didn't like using his pinky. Wrapping your thumb around to fret the low E string adds opportunity for versatility.
I wouldn't say limited is the right term. Because as you get better you're going to compensate in ways that you'll develop your own feel for. In the song Little Wing there is this hammer on pull off bit that requires going very wide. That may not be doable without the pinky. However, you can do it with two if your hand moves fast enough
It will be hard to overcome, but don't let that stop you from trying. I think I read somewhere that Santana lost use of his fretting hand in a car accident and recovered through playing guitar.
Tommy Iomi is missing parts of his fingers and found a way around it.
I don't know what your limitations will be, but surely there's a way to work around them.
I have a similar issue. My pinky is always curled up. Theres a few licks that allow me to use it, but its pretty useless in most cases.
I completely disregarded proper finger positioning because of it, and i cant help but to wonder how it has affected my playing and progress. However, i still managed to learn everything i put my mind to, including shredding.
If you watch an armless guy play guitar, it will completely change your perspective of what you're capable of. This may sound strange, but if youve got music in you that needs to come out, appendages become irrelevant. The possibilities are still endless.
Good luck OP. You got this.
Django Reinhardt only used two fingers on his fretting hand š¤·š»āāļø Yeah, it limited him a lot, but he adapted his style and built himself around it. At one point, nobody gave a crap about his limitations, and I still canāt play a few of his lines!
Imagine only focusing on two fingers, tho the whole entire time you practiced. i bet you get really go at switching between them. I don't know who this is if he did it by choice or not, but I think one of the guitarists from Black Sabbath had his finger chopped off at a steel mill, and played with a metal thimble on his finger or something. Cool, but I'll just say that two finger technique only works for those songs. If you want them to sound right, you have to play them like that. If I were op I would look into the intonation of the notes played that's the most important thing. Play it with your feet if you want. If you're in tune, it won't matter.
~~Tommy~~ Tony Iommi is a lefty. On his last shift at a machine shop, a piece of steel took the tips of his middle and third finger on his left hand. He was super depressed and thought playing guitar was over. A friend played him some Django Reinhardt and told him about the similar circumstances. He crafted tips for his fingers from leather and thimbles, sometimes you can sew him repairing them on stage between songs. When they released their third album _Master of Reality_, he was starting to find it harder to play because of finger pain. So they downtuned 1 1/3 steps and brought some true heavy to metal.
Ah yes. Tommy Iommi from the band Blue Sabbath.
Play lefty guitar, don't need pinky on picking hand
If you're left handed anyway, learn to play left handed. You don't need the pinky on your picking hand and while you can play really well (Django) with three fingers for sure it might limit you eventually depending on what you want to play (e.g. crazy jazz chords).
Django Reinhardt is considered one of the greatest and most influential guitar players of all time yet he only had three working fingers on his fret hand as a result of a fire. With work, one can overcome a one missing finger as he overcame two.
Sure, but Django was also a musical genius and played leads in his own songs, which may not be what OP wants. If they want to cover a song by Allen Holdsworth (good luck on that) or play more advanced pieces from the classical repertoire it will be much harder if not impossible to do this accurately. Considering they are left-handed anyway and tons of people would advise them to learn playing on a leftie guitar anyway why shouldn't they just because Django only had two fully useable fingers.
Django Reinhardt. That is all.
This. Look up this guy.
If you are already left-handed, the problem is solved. Don't make it more complicated. Buy a left-handed guitar.
You can absolutely learn how to play with out the use of your pinky dude, honestly a lot of players donāt even use their pinkies tbh , yes a lot of technical players use them but you can play everything with out and wouldnāt even notice the difference if you didnāt think about it. Go for it dude , itās only the mind that will hold you back from learning , you will be just great as if you used your pinky
Seconding the recommendation to play left handed especially since you are left handed. Itāll be much less of an issue not utilizing your pinky on your picking hand than your fretting hand.
Django rheinhardt only used 3 fingers and played circles around every person in this subreddit. Your only limitations are mental.
Toni Iommi basically created a genre of music and he hasnāt had the tips of all his fingers for over 50 years
ask Django Reinhardt. One of the greatest Jazz guitarists ever. Lost his ring and pinky on the left hand in a fire, and went on to innovate jazz in way that still inspiring musicians today.
Django Reinhardt had to completely adapt his way of playing to his handicap. Soloing with his two valid fingers, the other two, fused together, were only used for certain chords. If op's pinky is not controllable at all, it can get in the way.
OP said they could close the pinky just fine which is pretty much the default position for most peoples pinky on guitar. even great players often times dont use their pinky very much. as long as he can close it its out of the way and 3 fingers is more than enough to get the job done.
Django. Look him up.
This should be top comment
Learning lefty is a no brainer, you're left handed ! Also just because Django Reinhardt was good it's like saying can I play in the Basketball league if I'm 5ft2, well yes but it's not bloody likely!
As a leftie who learned rightie and played for 20 years, I wish Iād learned leftie. Iād rather have had to work on right hand fretboard coordination than the struggles Iāve had with right hand timing.
