Non-compliant baby finger

Only two months into this and I went overboard with UAS. I sit on my bed with my Bushman KOA Soprano and my Mainland Mahogany Concert (thank you Jeff) taking turns practicing with them. I do think the Mainland is my Fav. My son "borrowed" my Flea within days of its arrival (thank you Mike). Last night I was over my sons house and exercised my visitation rights. I am in love with my ukuleles.
Oh wait, I'm off subject. My baby finger is not wired to my brain. I tell it to press down on the 1st string 4th fret and it just sort of sits there or it stretches but only makes it to the 3rd fret. I think it is the Dm6 chord that finger 4 is refusing to play.
I know, practice, practice, practice.

Roxhum

Yes, practice. I had this problem too (still do, to some extent, because I have freakishly short fingers) and one thing that helped a lot was getting one of those little grippy things that rock climbers use to strengthen their hands. Here's the one I use.

guess Im not the only one with short fingers....i have the same problem trying to manipulate my fingers. It does frustrate me at times but i keep on trying.

A couple months back I had both my pinky and ring finger go completely dead and immobile with the pinky being totally numb, and ring finger half numb the side along ring finger. I had a panic thinking my 'ukulele playing days was over.
Doctors said what I had was called "Guyon's Canal Syndrome" similar to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome but a different nerve. Doc said in many cases requires surgery to fix. I have no medical insurance so hope was low. Eventually feeling started to return and now feeling has completely returned.

Wow Ahnko, I am happy to hear you are still able to play the ukulele. Also a bit of concern for me. I am having carpel tunnel issues, hadn't associated my stuborn baby finger with that though. I too have "freakishly" short fingers. Anyway glad to hear you are doing okay. I bet there are hand exercises that can help with that. I have some I could scan and email to you.

roxhum said:

....I know, practice, practice, practice.

Roxhum

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Looks like you solved your problem!!!

Ahnko Honu said:

Doctors said what I had was called "Guyon's Canal Syndrome" similar to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome but a different nerve. Doc said in many cases requires surgery to fix. I have no medical insurance so hope was low. Eventually feeling started to return and now feeling has completely returned.

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My suggestion is that you consult a different MD if it acts up again.
Yeah, it sounds like a nerve problem but it might be something as simple as a bulging disc in you neck putting pressure on the brachial nerve causing weirdness down to your ulnar nerve which flows out to your ring and pinky finger.
That's what my adventure was.

What initially aggravated the disc in my neck was probably the prescription in my bifocal glasses. A too old of a prescription made me subconsciously hold my head at a weird angle.

Once I got my vision Rx corrected the nerve specialist I consulted gave me some prednisone and sent me to a physical therapist who gave me exercises to strengthen my neck and upper back to get things back to normal.
I have made those exercises part of my religion.

To this day I can't sleep on my back without my ring and pinky fingers going numb unless I support my head with a special support thing that that holds my head in traction. I bought that off the internet for about $15.

The rest of you, short fingers? Perhaps. If we're comparing pinky fingers I imagine I'm in the running for having one of the shortest here. At 5'1" I have the tiny hands of a moon goddess. My other instrument is the fiddle and for the longest time I considered getting a smaller (7/8) size fiddle. Then shorter than me fiddlers pointed out to me that its not so much the length of ones' fingers as it is the position one holds their whole hand in relationship to the instrument.
That plus you need to build up strength in you pinky finger.

Which brings my long winded explanation to something for even those here with long pinky fingers to consider.

Many of us have the muscles that move both the pinky finger and the ring finger connected to the same tendon. Not everyone has that.
That doesn't mean that those who have that will never be able to move those two fingers independent of each other.
That only means we probably will need more dedicated practice to move them independent of each other.

Like Roxhum said, "practice, practice, practice."

penel said:

Many of us have the muscles that move both the pinky finger and the ring finger connected to the same tendon. Not everyone has that.

