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So my husband plays guitar - both acoustic & electric. About 4 years ago, he had an accident while working at a meat-packing plant and lost 1/3 of his left middle finger Now he cannot play many chords, like B's etc without the finger...I've bought him a slide & he works with that but it can be uncomfortable since its the widest part of his finger that it has to fit over. He has gone to see an instructor & got a few tips that have helped, but I was just wondering if you have any more advice...

Koolmom,
The guy playing bass like a crazed banshee on the song "Come on to Me" on my BandMix profile is missing the tip of his pinkey on his right hand!
I'm sorry that I can't offer any other advice as to your husband's case, except to say "Where there's a will theres a way".
Howlin'

Have your husband watch this guy; not the same level of missing a body part, but you'll get the idea.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query ... arch_type=

http://www.myspace.com/thebillclementsgroup

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/bill- ... v-06/23864

koolmom78 wrote:So my husband plays guitar - both acoustic & electric. About 4 years ago, he had an accident while working at a meat-packing plant and lost 1/3 of his left middle finger Now he cannot play many chords, like B's etc without the finger...I've bought him a slide & he works with that but it can be uncomfortable since its the widest part of his finger that it has to fit over. He has gone to see an instructor & got a few tips that have helped, but I was just wondering if you have any more advice...

Whenever I've dabbled with a slide I've always worn it on my little finger, and I've known of a few slide players that wear it on that finger.
You might want to check into a partial false finger, or prosthetic finger extension. The guitar player for the Legendary Black Sabbath has false finger tips on his fretting hand. He suffered a industrial accident before he and Black Sabbath got famous.
Heck it might have been a big contributing factor as to why they got famous. He took to using lite guage strings, and tuned lower than what was conventional in rock n' roll for those days. That combined with their horror movie inspiration resulted in a new grounbreaking sound.

There's a local guy around here has lost the ends of two of his fingers. He uses those prosthetics that fit like condoms. He is really quite good, too. He can lock them into different positions, as they include at least the last knuckle of his fingers. I don't know how he can play without feeling the strings, but he does a great job of it.

The only trouble I've ever seen him have was when his hands got sweaty one time, but a quick dryoff & some powder, & he was ready to play another set.

Check into them, kool lady. They work.

Buy a cheap $75 dollar guitar, string it backwards, and try it, playing lefty.
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Before you say "Are you kidding me," "I can't use my left hand," or "I'm not left-handed," or "I don't want to do that," - try it. And try it for at LEAST two weeks. If you refuse to try, or if you give up within two weeks, then . . . well . . . hey, there's not much you can tell someone who refuses to even try . . .
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It'll be as hard as hell to even do one chord. You'd have to learn all over again. Your fingers will be clumbsy and awkward, and it'll hurt like hell. It would probably take you a week to learn enough chords to play even one song.
And strumming it will be weird, with awkard rhythms, and all sounding amateurish . . . - at first.
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It's not about your fingers. It's about your mind.
But, if it was me, I would devote the next 30 years of my life to 'trying' it.

I just went and tore my ring finger from my nail on my left hand and I got a gig 2nite..... damn this hurts ...looks like I'm gonna hafta find something to relieve the pain before I go on.... I'll make an announcement to our audience

Crip2Nite wrote:I just went and tore my ring finger from my nail on my left hand and I got a gig 2nite..... damn this hurts ...looks like I'm gonna hafta find something to relieve the pain before I go on.... I'll make an announcement to our audience

Super glue?

I know a boy who uses a deep socket on his ring finger.

Well thanks guys for all your help! I've let hubby read 'em...He's actually been playing rather well since the accident...feels a little self-conscious as he's slower on quick-changes and can't do some chords which means he's not able to play a few of his fav songs. But one thing is for sure - he is definately not giving up!

Crip2Nite wrote:I just went and tore my ring finger from my nail on my left hand and I got a gig 2nite..... damn this hurts ...looks like I'm gonna hafta find something to relieve the pain before I go on.... I'll make an announcement to our audience

Ouch! Try putting Orajel (for teething ) on the nail bed...should help. Good luck!

He should just modify his style.
For example for power chords he needs no middle finger. He could play chords differently maybe inversions.
Barchords on the 5th string require no middle finger.

Perry

I recently saw stanley jordan play and that guy barely uses his left (and he plays normal/righthand). Anything is possible. We can't all be stanley jordans... but there's no reason he (your husband) can't develop a style that works for him and is effective despite his injury... just don't give up.

Not that this compares but... I smashed my right index finger good when I was a kid and had a metal protector and everything... so I learned to use my middle finger and thumb to hold a pick.

I met this bass player once, that was born with deformed hands... he really had "nubs" for lack of a more sensitive term. This guy had developed his own style that worked well for him... and sounded great.

finally... i saw this great movie once called "the edge" where anthony hopkins said "what one man can do... another man can do...".
best of luck to you both.

RhythmMan_BluesRockFolk: Mike says thanks for the idea of playing lefty...I didn't know but I guess he's already given it a go for a while & it's just too awkward! He says he's only ambidextrous when it comes to swingin his hammer! lol

philbymon wrote:There's a local guy around here has lost the ends of two of his fingers. He uses those prosthetics that fit like condoms.

And I didn't know about the "finger condom" type prosthetics before! Geez...the things they can make! Well, I guess it's true then: "Necessity is the mother of all invention"! Cool...

fenderperry wrote:He should just modify his style.
For example for power chords he needs no middle finger. He could play chords differently maybe inversions.
Barchords on the 5th string require no middle finger.

Perry

Yeah, he told me he plays solid rythm & he's working on his minor bar chords. He's also been trying holding 2 strings down with one finger - it seems to be working for him but is gonna take more practice! I didn't know he was doing that! I'm so proud...

Yes, & they even look like "regular fingers" when you see them, m'lady. Check into it...I'm sure they aren't real cheap, but well worth the cost if they can let you play again, no?

I've never really looked that close at how he handles the things like hammer-ons & pull-offs...seemed politically incorrect to stare too closely...but it certainly sounds just like any reg guy playing...& like I said - he's good!

Hope your hubby can get some, or find another way to solve his prob's...I'm still having a helluva time with my numb fingers after the ulna nerve surgery...it almost seems like it's too much work to overcome it, or perhaps I'm just a bit depressed about it all..I dunno..I just don't play as much as I used to, & don't enjoy it as much, either.

Just did one of my rare solo gigs tonight - ppl seemed to like it...I got asked to play in 2 more bars & 3 private parties...still...it isn't as much fun as it used to be...eh, I'll get over it or take a break for awhile

philbymon wrote:...it almost seems like it's too much work to overcome it, or perhaps I'm just a bit depressed about it all..I dunno..I just don't play as much as I used to, & don't enjoy it as much, either...

Yeah, I helped Mike thru that too...maybe taking a bit of a break wouldn't be such a bad idea. Try setting a date in your mind, like by the end of June for example, and see how it feels. You'll either miss playing and pick it up again before then or you'll be grateful for the pause. When music is a part of who you are it's not something that ever goes away We just get our own version of "writer's block", hey?