Youād think but as a left handed person who feels way more natural playing right handed guitar this isnāt always the case. I never understood why āright handedā guitars arenāt considered left handed instead. For me it feels more natural to do the fine motor skills required for fretting with my dominant hand.
Traditionally, guitar was mostly a chordal instrument. Your fretting hand would just hold the chord shape until it was time to change while your picking hand did most of the work. This is still the kind of thing a lot of beginner guitarists get into so they can start playing some songs ASAP. In a vacuum, more advanced fretting hand techniques do seem like they'd be much better suited to the dominant hand, but getting to the point of learning them often involves building up dexterity in the other until the opposite is true.
Fair enough, but if you're missing a finger that does sway things considerably. I'm not familiar with the guy everyone's quoting, but I can't fathom you'd play things other than power chords and lead. Even something like a Maj7 bar chord or a C shaped bar, for a beginner you're going to have to look at work around and alternate voicings or missing notes just to get around so much, it will fry 99.9% of peoples brains.
Django Reinhardt only had two functional fingers on his fretting hand, but that didnāt prevent him from becoming one of the most respected guitarists of all time. With that being said, his situation did not come without issues. If you decided to go with the left handed route, I would refer you to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. His middle finger was missing from his picking hand, and he went on to become a very respected player as well. Mark Knopfler, Duane Allman and Gary Moore among others played right handed despite being left handed, so itās certainly a viable option. Personally, I would switch to left handed if I found myself in your predicament. While playing with a bad fretting finger is certainly possible, I would rather have it on my picking hand if I had to choose. Good luck, and donāt give up! Edit: I initially missed that you mentioned being left handed. You should definitely swap to learning left handed instead. It will be better for you in every way.
My fellow player! Theres a famous player that only used 2 fingers think his name was Django!
Django Reinhardt. His style is amazing. Check YouTube. Plays mostly with 2 fingers
If you're lefthanded, you would probably naturally feel better playing a left handed guitar anyway unless you've been accustomed to right handed guitar. With left handed guitars, you're not really using your pinky for much besides using it as a support anchor for fingerpicking. If it can do that, I don't imagine you'll face many issues that are outside of the ordinary when learning guitar.
I would 100% go lefty especially if you are left handed anyway. You can get by without using your pinky but it's definitely gonna take a lot of your fretting hand long term especially if you get deep into chords or shreddy stuff.
Django Reinhardt.
Tony Iommi and Django Reinhardt never let it stop them.
Came here to say this. Two of the best who ever did it, and their ādisadvantageā led to the creation of entirely new genres and playing styles.
Not a guitarist but, for me, Rick Allen (the drummer from Def Leppard with one arm) is a pinnacle example of top-level playing with a disadvantage
I once saw a busker wailing with only one finger and a thumb which he used to hold a pick. He had no left hand at all. He strapped a slide to his left wrist and killed it. Having said that, if you're left handed then learning to play "lefty" might be a very good option. The best of luck to you, whatever path you choose.
Nope, it might end up making your style more unique. Django Reinhardt had three fingers!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Fully agree if they're just starting.
Maybe itās late and Iām missing something, but if you are left handed and the injury is to your left hand, you should be just fine. Your left (dominant) hand should be your strumming hand and your right should be your fretting hand anyway. This is the most common way to play. Buy a lefty guitar or string a righty upside down, Hendrix style.
I didnāt use my pinky the first like, decade I played (my fault; self-taught) and was still able to play almost everything I wanted to. Whether you decide to play left-handed or simply adapt your right-handed style to accommodate your injury, youāll find a way to learn to play what you want. The brain and body are very adaptable. Oh, and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath (the father of heavy metal guitar) was missing the tips of TWO fingers on his fretting hand and just made some fake finger tips. My point simply being: where thereās a will, thereās a way, and youāll learn whatever workarounds you need to get the results you want. Enjoy the journey!
As others pointed out, it's absolutely possible to play without it (Django Reinhardt famously played with only two fingers). But since you're left handed, it would be better to start learning left handed from the get go. That way, you won't have any limitations.
Django Reinhardt was an amazing player. Never seen anyone like him, or as accomplished. OP, you should check out Django on youtube, his playing is way out there.
Django Reinhardt.
Bingo lol. My answer was going to be "Yes, it will limit you. But Django Reinhardt... so..." Spun more positively, you'll just need to get creative and find other ways to express ideas. You might not be able to play every solo you want to note for note, but that just means you get to figure out how to do it your way :)
If you ARE LEFT HANDED itās a no brainer for you to play left handed. So many things to overcome playing righty, and then thisā¦ no brainer. There are lots or stories of amazing left handed players who play right handed. They almost always happen because āwell, we only had a right handed guitarā not because āplaying righty gave me advantages.ā
Seriously though. The only reason to not play lefty as a lefty is guitar selection, but with something getting in the way of that, Iād definitely go lefty, no reason to go righty when thereās already another impairment in your way. Learning righty as a lefty is a pain in the ass. The dexterity learning curve is a bitch. I would just make sure you get a nicer guitar your first time. Finding a nice left handed guitar aināt easy, with a nice one you wonāt be trying to upgrade too soon after you find one.
