Deformed middle finger advice

[Bruce_M]

I don't know if someone has suggested this, but you have to adapt. Use your index and ring fingers to play, and use the middle finger to make the plucking sound. This sounds like an advantage to me rather than a handicap. You can make different sounds without changing hand positions

 

[monsterthompson]

Figure it out. I have a spinal cord injury and the resulting paralysis has made playing a challenge, but I continue to heal (luckily) and continue to make progress. I can't speak to your specific issue, but I can tell you that necessity is the mother of invention Keep on trying.

 

[Alivefor5]

My hat is off to the TB community coming together with inspirational stories and experiences to help guide the OP. Carry on.

 

[R Upsomegrub]

If you want to pluck with two fingers, try index and ring finger. I had to do that for a few weeks once when I damaged my middle finger.

I had this happen to me in the early 90's. It was 6 months before my middle finger healed, and in that time I played with my index and ring fingers.

Also - back in 2007, I mangled the index finger on my plucking hand and played with my middle and ring fingers for about 3 months.

 

[buldog5151bass]

The aforementioned thumb and index finger works well, too. I use that when I have to play a figure with all octaves.

 

[maturanesa]

Use 1 and 3 instead of 1 and 2.
Even if you get used to it, its easier because both fingers are the same length..

 

[Suebway]

So I have a middle finger that was chopped off as a kid on my plucking hand. The corrective surgery has created a nail that looks like a snail shell over the top of my finger tip. Naturally, this doesn't work well for plucking, as it tends to chip at the string like a pick and sounds inconsistent. I can't clip it any further due to the way its healed.

Any pointers on getting around this? I tried to find tip covers but haven't seen anything that really caught my eye. The other option I was looking for was lesson on plucking without the use of the middle finger, and without the use of a pick. I don't, in any way, like the sound of pick plucking.

Thanks in advance!

can you show us a pic of your cool finger?

 

[ninefingerbass]

So I have a middle finger that was chopped off as a kid on my plucking hand. The corrective surgery has created a nail that looks like a snail shell over the top of my finger tip. Naturally, this doesn't work well for plucking, as it tends to chip at the string like a pick and sounds inconsistent. I can't clip it any further due to the way its healed.

Any pointers on getting around this? I tried to find tip covers but haven't seen anything that really caught my eye. The other option I was looking for was lesson on plucking without the use of the middle finger, and without the use of a pick. I don't, in any way, like the sound of pick plucking.

Thanks in advance!

I always used my thumb, index and middle on my plucking hand but when I had severed tendons that inhibited movement to both my index finger and middle, I had surgery, a cadaver nerve inserted and was healed but my index finger remained bent due to the shortened tendon. I was in a cast for months and need to play. Only my two fingers, index and middle were in a cast but I managed to still try and play. I began to use my ring finger and now it is part of my technique. I use my index but not as much as I used to. My middle and ring take over.

It will take time but you just need to leave your middle finger out of it and you can slowly build your new technique. It's kind of cool now since my moniker has been ninefingerbass for nearly 20 years and I have one less finger for the most part.