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Physically can't play (my fingers frustrate me)

B

Brendon95

Aug 14, 2019
13
20
31
#1
Is it possible to physically not be able to play due to physical limitations?

Okay. Time for a sob story. I was born severely premature. 22 weeks, five days. Weighed 1.04lbs. Had a grade four brain bleed on the left side of my brain, effecting the right side of my body. This will be important in a minute.

My early life was filled with intensive physical and occupational therapy. Things like writing and cutting have always been difficult and I'm not a person you want to make art with.

I'm left handed and play left handed. My right side is weaker than my left and I've felt more comfortable doing the strings side of the bass (plucking/picking) with my left hand.

Where does that leave my right hand?

Well, right off the bat I can tell you when I was given my first bass in 2009, it was given to me, I got an amp and a pick. And that was it. No lessons. I just started playing. Poorly and sporadically. Thought about getting lessons for many, many years. But I'm terrified to go in there and say I've had this instrument for 10 years and have accomplished nothing while creating terrible habits.

I can't get my pinky to work the frets. It wants to curl underneath my other fingers. If I do try and use proper technique my pinky was doesn't...well, do anything. I can't make it fret a string.

And I guess what I'm wondering is can this be dealt with or is it possible I just physically can't play because of my limitations?

I guess I'm scared of throwing myself into something and failing but if I don't try then I'll never know, right?

Does anyone have any tips on the pinky and making it a useful part of playing?
 
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#4
if physical limitations prevent you from playing the way you think others play then invent your own technique! that said: you might be a better 'inventor' if you ponied up for a few lessons with the right teacher. "i've had this ax for ten years" is just part of your story = no biggie. good luck with your playing! :thumbsup:
 
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#5
JRA said:
if physical limitations prevent you from playing the way you think others play then invent your own technique! that said: you might be a better 'inventor' if you ponied up for a few lessons with the right teacher. "i've had this ax for ten years" is just part of your story = no biggie. good luck with your playing! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Agreed. Btw, I've been creating terrible habits for over 30 years.

There are lots of players who don't use their pinky. Do what's best for you. Having said that, good technique is good for a reason, it usually allows for more accurate playing. But many have found their own way to make it work.

Best of luck and stick with it.
 
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#10
Jamerson played with one finger. I'm sure that you can develop a technique with your fretting hand as well that will be uniquely you. :) It may even become a thing that other people without disabilities choose to imitate out of respect for your sound. You may even end up taking your pinky completely out of the equation!
 
#13
Brendon95 said:
Is it possible to physically not be able to play due to physical limitations?

Okay. Time for a sob story. I was born severely premature. 22 weeks, five days. Weighed 1.04lbs. Had a grade four brain bleed on the left side of my brain, effecting the right side of my body. This will be important in a minute.

My early life was filled with intensive physical and occupational therapy. Things like writing and cutting have always been difficult and I'm not a person you want to make art with.

I'm left handed and play left handed. My right side is weaker than my left and I've felt more comfortable doing the strings side of the bass (plucking/picking) with my left hand.

Where does that leave my right hand?

Well, right off the bat I can tell you when I was given my first bass in 2009, it was given to me, I got an amp and a pick. And that was it. No lessons. I just started playing. Poorly and sporadically. Thought about getting lessons for many, many years. But I'm terrified to go in there and say I've had this instrument for 10 years and have accomplished nothing while creating terrible habits.

I can't get my pinky to work the frets. It wants to curl underneath my other fingers. If I do try and use proper technique my pinky was doesn't...well, do anything. I can't make it fret a string.

And I guess what I'm wondering is can this be dealt with or is it possible I just physically can't play because of my limitations?

I guess I'm scared of throwing myself into something and failing but if I don't try then I'll never know, right?

Does anyone have any tips on the pinky and making it a useful part of playing?
Click to expand...
I could never use my pinky either. Same deal, just curls along side my others. But, not anymore! Now my pinky is fully functional. Still revert to ring finger in bad situations sometimes, but whatever. You know, I never plucked with my fingers til about a year ago either. Now, I rarely ever use a pick. Oh, and I've been playing bass over 20 years. Keep at it. Regardless of physical problems/limitations, nature finds a way.
 
#15
This thread has been awesome. OP also check the history of Django Reinhardt, one of the greats of all time. His fretting hand was pretty badly disfigured in an accident, and it really didn’t slow him down. So at least you know it can happen.

