Tips for Teaching Guitar to Students with Smaller Hands

Small hands are the bane of many guitar players, especially beginners learning to fret chords. Adult learners in particular can find it frustrating to play with small hands since there’s no chance of their fingers ever lengthening anymore, unlike children whose fingers continue to develop as they grow.

But you don’t have to let small hands deter you or your students from playing the guitar. There are ways to overcome this limitation. You can switch to a guitar for small hands such as concert- and parlor-style guitars, 3/4 size guitars and travel guitars. You can also train your hands to be more capable of playing a big guitar.

If you or your students have small hands, follow these tips when during practice to improve your playing ability.

Warm up your arms, shoulders, and hands

Warm ups help prevent muscle cramps and soreness, a common problem among guitar players with small hands and short arms. Here’s a simple warm up routine you can do before playing:

1. Relax your shoulders, then roll them forward 4 times and backward 4 times.
2. Bend your elbows to the side and put them back down again , like you’re doing a chicken dance. Do this 4 times. Keep your shoulders relaxed.
3. Extend your arms forward then back 8 times. Imagine dancing the ‘running man’ this time.
4. Open and close your hands 8 times. On the 8th count, make tight fist and hold this position for 8 counts. Release.
5. Open your hand and splay your fingers as widely as you can for 8 counts, then make a fist but not as tightly as before. Rotate your hands at the wrists inward 4 times then outward 4 times. Shake off.

Work that pinky finger

Need a little more reach? Let your pinky step in. Consider it your secret weapon to reach the previously unreachable.

When a chord or riff instructs you to use Finger No. 3—your ring finger—and you realize you can’t quite execute it properly without making a huge effort (accentuated with a grunt), call on your secret weapon to help you fret the right note.

For your pinky to be fret-fit however, you need to practice using it as much as you can to build its strength. The little finger is usually the weakest, but with practice it can become your MVF (Most Valuable Finger) when your ring finger can’t reach the right note.

Do finger-stretching exercises

Exercises aimed at stretching your fingers will not lengthen your digits but they will make them more physically fit to play the chords you find difficult to do. Stretching out those fingers also makes you less prone to pain and injury when playing.

Doing finger exercises not only lets your fingers adapt and become more comfortable with fretting difficult chords but also builds flexibility, making you a better guitar player overall. There are many exercises you can do to stretch your fingers such as these recommended exercises from Fretjam and Justin Guitar .

Don’t give up playing the guitar if you’ve got small hands—just follow the tips above and keep practicing. Eventually, your hands and fingers will adapt and you can even develop your own playing technique that will make it easier for you to form difficult chord shapes. If all else fails, then it’s time to shop for a smaller guitar!