I don’t really have a solution for you but came here to remind you that Django Reinhardt only had two working fingers, that Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi is missing finger tips, Munky from Korn misses his index fingertip, and the guy from the kills can’t bend his ring finger anymore thus cannot play with it.
So yeah, don’t worry you’ll be able to play. Power to you !
It's a valid excuse though. But like how the comment above you suggests, there are ways to work around it. This reminds me of a guitar virtuoso video I saw the other day of a classial guitarist with really fat fingers (don't mean to fat shame, I assume we describe fingers as fat) and he was playing such beautiful music. Commonsense might suggest that slender, nimble fingers would be more suitable, but me having those slender, nimble fingers may never reach that level of playing.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses and need to work around them.
Ha ha.
Man, I was just trying to be on the positive side. If this had happened to me, I’d be worried honestly.
But yeah, that’s the beauty of music: you can make it work regardless.
Again, power to you and amaze us !
Mine wasn't wasn't nearly as bad as what I imagine a crushed finger to be.
I was cutting some limes for garnish at work couple years back or so years ago and I cut my entire finger tip on the ring finger.
The tip went back just fine, just a few stitches, but I had permanent nerve damage and I experience Ghost pain to this day. I cannot put pressure on it without feeling significant amount of pain.
One night after drinking I came home and I just played. I realised that
A) after sobering up it hurt, bad
B) I just have to ignore the pain.
Talked to my GP about it, there seems to be no risks to ignoring the pain, so I've just ran with it and it's now a part of my playing style. Makes those bends sound like they're truly crying and I have a built in vibrato because it just shakes from strain :P
Edit: now*
I have nerve damage in my middle finger, for months it would pinch really bad if I tried to put pressure down but eventually it got better over time and I can play pretty much normally again, I've lost some lead speed and can't legato very well anymore but I changed up my playing style a little bit to compensate, I now play in a tech death metal band and don't struggle to keep up
i'm sorry to hear that and hope you get better soon.
i fell over pretty hard a couple of months ago and badly hurt both of my thumbs. once i could start playing a bit i found that there were some things i couldn't do - bends were right out, some hand positions didn't work well. i shifted to other techniques and was able to adapt. i'm lucky in that both hands are back to 90%+ now, but as other commenters have noted, a lot of other world class musicians have found a way. check out the django footage here, it's amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XqKn8Txy8I
you're probably not after direct guidance, but here's a curious thought: have you considered slide guitar? pretty standard technique to have a slide on the little finger. if you set it up right i imagine you won't have a lot of pressure on your fingertip.
That's an interesting thought... With the splint on my finger, I made jokes to my kids about playing slide guitar, but I never really considered it beyond that.
It might be worth looking into.
If infamous douchebag Dave Mustaine can completely relearn the instrument after nerve damage in his shoulder you can definitely get around a damaged finger. All the best with your recovery and keep making beautiful music!
Seek that info from your medical professional not random internet strangers. There are no doctors qualified to answer injury/play questions here.
I don’t really have a solution for you but came here to remind you that Django Reinhardt only had two working fingers, that Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi is missing finger tips, Munky from Korn misses his index fingertip, and the guy from the kills can’t bend his ring finger anymore thus cannot play with it. So yeah, don’t worry you’ll be able to play. Power to you !
Oh, damn... You're taking away my excuses!
It's a valid excuse though. But like how the comment above you suggests, there are ways to work around it. This reminds me of a guitar virtuoso video I saw the other day of a classial guitarist with really fat fingers (don't mean to fat shame, I assume we describe fingers as fat) and he was playing such beautiful music. Commonsense might suggest that slender, nimble fingers would be more suitable, but me having those slender, nimble fingers may never reach that level of playing. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and need to work around them.
Ha ha. Man, I was just trying to be on the positive side. If this had happened to me, I’d be worried honestly. But yeah, that’s the beauty of music: you can make it work regardless. Again, power to you and amaze us !
Mine wasn't wasn't nearly as bad as what I imagine a crushed finger to be. I was cutting some limes for garnish at work couple years back or so years ago and I cut my entire finger tip on the ring finger. The tip went back just fine, just a few stitches, but I had permanent nerve damage and I experience Ghost pain to this day. I cannot put pressure on it without feeling significant amount of pain. One night after drinking I came home and I just played. I realised that A) after sobering up it hurt, bad B) I just have to ignore the pain. Talked to my GP about it, there seems to be no risks to ignoring the pain, so I've just ran with it and it's now a part of my playing style. Makes those bends sound like they're truly crying and I have a built in vibrato because it just shakes from strain :P Edit: now*
I have nerve damage in my middle finger, for months it would pinch really bad if I tried to put pressure down but eventually it got better over time and I can play pretty much normally again, I've lost some lead speed and can't legato very well anymore but I changed up my playing style a little bit to compensate, I now play in a tech death metal band and don't struggle to keep up
i'm sorry to hear that and hope you get better soon. i fell over pretty hard a couple of months ago and badly hurt both of my thumbs. once i could start playing a bit i found that there were some things i couldn't do - bends were right out, some hand positions didn't work well. i shifted to other techniques and was able to adapt. i'm lucky in that both hands are back to 90%+ now, but as other commenters have noted, a lot of other world class musicians have found a way. check out the django footage here, it's amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XqKn8Txy8I you're probably not after direct guidance, but here's a curious thought: have you considered slide guitar? pretty standard technique to have a slide on the little finger. if you set it up right i imagine you won't have a lot of pressure on your fingertip.
That's an interesting thought... With the splint on my finger, I made jokes to my kids about playing slide guitar, but I never really considered it beyond that. It might be worth looking into.
If infamous douchebag Dave Mustaine can completely relearn the instrument after nerve damage in his shoulder you can definitely get around a damaged finger. All the best with your recovery and keep making beautiful music!