student with left hand index finger problem

[frankshaw]

Hi Pete,

I have a older beginner student who seems in ernest to want to play, but his left hand index (first) finger will not bend around sufficiently to make good contact on the fingerboard while fretting a string without muffling the string below it. Have you ever confronted this before? Can someone be taught using only the middle, ring and pinky fingers of the left hand to fret notes and make chords?

Frank Shaw
Branford, CT
f.shaw@snet.net

[Pete]

Frank,
Absolutely a person can chord in unconventional ways. It just takes practice. Where there's a will there's a way, as a number of great musicians with serious hand handicaps have shown (missing fingers, etc.).

If a person wants to try, they have one life to do it, so may as well get started!

Pete