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My pinky tends to be stretched all the way on the bow..such as when doing an up bow...but it is extremely difficult for me to rest naturally like on a down bow...it i s very finicky and tends to be twisted on an angle...i think my pinky is double jointed since it never seens to curl inward naturally and fluently...it always has a strange sudden snap when i try to move on the bow. I am tring to do some cole bowing for months and this pinky has been hindering my progress? ANY suggestions?
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I have a student that is VERY double jointed and I try to place her fingers right but as soon as I let go they collapse.
Can you record a video with you using your bow back and forth. No sound or violin necessary. Just show me a close-up of your fingers in action playing back and forth eighth or quarter notes for example.
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This has me somewhat worried. Due to genetics my pinkies only go to the first knuckle of the ring finger. This has made it difficult for me when it comes to doing things such as playing instruments. I cannot play the guitar because of my short pinkies- this makes me worry if I will have difficulties on the violin. The ukulele I can handle as it is so small. Fiddlerman, do you have any insight on this?
Luminiz, I hope you get your issues worked out. Sounds like they are frustrating you quite a bit.
Wishing you all the best,
~Ashra
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As long as you can use the pinky enough to lift the bow when necessary it will not be a problem for you. The pinky's sole purpose is to lift and eleviate pressure when necessary. I believe that you can find a solution that suits you. Can you take a picture of your hand holding the bow at different angles for me?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I do not as yet have a bow to hold as I still lack a violin. After watching some close ups of violinists playing I'm concerned about playing the strings with my left pinky moreso than holding the bow with my right. I intend to go to a store and look at and hold some violins to see how they feel hopefully sometime soon, and perhaps when I do I can take some pictures of my pinkies while holding a violin. Thank you for your time Fiddlerman, and have a great day!
Take care,
Ashra
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They do make 7/8 size violins, which are usually used by people with smaller fingers.
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I'm quite double jointed, too, and have short pinky fingers. You will be able to play the violin, but you may have to perform some gyrations to reach 4th position with your left hand - I have to bend my wrist (a no-no in most schools of teaching) to reach the note and then straighten it again quickly, but the strength is building and hopefully it won't be forever.
As for the bow hand - check out anything you can find about the Russian bow hold - it's similar to what you may end up being most comfortable with. At this point my pinky sort of floats over the stick and engages only when it has to, as with re-taking the bow quickly.
Don't get stuck on the traditional bow holds - many, many great fiddlers don't use a conventional bow hold and they still sound incredible!
Violin is one of those things that the "experts" believe should never change from the idealized classical image, both with playing and building, but I believe that there is always room for change and improvement and if you're not aiming to be an internationally known soloist, no one is really going to notice if you hold your bow differently or move your hand more than usual on the fingerboard.
Play happy!
Mary in Springfield, Oregon http://www.thefiddleandbanjopr.....dpress.com
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If you have a Facebook account here is a photo of me with my messed up pinky from many years of Flamenco guitar style playing but it works (yeah, I know my bow is crooked going acroos the string in that photo 
Ok, nevermind I can't even figure out how to paste a link on this forum post....
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Use the 
icon then 
icon to find and upload your picture. After that click browse and choose the picture that you uploaded.
Look forward to seeing it.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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One thing that I have been doing is using my first finger as well as my pinky and balance like a seesaw with my thumb as the base. Then go real slow on your bowing to learn when to apply more pressure. I'm not here to give lessons cause I have only been playing violin for a couple months. But keep doing stuff like that to learn what is comfortable for your hand to control the bow. What's comfortable for you may not meet a strict standard but if it's working for you....?
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Alright,
Nice to see you worked out the upload function 
Now you need to get your right hand pinky to curve and not collapse if you can. Besides that, the right arm and hand look great from this angle. Now your left hand wrist would have more mobility and strength if you could get it as straight as possible. Though the important thing is that you are relaxed.
You look like you are very relaxed and into it here. Were you playing when someone snapped a picture? How are you sounding?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
I have small hands and short pinkies, too.
I tend to lock my right pinky on the bow on the knuckle nearer to the root of the finger so it is almost at a right angle where it locks. When I noticed it, I "unlock" it. Hopefully I will get it eventually.
My other problem is my left pinky. When I use my 4th pinky, i am playing flats. If i want to play the right note, i had to shift my whole left hand down to the violin body a little, but then I had to shift back when I play other notes, then everythingis out of tune. I just read Oliver's post under another topic -- intonation, history?? I will try his solution to see if it works for me.
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Fore sure...My left hand looks horrible like that....
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I was jamming and practicing scales and my wife, Sandra snuck up and took an iphone pic.
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myguitarnow said:
I was jamming and practicing scales and my wife, Sandra snuck up and took an iphone pic.
LOL, that's what wives are for.
I don't think it looks horrible but you need to have it curved so that you can change the direction of the bow smoothly. I'll try to make a super short video just with that.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Anyone else getting their pinky to work right on the bow?
I've been working on it and got it down. It's feels much more comfortable. I'm also focusing and keeping my left wrist straight to the inside of my arm. That came pretty easy because of my guitar playing.
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That's great news MGN
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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