Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Private messaging is working again.

AAA
Avatar
Please consider registering
guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope




Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed Topic RSSsp_TopicIcon
fat fingers
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (1 votes) 
Avatar
Gordon Shumway
London, England
Members

Regulars
August 31, 2019 - 6:06 am
Member Since: August 1, 2016
Forum Posts: 2735
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

In Thursday's lesson it was found that my fingers are too fat to play a semitone between 3 and 4 in third position, so I have to learn how to budge them. Itzak Perlman had the same problem. I wish I had his talent.

Andrew

Verified human - the ignominy!

Avatar
MoonShadows
Stroudsburg, PA

Honorary tenured advisor
Members

Regulars
August 31, 2019 - 6:43 am
Member Since: January 30, 2019
Forum Posts: 636
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I also have Itzak's fat fingers, but not his talent. 

Jim

Avatar
Mouse
August 31, 2019 - 8:40 am
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 6097
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Thought you might be interested in this.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman Talks About His Large Hands

There is also cello and viola 😂

I anticipate that problem as I move up the fingerboard. Although, I think that is already my issue with 1st position E flat, B flat, C and G. My index finger is in the way. One of the little ditties  in the book I have has a lot of C and B, or B and C action. I feel like when I stepped on my thumb and sprained it in school. 

So far, I don’t have that issue with cello, but we are working our way down the fingerboard with closer fingerings. I am hoping we run out of fingerboard before it is an issue. I am doing viola on my own, for now, so I am only doing 1st position songs. No fat finger getting in the way issues, yet.

Oh. I don’t think Itzhak Perlman would be willing to give up his talent to anyone, yet.

                  Learn Violin and Fiddle

                   on

                         Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum

Avatar
Pete_Violin
Utah

Honorary advisor
Members

Regulars
August 31, 2019 - 1:41 pm
Member Since: March 25, 2018
Forum Posts: 456
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

All this did was make me feel pathetic for even complaining at all about my playing and how my hands are.... LOL!

I'm really kidding.  I cannot compare myself to these incredible musicians.  Their 30+ years to my 1 year, 9 months... It's simply an unrealistic comparison.

My hands are actually average and well suited to play violin.  My challenge is not the size, but rather my dexterity that I have to work on, which actually is good news because dexterity is something I can improve.  Physical size is not quite as easy to change.

- Pete -

Avatar
Gordon Shumway
London, England
Members

Regulars
August 31, 2019 - 1:58 pm
Member Since: August 1, 2016
Forum Posts: 2735
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Perlman has big hands though - note how he doesn't need to move his thumb, whereas I have to take mine away from the neck completely and move it around the rib by the E string to get a high F/F#, which makes me afraid I'll drop the violin.

Andrew

Verified human - the ignominy!

Avatar
Jim Dunleavy
United Kingdom
Members

Regulars
September 2, 2019 - 4:01 am
Member Since: April 19, 2015
Forum Posts: 910
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I think many, if not most, players need to slide fingers about to get semitones up at 3rd position and beyond. The notes are just too close together.

Avatar
HP
Trondheim, Norway
Members

Regulars
September 2, 2019 - 5:03 am
Member Since: October 11, 2012
Forum Posts: 404
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Indeed Jim, or have other issues regarding their hands. I've slim fingers, even in 4th position I got some wiggle room between semitones. Which is great I suppose. The problem is that my hands are so small that I have a hard time hitting anything higher than 6th position. No way that I would be able to play in 11th position. 

'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.

Avatar
AndrewH
Sacramento, California
Members

Regulars
September 2, 2019 - 5:47 am
Member Since: November 5, 2017
Forum Posts: 1782
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Gordon Shumway said
Perlman has big hands though - note how he doesn't need to move his thumb, whereas I have to take mine away from the neck completely and move it around the rib by the E string to get a high F/F#, which makes me afraid I'll drop the violin.

  

At this point, you may need to swing your elbow much farther to the right so that your entire hand is above the upper bout. If you do that, you should be able to reach at least 9th (most likely 11th) position with your thumb still in contact with the saddle. It may take a bit of time to train the flexibility to do it; don't rush it.

My fingers are probably shorter than yours -- I've literally never met any adult with shorter fingers than mine, including people as short as 4'8". I barely reach an octave on a piano. My thumb still stays in contact with the saddle all the way up to 9th position on a viola. My thumb is not under the neck at that point, but it also isn't all the way out on the rib. Note: when you're in that position, you may have more difficulty using the 4th finger, especially if you have a short pinky. I tend to avoid 4th finger in 5th position and beyond; I either shift or extend my 3rd finger when I can.

I actually have terrible hands for any string instrument. My fingers are both wide (on violin I start having to move my fingers out of the way to play semitones in 2nd position) and extremely short.

Avatar
starise
Members

Regulars
September 2, 2019 - 8:04 pm
Member Since: September 9, 2016
Forum Posts: 447
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Mt teacher had me slightly moving my fingers to the aside as a way to not hit strings I don't want to hit. It seems to help for people who feel they have larger fingers.

Perlman is a real source of inspiration to men that they can play both well and fast.He admitted in the video that it was a bit easier for someone with smaller fingers to play some of those higher positions. He never let it stop him.

I went through a phase where I was trying to convince my teacher it was my fingers. 

She never bought it lol.