My feeling is that since music is really about rhythm, having a solid plucking hand seals the deal. But even then, Jerry Garcia became an accomplished banjo player and he was missing the middle finger on his right hand, and used his ring finger instead. People have learned to play with their feet. Where there is a will, there is a way. And it’s not a contest, or a race, your progress to date is not a worry, your teacher would never scold you about that.

John Hartford said style was based on limitations. I’ll say there isn’t really a “wrong note”. Some just have more harmonic tension than others. It only music, no one died. There are only 2 rules: don’t stop, and keep going.

You got this.
 
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#16
Brendon95 said:
Is it possible to physically not be able to play due to physical limitations?

Okay. Time for a sob story. I was born severely premature. 22 weeks, five days. Weighed 1.04lbs. Had a grade four brain bleed on the left side of my brain, effecting the right side of my body. This will be important in a minute.

My early life was filled with intensive physical and occupational therapy. Things like writing and cutting have always been difficult and I'm not a person you want to make art with.

I'm left handed and play left handed. My right side is weaker than my left and I've felt more comfortable doing the strings side of the bass (plucking/picking) with my left hand.

Where does that leave my right hand?

Well, right off the bat I can tell you when I was given my first bass in 2009, it was given to me, I got an amp and a pick. And that was it. No lessons. I just started playing. Poorly and sporadically. Thought about getting lessons for many, many years. But I'm terrified to go in there and say I've had this instrument for 10 years and have accomplished nothing while creating terrible habits.

I can't get my pinky to work the frets. It wants to curl underneath my other fingers. If I do try and use proper technique my pinky was doesn't...well, do anything. I can't make it fret a string.

And I guess what I'm wondering is can this be dealt with or is it possible I just physically can't play because of my limitations?

I guess I'm scared of throwing myself into something and failing but if I don't try then I'll never know, right?

Does anyone have any tips on the pinky and making it a useful part of playing?
Click to expand...


Teaching yourself to play bass is not exactly an easy task.

IMHO everybody's pinky wants to curly under. You practice and learn to deal with it.

There are different fingering methods. I primarily use one finger per fret on bass guitar, and I use Simandl fingering on upright bass. With Simandl, the notes are stopped with fingers 1,2,4, and the ring finger (3) helps the pinkie. Some bass guitarists use 1,2,3. Also some players use a four finger technique with micro shifts to avoid hyper-extending the hand. In other words they use all four fingers, but they would not cover four frets in the low range of the bass without making a shift.

If your right hand is not up to the task of fretting the instrument, you may want to explore the idea of playing right handed, especially if you use a pick.

If you really want to progress, you probably need help and guidance. Also you will most likely need to work at learning in a structured way on a regular basis.

IMHO, your best chance of success is to find a good teacher that you feel comfortable with. Unfortunately that is not necessarily and easy task. But if you don't ever take a chance, you will never know. It will be hard at first, but hopefully it will get easy over time. If it does not, at least you tried.

Good luck!
 
#17
If ever there was anyone that should be taking lessons, it's you. Lots of people work around quirks. You can do anything about the last 11 years, but you can start right now to not waste another 11. With Skype lessons and all of the first tier players off the road, there was never a better time to get lessons.
 
#18
Do some research on how to strengthen your hands and fingers. Maybe look into finger exercises for piano players? Get a couple racquetballs to squeeze while you’re sitting around watching TV.

My wife just started taking piano lessons at age 51. After 30 years of typing mainly with her index fingers, the rest of her fingers are hesitant to cooperate on the keyboard. She’s seeing improvement already after a couple weeks of finger exercises.

Stick with it and you’ll find a way. I guarantee you that no teacher worth a **** is going to give you grief about your physical challenges. Quite the opposite...they will be especially determined to help you succeed.
 
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#20
JRA said:
if physical limitations prevent you from playing the way you think others play then invent your own technique! <SNIP>
Click to expand...

Totally agree.

Like many people I've had trouble with trigger fingers. A botched operation on my fretting ring finger made it worse and now some nights it's usable and other nights it's basically not. I've simply had to learn my way around it. 40 years ago I had my plucking middle finger tendons re-attached and the finger is permanently bent. So my plucking hand position and technique have had to adapt. I don't play great, and I'm rarely satisfied with how I play, but I manage well enough to type my invoices:)

This is small stuff and many great players have worked their way through much worse than what I have.
 
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