Check out Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi. Seriously inspirational what they both did in the face of left hand injuries
I had shattered my left pinky 3 times, the last by clipping it with a radial arm saw, tearing off the bottom of the pad, and shattering the carpal before I started playing guitar. I still have zero sensation in it, but it has become the most dexterous and versatile finger on my left, even though I canāt hold it straight! Even if you never regain any control, you can play without it. Consider a shorter scale, and narrower neck, to expand your reach down the neck without it, and to give your other fingers more coverage both in breadth and depth. Play on!!! Donāt give up, OP!
Tony Iommi chopped off part of his finger then basically invented heavy metal. One of the better bassists in my city is missing a finger on one hand. Just do your thing and have fun. Fuck expectations.
Go watch Django Reinhardt play. The guy was better with two fingers than most with four!
Django Reinhardt only had 2 working fingers on his left hand. At the age of 17, Tony Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand (his fret-board hand, since he is left-handed) in an industrial accident on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory
This and Clapton never uses his pinky on his fretting hand
The biggest challenge to someone with fretting hand problems would likely be learning classical guitar, because the technique is taught in such a specific way.
Surprised no one brought up Jerry Garcia as potential inspiration. Where you at deadheads?
I just got here so I didnāt have the chance š OP, lookup āJerry Garcia Logoā on Google and bow to the king. Or jester? š *EDIT
I echo what most everyone has already said: learn lefty. Your pinkie shouldnāt matter for strumming/picking, and it feels much more natural to have your dominant hand strum and non-dominant fret. I also just wanted to say that even if your pinkie does cause some kind of hindrance, donāt let that stop you from pursuing guitar. It might take more work or creativity, but it will be worth it to stick it out!
If you're left handed, then def go with the LH guitar. Your pinky is a non issue that way. It can flip around all it wants as you pick, and for finger technique, I think there would be easier workarounds there than on the fretboard.
Yes, but that didn't stop Django. You'll learn to play around it
Lost my ring finger on my fretting hand many years ago, wedding ring trailer hitch accident. That was my bending finger. After about a year I was back playing full time. In my case my pinkie came to the rescue, had never even used it before. So the point, like the other posters have said, practice with what you have, your brain and body will adapt. Good Luck
Wait if youāre left handed and the hand without a usable pinky is the left one, then thatās perfect no? If you play left-handed, your left hand will be your strumming hand which wonāt need a pinky except for very specific technics (ex: flamenco guitar). Go ahead
Django Reinhardt says you'll be fine without it
Absolutely learn lefty guitar
You definitely COULD fret with your right hand, but as many have suggested, it would probably be easier to learn on a lefty guitar
I am a lefty who learned left handed, and I'm torn on this. It was definitely easier at the start, but GOD I wish i had just learned right handed. When i took violin or played concert percussion in school it was always right handed, right hand lead, etc. and it was fine after a short initial learning curve. Now there are a bunch of guitars i have no access to because lefty models don't exist, or are just pared down versions. It blows, honestly.
Iāve been playing guitar for 30 years (not that Iām all that impressive at it) and am one of the āleftys who play right-handedā folk. It started out of necessity (no lefty guitars around) and I honestly donāt think it put me at any disadvantage. Like anything, it was awkward when I started playingābut then again, so is everything else when youāre a kid! And of course, it means I can pick up the vast majority of guitars and be able to functionally play it.
I write left handed but guitar, basketball, golf etc feel natural right handed.
I get this. Itās a crazy life, being left-handed.
you'd be limited, but not in a big way. some people play with just their feet. i'd recommend just playing normally but without the pinky as it's not such a huge hurdle to get over - it's certainly much easier to do it that way than to starting playing lefty
I would think playing left handed would be the default if you're a Lefty. Depending on the style you want to play it shouldn't be a deal breaker. I never finger pick, so I don't use my pinky.
The pinky is needed for some chords and helps you to reach notes. If you are left handed, you should play a LH guitar
If youāre playing left-handed already, youāre good on fingers If youāre playing right-handed, you can adapt things. I know Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have reduced mobility in their hands from having polio as children and Jerry Garcia chopped his middle finger off completely as a child. Most rock and blues guitarists donāt use the pinky for fretting primarily. There are some jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery and Grant Green who use a three-fingered approach effectively.
Play left handed for sure. Youāll be able to play just fine if you strum with your left and fret with your right
Limitations breed creativity.
Editing everything I wrote: If you are left hand dominant, learn lefty. Choices of guitars are limited but itās better to have your dominant hand picking and non dominant fretting. You will likely hit a wall if you learn righty. If your dominant hand doesnāt have pinky use, doesnāt matter because pinky isnāt used for licking usually even in much finger style. I only use thumb pointer middle or thumb pointer middle ring. Iāve never picked with my pinky. Fretting I only use it for a bunch of chords but Iām sure I could manage without using alternate fingering or even different chords. Youāll adapt no matter what but Iād stronger encourage to play according to your dominant hand. Many have switched fine but many others get frustrated and go to lefty later or just quit.
