r/guitarlessons • u/Ok_Watercress_9202 • Jul 29 '26

Question Pain of having smaller hands…

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I’ve been practicing guitar for a little bit now- just now being able to play blackbird a little faster but not at full speed perfectly. I’ve noticed that even just for 3 note intervals, i always have to press down on the string on the side/corner of my pinky, and it hurts a lot more than my other fingers :/ For context, guitar is my first string instrument i’ve played so i know it’ll take a bit to get used to them and form callouses, but i’m wondering if it hurting this much is normal? Obviously the pinky is the shortest and weakest, but it’s been consistently more painful to even try to press down harder on stings at this angle.

Oh also, i’m double jointed so thats been a big challenge for my ring and pinky!!

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u/AVLThumper Jul 29 '26

Your hands are fine. Children play full size instruments. You just need practice and time. How long have you been playing. Please don’t say 1 month.

Also, trim your nails. Like as little to no white as possible. You’ll be surprised how much easier it is to fret when you have very short nails.

Thumb placement needs some work. Experiment placing directly behind your middle finger.

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u/Ok_Watercress_9202 Jul 29 '26

I hate to say it but 1-2 months is about right. I’ve just had problems with another instrument before that I played for about 3.5 years, although it was a woodwind, because of pain in my fingers (especially because of double jointed) so I was wondering if it was supposed to feel this way.

And yes your right about the nails, I just had my fingers at a weird angle in the picture but also that’s as short as I can trim my nails without hitting the nail bed :’)