HAND SIZE?

Calaverasgrande · #1 05-16-2006, 02:54 PM

Okay, weird question, this is the most appropriate forum I hope. I have been playing since my early teens (I'm 37). My left, fretting hand is about 15% bigger than my right hand. But I am right handed? Do any other bassists out there have a similar uh, dimorphism? put your hands together like you are praying and see if the fingers line up. Mine are longer and my palm is thicker on my left.
Too much

bass playing in puberty?

tZer · #2 05-16-2006, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Too much bass playing in puberty?

ok... cuz I got here first, I get the obvious joke here
Too much SOMETHING at puberty

...

Ok, that being said - my answer is no. My hands look pretty much exactly the same size. I would say having a larger left hand could be considered an advantage on an instrument that requires a good finger-spread. Does it cause you problems or do you feel like it helps?

Suckbird · #3 05-16-2006, 03:28 PM

My hands look different... that's all i can say...

thefruitfarmer · #4 05-16-2006, 05:46 PM

Same size here....

But there is more muscle below the little finger on my left hand and callouses on both hands in the places expected really....

Can't say I worry about it.

Erick Lam · #5 05-16-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

Too much SOMETHING at puberty

...

Yeah, consider yourself lucky. You could be deaf.

My hands are the same size, though I can stretch the fretting hand a lot wider.

Calaverasgrande · #6 05-16-2006, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

ok... cuz I got here first, I get the obvious joke here
Too much SOMETHING at puberty

...

I said my LEFT hand is bigger!

As far as hands size. I have pretty small hands for a 6 foot 250 lb guy. Not meaty paws but artisitic girlie hands. that being said my southpaw is maybe ½" longer at the middle finger and about as much thicher at the palm. No problems with it, just wondering if any other guys are the same. I have read in archaelogical/sociological texts about radius and ulna bones of forearm in archers being flattened form lifelong bow use. like wise for shoulder and backs in quarry laborers and leg bones in other professions.
I started bass in my early teens but played Cello, trumpet and drums before that. (dad was a classical french horn player so I started on classical instruments at about 4).
just thought I'd compare notes per se.
btw its almost impossible to take a pic of this.

SOA_bassist · #7 05-17-2006, 05:32 AM

my left hand is slightly larger than my right hand and i am right handed and have nopt been playing bass for even two years... also i have huge hands but small pinkies... makes playing with my pinkies so hard and 4-finger style playing is impossible lol

Calaverasgrande · #8 05-18-2006, 10:38 AM

yeah I think maybe some of us are born with a little more bilateral asymetry than others.

McHack · #9 05-18-2006, 10:40 AM

I dated a girl who's boobs were asymetrical.

JanusZarate · #10 05-18-2006, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McHack

I dated a girl who's boobs were asymetrical.

Some are have nearly identical pairs, and others... well, you can tell.

Getting back to the OP...

I'm a natural lefty, and my left hand is slightly larger. If I put my hands together, I can notice a few mm of finger length difference.

...I know what you're all thinking, and I ain't saying nuthin' ...

It also has a scar from the time I punched an aggregate wall while trying to kick the crap out of someone else...

I didn't start the fight - I just finished it

. Afterwards, I noticed I was missing a chunk of flesh on a finger knuckle... That's a scar that'll probably never heal.

Damn wall.

dpharris · #11 05-18-2006, 12:04 PM

Mine are the same size, but also small. Any tips for small handers?

don

DemoEtc · #12 05-18-2006, 12:04 PM

Yah I noticed something similar years ago. I'm left handed, I play left handed, but my right hand fingers - the middle and ring - are like 1/8" longer than the left hand ones.

Okay, that's weird, I just now noticed my left hand pinky and index are 1/8" longer than the right.

Jackkoon · #13 05-18-2006, 12:24 PM

I play righty but I'm ambidextrous. I play righty because it's cheaper :-). Anyways, yeah, my left hand is bigger than my right and it wasn't always like that. I started to play when I was 10 but I stopped and the bass was a toy that I'd get to play with every other month for an hour or so, get bored and walk away. 4 years ago i joined the High School jazz band, not too much playing, reading wasn't a challenge, I learned basic stuff in a week and then within a month it was all good (I used to play the Violin and the Cello for about 3 years when i was 8). I didn't really start playing until college two years ago, so I've got 2 years on me pretty much of actually playing and yeah, since I started playing in Jazz band my junior year, my hands were even, now they're not :-\.

This isn't a foreign question to me, I've heard a few bassists talk about this. Mainly, my theory is if you play during your teens then you end up with the hand complex.

McHack · #14 05-18-2006, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

It also has a scar from the time I punched an aggregate wall while trying to kick the crap out of someone else...

Anatomy jokes aside, my hands appear to be identical to me... save for a scar on the pad of my fret-hand index finger.

In my youth, a group of friends of mine & myself were demonstrating our physical prowess in the parking lot of a shop'n'rob in Naples, FL... the feat? Playing catch w/ a 16lb bowling ball in the parking log.

Well, I was a wide receiver/defensive back, so I was certain I could out do any of these yutz's.... So, I went for the shoe string catch AND...... BOUNCE!!!!!

Right on my finger. Pretty much popped the damn thing like a cherry tomato.

jamescalvin · #15 05-18-2006, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McHack

I dated a girl who's boobs were asymetrical.

Me too, what was her name???

permagrin · #16 05-18-2006, 04:02 PM

My hands are the same size, but my right foot is a full size bigger than the left. Can make finding shoes a bitch. They've been like that for a long time, since at least age 10 (for a while during puberty it was more like a size and a half), and I've heard that it's not at all uncommon (although a full size difference is kinda extreme).

Calaverasgrande · #17 05-19-2006, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpharris

Mine are the same size, but also small. Any tips for small handers?

don

Look up isometrics on google. There is a series of very simple finger exercises that improve circulation and finger indepependence, not to mention reach. I think it is a myth that you need big fingers in any musical discipline, except maybe keyboard. And when playing close intervals, fast, it helps to have shorter fingers.
heck and just practice. muscle memory makes up for other shortcomings!

DemoEtc · #18 05-19-2006, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpharris

Mine are the same size, but also small. Any tips for small handers?

don

Also, wearing the bass a little higher and being conscious of whether your thumb is slipping up over the edge of the neck or not, helps a lot with reach. I hear similar things on guitar boards I go to but its worse with the bass because even a 4 stringer has a wider neck than most guitars in many cases.

Except maybe comparing a J type neck to a 12-string guitar.