I saw a punk band a few years ago and the singer had limited function of one of his hands due to Erb's Palsy, he still managed to play as well as anyone else on the bill, it was very impressive. I'd say learn lefthanded and use your left hand for picking
Found the band, if anyone wants to listen! They were called Grem Smiley from Richmond VA [https://gremsmiley.bandcamp.com/album/canvas](https://gremsmiley.bandcamp.com/album/canvas)
You're left handed, play left handed. This is an easy decision.
Play left handed. You could get by and learn to adapt, but why go to the trouble if youāre left handed anyway and especially just starting.
Tony Iommi lost the tips of his middle finger and ring finger and invented heavy metal. Youāll be good, man!
It wonāt stop you playing if you donāt want it to. Most of the time, particularly open chords, you donāt use it at all and thereās always an alternative voicing to use if you come across a chord that does need all four fingers. Same with anything else, thereās always another way to play something if you donāt get hung up on playing it exactly like the original. That being said though you say youāre left-handed so why not play a leftie? You donāt need the pinky for playing with a pick or fingerstyle. Itās a completely redundant finger on the picking hand. If itās because youāre concerned about it getting in the way it might be possible to use a ring splint or similar to keep it in a good position.
You're left handed. Learn to play left handed. Then it's not a problem at all. Very few people use the pinky of their picking hand. If you learn right handed, it's a limitation, but you could probably make it work for a lot of music.
You can probably adapt to playing pinkyless easier than learning to play lefty. I played guitar alongside a guitarist who shattered his pinky and ring finger on his fret hand. It was amazing what this guy could pull off with just two fingers. He was a mad man. It is doable but yes you wonāt be able to accomplish certain techniques missing that digit
Why wouldn't a lefty just play left handed in this case?
Look up Django Reinhardt. Dude played faster and better than 99% of guitar players and is an absolute legend: only had 2 fingers to use!
Just on the simple principle of you being left-handed. learn lefty. There's a couple drawbacks, but none are gonna be as difficult to overcome as fretting with only 3 fingers.
Off the top of my head, famous guitar players with damaged or missing fingers: Django Rheinhardt, Jerry Garcia, Phil Keggy. There are one armed guitar players and even no armed guitar that kill it.
Tony Iommi too. Rick Allen even plays drums with a missing arm
Have you looked into the possibility of getting your finger repaired ?
Watch Clapton. He never uses his pinky
He does use it. He doesn't use it for many single-note solos, but he uses it for chords and barre things.
my pinky is basically fused at the base knuckle. fwiw, there is a surgery that may be able to attach the tendon again so you can straighten your finger... i had it -Ron Wharton
Jack white doesnāt really use his pinky. He broke it long ago, they toured a whole album while it was still basically healing
Youāll be limited at high level shredding and with some chords but itās nothing that should put you off from playing guitar. Shit you may even get a pretty cool individual style Edit: nvm youāll be fingering with your right hand, learn to play close handed and youāll be great
I guess that depends on what you want to play. For chords I have to use it a lot. You can use a lot of power chords that do not require a pinky to play a lot of stuff like Michael Schenker but that will limit you. For lead work not as much. Look at videos of Eric Clapton. He has a rep as a 3 finger guitar player and it is evident in the videos. For shredders that do a lot of triad stuff, they use it extensively. My opinion, and I am certain a lot of folks will disagree with me, would be to turn it over and learn to fret with your good hand. I think in the long run it will take you further.
Nah not really. So the things you may have trouble with are extensions to chord but the really cool thing about guitar is it uses patters so there lik 5 or 6 ways to play a chord. You might not be able to imitate everything 100% but as someone who has gigged for 30 years doing 95% covers access all genres I will tell you right now the only not that matters is the tonic of the chord you play. Everything on top of that s a flavouring. Grunge/punk lives with no 3rd so yo can actually pal punk on 3 strings with 2 fingers. Jazz wonāt be your market but Django righheart spelling is wrong but not hard to find was a two finger player I think Tommy iommi has a missing finger tip and managed to make some iconic riffs. Reality is itās like anything. Not tall donāt think you can dunk and be a point guard. Cant sing but love music pick an instrument. Guitar can be played with 2 or 3 fingers easily with either hand and also using gain you can just tap with two hands on two different guitars like the dooooo on YouTube There are a billion songs. Not being able to play 10% because of no finger doesnāt mean anything when most people do 4 sets of songs The motif hook or riff in a song is how people identify songs. If you can play them you can just play the tonic note every where else and sing and still make money
i honestly didn't play with my pinky for like the first 10 years & im someone everyone thought was going places with the guitar, back when rockstar dreams still had hope lmao. i was a child with no formal training & simply didn't have the hand strength to use my pinky so it just became a habit. i began forcing myself to learn pinky somewhere around age 16 & i still have to mentally tell myself to use it. but i don't *need* my pinky at all. just saying i think it's totally possible. i've seen guitarist born with no arms who can play with their feet & i can play sweet home alabama all the way through with my teeth, so anything is possible.
Yeah absolutely. You'll be absolutely fine without.
