Can short men with stubby fingers make it as Guitarists at international levels?

dsouza

dsouza

Experienced
It seems like at high levels of competition the Music Industry is calling for tall men with long fingers.

That seems to be the defacto standard for guitarists.

Can short men with construction finger hands (stubby fingers) still "make it" as guitarists?
 
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Tall as in shedders or guitar players/songwriters?

I don't think these guitars are tall in the way you mean. Not sure about their hands. Just to name a few:

Stevie Ray Vaughan 5'5''
Steve Stevens 5'7''
Angus Young 5'2''
John Petrucci 5'11''
Randy Rhoads 5'7''
 
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As in most things, if anyone truly lives up to their potential, they'll dwarf others with far greater natural advantages.

That said, it's not a competition.
 
People are only limited by the amount of time and effort they are willing to put in. Everything else is an excuse. Look up Django Reinhardt and see what he could do with only 2 fingers.

Don't worry about the size of your fingers, how you should dress or what others think of what you do. Hard work and tenacity always pays off. Some may have to work harder than others but the question is, how bad do you really want it? If you're passionate about something, you'll figure out a way to get it done.

"If something is difficult for you to accomplish, do not then think it impossible for any human being; rather, if it is humanly possible and corresponds to human nature, know that it is attainable by you as well."

"Practice even what seems impossible. The left hand is useless at almost everything, for lack of practice. But it guides the reins better than the right. From practice."

- Marcus Aurelius

​

 
Tony Iommi accidently cut off the ends of
some of his fretting hand fingers while he worked in a factory before any success with Black Sabbath. He was not expected to play guitar very well after that and certainly not well enough to play professionally. He didn't give up though, figuring out how to fabricate rubber finger tips and relentlessly learning to play with those. We know the rest of that story and there's many others like it, which tells us that inner strength, drive, dedication, and a myriad of other factors play a huge role in any form of success.

  • Jeff Healey (blind).
  • Joni Mitchell (Fretting hand strength limited from polio).
  • Les Paul - (Fretting arm in fixed position due to a car accident).
  • Paul Stanley (Deaf in one ear).
...

I doubt any of these
folks would have been deterred by stubby fingers.
 
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