Is the size of your hand an issue to play ERG's?

[Damo707]

I have small hands.. There I said it.
I have to change my technique slightly, eg more transitions between 1-5 frets and even 7-9 for some chord shapes. That was on a 29 scale 8 string.
I have a 27 scale Ibanez which feels perfect for the way I play, I don't need to transition as much or at all.

 

[sniperfreak223]

No, but studies have shown that ERG players have huge penises. I play a 10 string, btw.

I'd bet the opposite is actually true I'm a six-slinger...no need to compensate.

 

[dudeskin]

The smaller hands you have on your instrumen, the bigger it looks.haha

 

[patata]

7 strings are great to me.More ''meaty''.
8 is okay I guess,from the little time I spent on them,I can't really hit the string I think I'm hitting.

 

[Dayn]

It can be an issue. Personally, I'd be comfortable with an 11-string without any stretching, but my friend on the other hand... her hands and fingers are tiny, and can barely do many reaches on her Strat, let alone reaching for just the 7th string on my guitar.

So yes. It most certainly can be for some people.

 

[DrZoidberg]

For me, it took more getting used to the difference in scale length than the width of the fretboard. It can strain the wrist some if you don't make adjustments.

 

[Explorer]

I play with the neck almost upright, like playing a Chapman Stick or a classical guitar, a stance/position I adopted after I went through some hand problems quite a while ago. I haven't had a repeat in the years since.

 

[BusinessMan]

I would imagine that anyone could play an erg but their reach wouldn't be the same as say on a six or seven. I have really large hands myself and erg feel more comfortable than erg's to me since I have big hands.

 

[danger5oh]

I'm only 5'6" with about average hand size for my height, and I stayed away from anything with more than 7 strings and anything with a scale length longer than 25.5", assuming that those guitars would be too difficult to play well. I recently got a 28" scale 8 and I quickly realized that my original assumptions were wrong.

 

[Stuck_in_a_dream]

In general, I don't think it matters that much if at all. Players with smaller hands probably invented clever tapping techniques to replicate Holdsworth's (who has probably the largest hands I have ever seen) large stretched legato runs.

I went to an Al DiMeola live concert once, it was in a club so I got the chance to get closer to the stage. I was about 10 ft away from him and he has small hands, but he is a monster player.

As far as ERG, playing barre chords near the nut could be challenging for 27" scales and up if you don't have large enough hands, but there is always another voicing that would be easier to play.

Same question gets asked in the piano world, and the answer is more or less the same. Rachmaninoff had humongous hands, but one of the best contemporary players Ashkenazy has small hands.

 

[CMNDandCTRL]

I don't think it's too relevant. My fingers are essentially chodes, and when I got my 8 string, I just cranked the strap up high and for the first while all I had was a bit of pain where my thumb meets my palm when holding bar chords for a long time but after having it for a few months I no longer have any pain.

 

[Skully124]

i have really small double jointed fingers and hands that make playing sorta tough, but i have a easy time playing on my RG8, the 27 in scale hasnt proven to be much of hurdle for me, I actually find the RG8 easier to play than the RG7321, and it all boils down to the neck width in my opinion. I find gibson esque necks extremely uncomfortable, but my RG8 is like a dream come true, i also play in the proper classical position so that helps, i think it boils down to technique and how your hands just handle the neck.

 

[vansinn]

I feel it's very much a matter of how the instrument fits playing style, i.e. shape of neck, balance, neck width - especially the taper.

My pinky could be longer, so playing the 8th string beyond 12/14th fret or so is troublesome.

Same on my 7-string bass, where I have problems beyond 8/9th or so.. however, this bass has a wider taper than I prefer and is a Bit neck heavy, both not giving me the best of neck angle.

 

[Nosedevil]

From my personal experience, it's on the shoulder. When I made the transition to ERG (28.6"), my shoulder suffered a lot, but I got used to it in about a week or so. Then changing back to 25.5" it needed some readjusting. 3 days were enough to get the groove on again.