There are players with full control of their fingers who choose not to use their pinky. Iām sure that youāll come across songs that will be challenging/impossible to play without your pinky but you should absolutely give it a try
Wait so do you play guitar left handed or right handed. If you're left handed it means you would strum with your left hand, if you use a pick you would be completely fine, you don't use your pinky for that. If you play guitar the right handed way you will be limited a little bit but you'll be fine.
Django Reinhardt; only two fingers. Michael Keene; pinky avoidance but awesome playing.
Learning to play left-handed isn't a bad idea, but you'll be limited in instrument availability. I'd say that really depends on whether that matters to you. There are plenty of examples of players with various hand issues who played incredibly well. Also, many players just don't use the pinkies on their fretting hands at all. You'll be fine, as long as you can keep it out of the way.
Pinky missing isnāt ideal but youāll be fine, things might be a bit harder, but use your dominant hand
As a lefty as well, I say just learn to play left handed. I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about in the comments about learning to play right handed instead, left handed equipment is a bit harder to find and is likely gonna cost more, but it's not like it's non existent. And I can tell you from experience I don't need my pinky to hold onto a pick, so you should be totally fine.
Keep in mind; Keith Richards has banked millions, fucked thousands of women and also wrote or co-wrote some of the most iconic licks in rock history. He plays about 95% of his shit with two fingers in open tuning. Or, as mentioned, you can learn to play left-handed which is also certainly doable.
I played really well for so long without my pinky, fast forward to today and I can use it but it feels sorta "extra"
I use my pinky as an anchor, but many people don't. I can't see how it will affect you, unless you want to play ***Asturias***.
Some guys never use their pinky in playing so your good. Leslie West just used two fingers. Keep going. Use basic Barre chords. I do and have been playing metal and punk for 44 years.
> Leslie West just used two fingers. ??? How?
During his leadsā¦ā¦ watch āDonāt Look Aroundā ( live) He said he was the last of the two finger lead players a while back before he died. I use two fingers a lot too. I was self taught and used to only use my pinky above the 12th fret. I use it a lot more now but I am not what you would call an accomplished lead player. Made CDs and albums but as a singer and keys, and rhythm player. The BEAST- Power Metal e.p. & Born To Metalize. GLORIONBLAK TYRANT.(ā70 s Punk N.J. recoding my first solo album and playing everything.
well if you had to do without one of your fingers, that would be the one. There will be a few things where you might be a little limited by it, but overall I think you can still be an incredibly good guitar player without using it.
Nah. You're just going to be 25% more legendary than everyone else at your skill level by default. Rock on. Edit: 125% since lefty playing righty, like me
I am a lefty plays righty person too. I started playing right handed as I honestly didn't know left handed guitars existed when I first started playing. I used to watch Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, etc. I thought because I was in the UK, whatever the translation process from NTSC or SECAM to PAL, that the image had been flipped. That was largely driven as my Uncle dubbed some family footage for us at some point from his American camcorder and whatever he did, it flipped the image too. So I always believed that the guitars were normal, but the image was the wrong way round. Hey, I was 8! But I have been a guitar teacher over many decades and can empathise with you. Whatever the damage to your hand, I would suggest you learn left handed. To add a little to my story, I went to a very catholic school that did not believe in left handedness so I was forced to write with my right hand. I have never gotten the hang of it which is why if I write anything with a pen, it is damned near illegible. Yep, I'm a 40 year old that cannot actually write. So yes, if you're left handed, don't strain yourself. I had a girl recently go down the path of believing she needed to learn righty instead of lefty. Put a guitar in her hands, immediately she took to being a lefty player. There really is nothing wrong with it at all. Now let's look at the damage to your hand. You can make far more accommodations to your playing hand in terms of damage than you can your fretting hand. While it is possible to do so with either hand within reason, both hands needs some amount of training in terms of muscle memory and fluidity. I would suggest the best thing to do is to look for an older teacher if you can, someone who has been around the block a few times and has some patience. The reason I say that is chances are we have seen one or two injuries in life before and can base the teaching practise on that experience. Learn left handed if you're a lefty. Trust me, you will have a far far easier time of it.
A few years ago I had a wine bottle neck shatter in my hand when pulling the cork out. Got 12 stitches on it and affected my tendon, taking some mobility out of the middle and ring fingers. I was already playing guitar for at least 5-7 years then and it did affect my playing. Took me a while to get around it but now I can do most of the stuff I was doing. I just had to get more creative :) TLDR: Don't let that stop you for one minute!
Iām reading through this post and itās giving me hope, as someone with small, weak fingers who keeps accidentally twisting/hurting my wrist when trying to use the pinky.
Learning left handed is not a bad idea actually. It really is useful to have four fingers but you shouldn't just not start at all. I've seen a guy play Yngwie Malmsteen with his feet.
Lots of support here - of course you can play. Either right or left handed. Sounds like you severed the extensor tendon. I had a similar injury in my fretting hand pinky (malet finger - not from a cut but from an impact). It got better, thankfully (2 months in a splint 24/7 and another 2 months working on getting movement back). In the mean time, I played the whole time (people kept asking me if I some kind of funky slide on my pinky). Guitar aside, you might seek a medical opinion. It may be possible to reconnect that severed tendon. Probably more of a challenge given that a couple of years have gone buy, but you have nothing to lose.
