Theory: Most great players have long fingers

[Pickalittle]

Gents,
I have noticed that almost all of the great players that I admire, professional or not, have long fingers, or at least not shorter fingers like mine (alcoholic mom who chain smoked?). I have had to cheat a little on lead playing or complicated chords to make it work due to smaller fingers. Anyone know of any great rock/blues/jazz players who have short fingers? I can't name one.
:neutral:

 

[Ted M]

Not specifically rock/blues/jazz, but Danny Gatton had short fingers; it looks like Redd V does too. Having said that, I think long fingers help. So do flexible joints; I have spent years trying to get mine to bend backward for certain chord forms.

 

[twangcaster1]

Brent Mason seems to have pretty small hands and he's an excellent jazz player.

 

[getbent]

Nope. back to practicing. Django was missing fingers. Redd doesn't have long tapered fingers... I think fingers are not a determinant...

 

[HOBBSTER01]

Redds fingers look like vienna suasages.
No offense Redd.
But he his as masterful a player as you will find.

 

[jwj4856]

I think Johnny Hiland is fantastic and he has hands exactly like mine, short and fat, just wish mine worked 50% like his does.

 

[twangcaster1]

Roy Clark has bannana fingers and I don't think anybody would doubt his playing ability, either.

 

[Dan German]

And the opposite certainly does not hold true either. I gots gangly monkey fingers, and I'm strictly from amateur as a player. However, I have less trouble than stumpy-fingered folk with wide necks like my 12 string and 7 string.

 

[markw51]

What about Johnny Hiland?

 

[twangcaster1]

A great player I know in Nashville by the name of Clay Canfield has got the hands of a crawdad, but that guy can play the heck out of a tele.

 

[13ontheB]

I used to use the short finger excuse 'till I saw Johnny Hiland! It seems he can play just about any style.

 

[ut4ever8]

Tim Reynolds has little baby hands. Yet he manages to stretch them out like stretch armstrong, at a million miles per hour

 

[emiller45]

I have long fingers, but because of a car accident I have some limited range of motion. I have learned how to compensate and am doing fine. Someone previously mentioned Django R which seems to blow the "finger" argument.

 

[Axis29]

Albert Collins had little tiny hands. I saw him in concert once from the front row and was amazed at how small they were!

 

[jazztele]

i would think there are advantages to long fingers in some situations, and to short fingers in others.

i will say this though--my long skinny fingers do make it easier for me to play some stretchy chords...but i'm sure there's plenty of other things they're not as good for.

 

[sjtele]

The players mentioned make it a hard argument. But gotta say I would trade my sausage fingers for long, thin versions when I'm playing my Ric 12 string. Eh, time to practice more...

 

[stevieboy]

I think shorter fingers are an advantage to playing fast. Less to move. less distance to travel.

Advantage, not requirement.

 

[Guitar_Ninja]

At the very least most great players have fingers.

 

[FirstBassman]

I have stated this fact many, many times.

(Yes, there are exceptions to every rule.)

Django was missing fingers.

They weren't actually missing.
His third and fourth fingers were bent and damaged from a fire.

 

[rhstranger]

Awww man! I thought maybe i had an actual theoretically sound reason why I suck so bad!
It would sound better. "My fingers are too short". When in all actuality, its "I'm lazy, and I don't practise nearly enough."