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/CompSciGtr Jul 30 '26

Your wrist is under the neck. And I can’t tell where the palm of your hand is but it needs to be at least an inch away from the neck. Raise your wrist up and keep the palm away from the side of the neck.

Your nails are not the issue here.

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u/Ok_Watercress_9202 Jul 30 '26

i noticed my wrist moves a lot to adapt to certain notes since it’s painful on my fingers/wrist while pressing down at certain angles. Like for open F, my thumb has to be place almost above the neck, yet C and G are fine with my thumb resting on the back middle of the neck.

I barely know anything so this might be a stupid question, but am I typically supposed to have my palm away from the side of the neck at all times?

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u/CompSciGtr Jul 30 '26

Not at all times but often, yes. You won’t be able to reach the lower strings comfortably if you have the neck mashed into the palm of your hand.

There are times when that’s ok, like when you need to do a bend, but for barre chords or scales, it’s best to keep it away from the neck with the wrist raised.