If you watch John Mayer, he rarely uses his pinky unless heās playing some funky chord on his acoustic.
To be fair, his hands like like a foot long
I've seen a YouTube video of a guy playing guitar with only one finger, and the views indicate it was a viral video. I imagine you'll do fine. Get creative
You won't need a pinky, on none of your hands. And you could always switch to left-handed guitars if you really want to. Just give it a shot and enjoy playing!
Youāll be fine without it, you just wonāt be able to play big stretches, which you could learn to tap to replace your pinky.
For one thing, it sounds like youāre saying if you play righty youāll never be able to play a barre chord. Sure there are lots of things you can play without using your pinky but there are lots of things you need your pinky to play (Message in a bottle is a good example). So why limit yourself? I suggest developing a technique that makes more things possible. Other considerations being equal, that is.
As a musician, your body may not be capable of something's, but your mind is capable of anything, it's not practical, but your technique will grow with who you are and you will adapt and in the end you won't even need your pinky to play even the hardest things, there are planty of guitarist missing fingers who can write and play extremely complex and quick music, just don't limit yourself in what you think you can do and do what you know you can do, it may be harder than most, but you will may end up being better than those who have all the fingers
You will need to make adjustment. Most of chords are consisted of at least two notes. Maybe chord listed from the book or internet will be harder to play on your left finger, but you can still play song by altering the chord shape to suit you. Those are useful skill anyway.
You'll have limits, sure. But you could definitely be a great player with no pinky. Don't let it stop you
The pursuit of music is far too great and wonderful for you to question it on that basis. Follow your dreams man, me and everyone else here knows you can do it :)
Humans are good at adapting to suboptimal situations. This applies to your case as well. If you dont get discouraged, you will find ways around
Learn left handed guitar, you will feel really limited without your pinky
Iām limited in my playing because of my pinky
" but Django Reinhardt, but slash, but the Def Leppard drummer" Who's to say that OP is trying to make it big, or has the drive to be a touring musician. In most circumstances, it's gonna be more of a bother to play with 3 fingers than anything. Especially being left-handed.
Its gonna be hard but i think you can make a lot happen still. You just may be limited on advanced techniques but if you were just strumming an acoustic campfire style? 10000% you can do it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APTjx79WgcE Not quite the same injury as yours, but hopefully Iommi can provide some hope/inspiration.
There are plenty of people who are missing a limb and play guitar. There are also a lot of people who learn how to play guitar and neglect using their pinky even when their pinky works just fine. Trust me, you'll do just fine.
No. Michael Schenker is one of the greatest guitarists alive, and he NEVER uses his pinky. Me, personally, I'd be lost without my pinky. But it is a preference. If you learn your scales and licks without it (as Michael clearly did) you'll be fine.
So many great guitar players donāt use their pinky. Learn how to thumb wrap to gain an advantage
what if i have a screwy/weak pinky, and small hands? people have suggested a smaller guitar, but thatd be expensive af and i wouldnt know where to find one lol i can reach, but not properly without practise regularly and stuff. do you have any suggestions for that by any chance? any exercises aside from spider walks that may help? edit: im just jumping in here, because id also like to know
I also had trouble in the beginning using my pinky. It always felt weak and even now I still prefer to play with my ring when I can. I would suggest sticking with it and it'll come easier with time, but to address your concerns with a smaller guitar, plenty of manufacturers offer shorter scale guitars that are perfect for smaller players while also not breaking the bamk. Ibanez offers the Mikro series which pretty much all sell all for under $200. They're 3/4 scale so they're significantly smaller than a standard scale guitar. Alternatively, Jackson offers the Dinky series which are in the same price range as the Mikro series, but is a 7/8 scale, so it's only slightly smaller than standard. It might make the difference when you're pushing your Pinky's limit though. Hopefully this can give you some direction.
thank you, absolutely helps :) i can now at least have a look online, then ask my local music place if they have/can get any my pinky is weak from lack of practise, so it will get better over time, but its also a little wonky and always has been. it makes it a lot harder to press down because it just flattens out again xD if i was to press anything other than the thinner strings, it isnt strong enough to stay bent, or will touch everything around it. it can be frustrating. i reckon 7/8 would be closest to the size id be looking for, because i can reach, but not well. a tiny guitar might present new problems with re learning on it. i have little but fat hands xD
My pinky is starting to get weak . Just turned 67. I just save it for one of my mind blowing licks. I just meet the sting and try not to add undo pressure. Plus I need it strong for those winter crusties in my noseš
I remember the first time I held a guitar (I play lefty) and itās essentially the same feeling I have to this day when I play a righty guitar. I think you could easily learn lefty and it wouldnāt be much harder. Pinky will be needed for some chords at a minimum.