Avatar
Pete_Violin
Utah

Honorary advisor
Members

Regulars
September 2, 2019 - 8:13 pm
Member Since: March 25, 2018
Forum Posts: 456
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

starise said
Mt teacher had me slightly moving my fingers to the aside as a way to not hit strings I don't want to hit. It seems to help for people who feel they have larger fingers. 

@starise 

This plagues me constantly... not the size of my fingers, but hitting other strings.  It has gotten better, but I still have to deal with it.  Mostly when I am reading instead of watching my fingers.  I play a lot more cleanly if I look at my fingers, but I am trying to quit that habit.

Which direction do you move your fingers that is helping you avoid hitting strings?

- Pete -

Avatar
starise
Members

Regulars
September 3, 2019 - 11:32 am
Member Since: September 9, 2016
Forum Posts: 447
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Hi Pete,

More often I'm using 4th positions as a way to occasionally avoid hitting side strings in string crossings. It is a fine art that I haven't yet mastered. The concept is simply putting sideways pressure on a string when two fingers are down. Even just a few mm shift to the side can help.I'm generally moving away from the E string since this is the one that gets me a lot. Moving them too far can bend the tone and do other things so we are talking very minute moves. 

Sometimes it feels like cheating the system, but I do whatever works so long as I don't break any laws. BFF- Big fingered Folk? do whatever is necessary. My hands aren't especially big for a man but they are big for a woman whatever that means. Now a large handed woman will comment....I can't win. Ok - the most common women's hands are dainty in comparison to us would you not agree?

Avatar
Mouse
September 3, 2019 - 2:16 pm
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 6097
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
12sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

Oooh, @starise You are indeed skating on thin ice. Being a woman with hands that are not the skinny long size of those hands you constantly see in ads, etc, I believe there is a misconception of how many women actually do NOT have those skinny fingers and hands.

Why? Because women of average build, or healthy build, are not seen in ads, movies, photos, etc by millions upon millions of people. Because those few (in comparison to the number of women in the world) women are all that most people see. Therefore, people think that is the average woman size. There is definitely a bias against any woman who wears a size 10 or larger, does not have skinny hands, does not have a flawless face (I say get rid of the makeup and plastic surgeon), etc.

Phew! Sorry, it had to be said, lest more people started thinking the average woman has small skinny hands.

 The men I see around here have average hands, not really that much larger than the women. It varies. 

Had to be said, as you were expecting it and I did not want to let you down. roflol

This is all in semi-jest. No offense taken by the women generally having small hands. Tell me, if a woman has such small hands, how does a woman manage to do all that housework a woman does, the gardening, slap herself on the side of her head in disbelief so often because she cannot believe her husband did that, YET AGAIN? 

Wow, that was a lot of fun to type up. Hope it was as much fun to read. It was meant to be.

                  Learn Violin and Fiddle

                   on

                         Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum

Avatar
starise
Members

Regulars
September 3, 2019 - 2:58 pm
Member Since: September 9, 2016
Forum Posts: 447
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
13sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

cid, I stand corrected :)  

Avatar
Mouse
September 3, 2019 - 3:18 pm
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 6097
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
14sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

Starise, you may sit now. 😂

                  Learn Violin and Fiddle

                   on

                         Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum

Avatar
bocaholly
Boca Raton, Florida
Members

Regulars
September 3, 2019 - 9:16 pm
Member Since: July 8, 2018
Forum Posts: 694
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
15sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

Cid said:

Had to be said, as you were expecting it and I did not want to let you down. roflol

Wow, that was a lot of fun to type up. Hope it was as much fun to read. It was meant to be.

  

Cid for President!... what a fun read!

Avatar
Mouse
September 3, 2019 - 9:28 pm
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 6097
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
16sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

@bocaholly Thank you. Sometimes a thread eventually cries for some fun. Starise opened that fun door wide open with that post. What a hoot.

                  Learn Violin and Fiddle

                   on

                         Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum

Avatar
Pete_Violin
Utah

Honorary advisor
Members

Regulars
September 3, 2019 - 9:29 pm
Member Since: March 25, 2018
Forum Posts: 456
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
17sp_Permalink sp_Print
5

I was ganna say something....

But I know better.

- Pete -

Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
September 8, 2019 - 12:48 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16537
18sp_Permalink sp_Print
0

In positions it's common to budge fingers with the next finger to get an interval which is small enough.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 696
Currently Online: Mark, Goldenbow
Guest(s) 88
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Members Birthdays
sp_BirthdayIcon
Today celeigh87
Upcoming fryserisnon8, Picklefish, Tammy, Shell, Schaick, GlassTownCur, Violinista Italiano, Ogre, marcnaz, VirginViolinist, Cearbhael, eugenephilip572
Top Posters:
ELCBK: 8835
ABitRusty: 4303
Mad_Wed: 2849
Gordon Shumway: 2735
Barry: 2690
Fiddlestix: 2647
Oliver: 2439
DanielB: 2379
stringy: 2375
Mark: 2273
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 3
Members: 31781
Moderators: 0
Admins: 8
Forum Stats:
Groups: 16
Forums: 84
Topics: 10864
Posts: 138022
Newest Members:
jeni2024, Goldenbow, joanie, hunmari01, lydia.vertu SP, Thavence SP, tcaron21, Ustiana SP, DennisRathbone SP, Dan
Administrators: Fiddlerman: 16537, KindaScratchy: 1760, coolpinkone: 4180, BillyG: 3746, JoakimSimplePress: 0, MrsFiddlerman: 2, Jimmie Bjorling: 0, Mouse: 6097