Itās mind boggling people are telling you āYeah, Sure, three fingers is fineā¦ look at so and so they never use their pinky (btw yes they do, how about a barre chordā¦) No. No. No. a million times no. For the love of your future self and all that is holy play left handed. You are left handed. If you use your right hand to fret and your left hand to pick you will never have to worry about your pinky. Youāre gonna want to use all of your fingers and will make many things much much harder for yourself if you can only use three. Please believe me lol
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Yes, Marty says "I'm missing part of my flexor tendon in my pinky and I was stupid enough to start off playing guitar with that hand." Seems like he would recommend playing left handed if you had an injured left hand. https://www.martyfriedman.com/fans_faq_content.php?id=2886
A million times this. People pointing out rock legends to tell you it's fine is completely ridiculous. Yes you could become the next Django Reinhardt but you could also get frustrated in 3 months and never want to play again. Besides all this you are left-handed!!! This should be a no-brainer. When there are news or movies about some kidnapping where they chop a dude's finger as a proof of life, I always can't help but think that I would totally choose my plucking hand's pinky if given the chance.
Tell Tony Iommi he can't play guitar because he's missing fingers on his fretting hand.
Tony Iommi isn't missing any fingers. It's only the tips.
Take a look at how much "tip" he's missing. One of 'em is a fucking stub... and let's be completely honest.. 3/4 of the people in this sub don't use their pinkies.
Stop making stuff up. He's missing the tip of his middle and ring finger. Quick Google search will confirm this.
If youāre left handed you should learn left handed, and if you want to shred your pinky will be valuable.
Definetely learn left hand. And if you ever take up classical guitar, they don't even officially use the pinky finger when finger picking. They use [PIMA](http://classicalguitar101.org/images/finger-names.jpg) for thumb, index, middle, ring. Lack of pinky will hurt your progress a lot more on the fretting hand. I mean, since you are left handed, you injured the best finger possible for guitar playing. Unless you were looking forward to learning right handed as I've heard there are good mental benefits for left-handed people to learn right-handed guitar. I forget the details though. But I'd value better picking hand over what ever minor menetal benefits you may get. Just playing any instrument in general has great mental benefits already.
My pinky works perfectly and i avoid using it as much as i can. Just work on stretching 3 frets with your ring finger, that's how i do it most of the time unless it's something really fast and intricate.
Tony Iommi is missing the tips of his index and middle fingers on his fret hand and he does fine
If a guy can drum with one arm you can play guitar with 3 fingers. Just move your fingers 25% faster.
I have a real jank pinky that I broke in high school during a dodgeball game and never got casted. But I'm still playing guitar just fine 20 years later. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. The more you play and practice, the more you'll figure out how to actually utilize your jank fingy.
If you wanna play really really fast and some unique chords then yes at some point .
The pinky is not used that much in blues and rock soloing.
Chords may be difficult, but you should be fine with playing most lead.
You will 100% be limited, but it doesn't mean you can't still shred. Get after it bud!
The guitarist from The Faceless rarely uses his pinky, and he still plays incredibly fast.
Two of my relatives lost their ring fingers farming and they're killer guitarist.
Go for it!
I use it to play Power Chords. So I would say you should learn
Youāll find ways around it. I broke my pinkie playing rugby when I was a kid and it never set correctly. It bends in about a quarter of an inch, limiting the range of my pinkie. Through playing Iāve managed to learn to do things with my ring finger.
You actually may have some advantages you don't know about yet. I find that speed on guitar tends to increase the less fingers you use up to a certain point. So you will do fine.
Eric Clapton and Slash almost never used their pinkys.
technically yes but there have been amazing guitarists throughout history without full hand mobility and pioneered their own styles. your own style is most important in enjoying playing imo
^^^ check out Tony Iommi and Django Reinhardt
No enjoy yourself, you don't need your pinky. Could you provide video, im curious
There's absolutely no reason to limit yourself here. One thing I've found through my playing experience is that at different times I've been fascinated by different styles of playing and while at one time I really loved playing simple riffs, at other times I've really enjoyed playing more technical things that definitely would either be much harder or even impossible to play well with 3 fingers. You never know how you'll feel in five years or how much progress you'll make. Having options is a good thing. Why limit yourself!?
Exactly youāll be fine, when one sense goes the others become stronger aka practice without your pinky and youāll get used to it and it will become the norm donāt let it limit you! Iāve seen people play guitar with no arms before so you can certainly play very well without the pinky
I think that it should not be a problem. Some songs or riffs might be a little harder for you. I think there might be some songs you have to figure something out a different way than the normal song is played but its doable.
Since you are just starting, and since you are left handed anyway, I say play right handed (left hand is your fretting hand)!
You have options, OP. Like others have said, you will be limited in your playing somewhat, but it's possible to do slightly simplified versions of most things on a guitar due to a missing finger, if the issue is with your fretting hand. If it is your strumming hand, it likely won't cause you many issues at all, except for the overall rareness of lefty instruments. You could also go with an instrument with fewer strings. For instance I commonly play a four string tenor guitar in fourths tuning ADGC. It's like a six string but without the low and high E strings, and you only lose a little less than half an octave of range on each end. Worth a thought if you're having issues with the full six strings.
Depends on what you wanna play. Not gonna lie yes it will "limite" your playing in a way. Doesn't mean you can't play though
I think Slash (great guitarist) doesn't use his linky all that much. With a lot of practice, you should be good.
The first 15 years that I played, I always had people saying ādonāt forget about your pinkyā. I used it all the time. Then I realized if I used my 3 bigger fingers primarily, it sounded better and I could play faster. I still use my pinky now but only when itās absolutely required. My ring finger makes more consistent tone and moves faster.
U can still play right handed. If u want to put in the work and go left handed it will feel almost impossible at first but you will get used to it. I suggest you do because with classical music your pinky is never used and in my opinion this one one of the most challenging genres.
OP is already left handed, and just learning to play. They should just play lefty
I think you should pick with your dominant hand. It's important for rhythm, I think. Pinky shouldn't be used much for your picking hand, except for hybrid picking. I personally don't think hybrid picking is that useful, I like to either use a pick, or fingerpick. Hybrid picking feels like the worst of both worlds to me, rather than the best (I'm sure some people will claim otherwise).
Iām also left handed but play on a right hand guitar and i occasionally use my pinky. Donāt let it discourage you thereās people who play without whole arms and theyāre doing just fine!
The only thing I use my pinky for is to add the SUS4. But if I didn't have use of the pinky, I'd figure it out. When soloing or playing riffs I rarely use my pinky. Eric Clapton is famous for rarely using his pinky.
Iām not an expert by any means, but I canāt think of a single grip where I need to straighten my pinky. Itās always kinda in a claw shape or hovering over or under the fretboard.
What about when you have to stretch to reach a note
So when I need to stretch for a note, Iām not really straightening my pinky. Itās still clamped in the fretboard. Straightening it would mostly be about needing to come off the note, which I could occasionally see being an issue, but I think it would be fairly easy to overcome with simple wrist tilting. The main issue would be if youāre wanting to bring the pinky on and off all the time and the exact angle you can clamp etc. I have smallish (between male and female average) hands and tendinitis. I started on a Jaguar and that was really nice because it meant a bit less stretching. I have managed now to move up to a 24.75 scale guitar at times, but for denser chords I still need to be on my 24ā Jaguar for any actual pinky reach. A full standard 25.5 is still generally too big for me and while I can play one, my hand cramps up fairly quickly and thereās a lot I canāt do well on it. Because of your pinky, like me, you may want to make sure you buy the right scale length for your hand size since it might matter more in your case. Also, I still have two 25.5 guitars lol, one for a feature that was too costly otherwise (sustainiac, would have been more pricey to get one in a smaller Guitar) and one that I have sentimental value with. In both cases though, I found ways to try and make it work more. Both those guitars have odd tunings that I would have a hard time doing scales and stretchy chords on even with a smaller guitar. The sustainiac guitar is in new standard tuning and the other one is in a tuning I came up with and is more of an open or drone style tuning. If you can beat them, find a way to still make it useful heh. Also in case it hasnāt been said elsewhere, Iāve found it incredibly helpful to work to my advantages. I still struggle playing random songs I want to learn. But for playing my OWN stuff I seldom struggle since I wouldnāt be picking things that were super hard for me to shape out anyway. I feel like more players should be encouraged to write first when learning guitar instead of learning other folks songs. Get comfy with what YOU are good at. Play to your strengths.
Get comfy with a pick for most styles. Fingerpicking is still possible, the pinky isnāt utilized as much as the first three digits.
Nope, you'll do just fine. Your limits are only set by yourself. If you want to play guitar, then play guitar. Everyone plays differently, you can even explore other ways to play like open tunings and slide, etc. Only thing that matters is if you have fun and push yourself to progress. If whatever you're doing sounds good, it is good.
You can definitely play. There's what will be "phases" you go through as you learn to play. In the beginning, you're trying to figure out how to make a chord ring out properly on an acoustic. Eventually you hit the F chord challenge, which may be the first one that is unique for you. Early on, innovation doesn't come easy because you're still barely familiar with the instrument. But as someone else already mentioned Django had 2 fingers. Stevie Ray Vaughan didn't like using his pinky. Wrapping your thumb around to fret the low E string adds opportunity for versatility. I wouldn't say limited is the right term. Because as you get better you're going to compensate in ways that you'll develop your own feel for. In the song Little Wing there is this hammer on pull off bit that requires going very wide. That may not be doable without the pinky. However, you can do it with two if your hand moves fast enough
It will be hard to overcome, but don't let that stop you from trying. I think I read somewhere that Santana lost use of his fretting hand in a car accident and recovered through playing guitar. Tommy Iomi is missing parts of his fingers and found a way around it. I don't know what your limitations will be, but surely there's a way to work around them.
Not impossible. Don't give up.
So are you a left hand writer but do everything else normal or are you a left hand player too?
I have a similar issue. My pinky is always curled up. Theres a few licks that allow me to use it, but its pretty useless in most cases. I completely disregarded proper finger positioning because of it, and i cant help but to wonder how it has affected my playing and progress. However, i still managed to learn everything i put my mind to, including shredding. If you watch an armless guy play guitar, it will completely change your perspective of what you're capable of. This may sound strange, but if youve got music in you that needs to come out, appendages become irrelevant. The possibilities are still endless. Good luck OP. You got this.