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Oh yeah! I forgot about that. A while ago I was *whining* to my instructor about the challenges I face due to my stubby hands. He had me put my left hand palm-down on something flat, then raise each finger independently of the others. Trying to move my ring finger without moving my pinky was near impossible.

penel said:

The rest of you, short fingers? Perhaps. If we're comparing pinky fingers I imagine I'm in the running for having one of the shortest here. At 5'1" I have the tiny hands of a moon goddess. My other instrument is the fiddle and for the longest time I considered getting a smaller (7/8) size fiddle. Then shorter than me fiddlers pointed out to me that its not so much the length of ones' fingers as it is the position one holds their whole hand in relationship to the instrument.

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I have to laugh every time I hear someone talk about short fingers being a problem on uke. Doesn't seem to be a problem for this little girl.

penel said:

My suggestion is that you consult a different MD if it acts up again.
Yeah, it sounds like a nerve problem but it might be something as simple as a bulging disc in you neck putting pressure on the brachial nerve causing weirdness down to your ulnar nerve which flows out to your ring and pinky finger.
That's what my adventure was.

What initially aggravated the disc in my neck was probably the prescription in my bifocal glasses. A too old of a prescription made me subconsciously hold my head at a weird angle.

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My problem is I have no medical insurance so I get all my medical attention at a free clinic where I have no choice in doctors, and the clinic has a high turnaround of doctors too. They did refer me to a specialist at hospital but they wanted several hundred dollars just for an office visit.
On hindsight what aggravated my condition was the day before the symptoms appeared I was under my compact car in a contorted position to remove the oil filter while performing an oil change, and while doing this my left hand locked in a claw position for several seconds, and after this I started feeling numbness in my left arm and my pinky and ring fingers went dead. At first I thought it may be my heart so quickly went to a emergency clinic that verified it was a nerve problem, heart okay.
The free clinic doctor did say that it was caused my a pinched nerve in my neck, and gave me about a weeks supply of muscle relaxent. It took about a month for the symptoms to disappear. Rowing my boat seemed to loosen things up and speed up the healing.
I have my forth back surgery (workman's comp covered) coming up in a week, hope they get it right this time.

Okay, short not the issue. The issue is my finger does not listen to what my brain tells it to do. My finger is handicapped. However I guess I am ahead of the game because when I put my hand flat on my desk I can move it independently of my ring finger. Desk? Did I say desk? I better get back to the work that pays for all these ukuleles.

roxhum said:

Okay, short not the issue. The issue is my finger does not listen to what my brain tells it to do. My finger is handicapped.

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Handicapped? I managed to sever the tendons at the base of my LH pinky. Had surgery and months of therapy. They said it'd never be 100% again and they were right. I lost about 1/4" of extension in that finger. It saddens me that my reach was diminished and I can't hit some intervals on guitar that I could previously (which makes the shorter uke scale even more attractive to me), but never for a second do I think of it as a handicap, only a blessing that I can still play at all.

Keep at it and eventually your brain and pinky will be able to communicate.

Ahnko Honu said:

I have my forth back surgery (workman's comp covered) coming up in a week, hope they get it right this time.

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Know you've been fighting to get this surgery. Hope it goes perfect this time. Just know that we're all pulling for you.

Sorry Itsme if my joking around came off as insensitive or offensive. Just clowning around because I never realized how little control I have of my pinky. I think the problem is the need to build up some muscle in that under utilized finger.

Sorry about your medical issues and I admire your postive attitude

roxhum said:

Sorry Itsme if my joking around came off as insensitive or offensive. Just clowning around because I never realized how little control I have of my pinky. I think the problem is the need to build up some muscle in that under utilized finger.

Sorry about your medical issues and I admire your postive attitude

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No offense taken. You'll get your pinky under control eventually.

Oh, and aside from the LH pinky extension loss from the accident, the other fingers on my LH have actually stretched out and become longer (compared to the RH) over many years of guitar playing.

Don't know what you're playing, but some fingerpicking might help you.

itsme said:

No offense taken. You'll get your pinky under control eventually.

Oh, and aside from the LH pinky extension loss from the accident, the other fingers on my LH have actually stretched out and become longer (compared to the RH) over many years of guitar playing.

Don't know what you're playing, but some fingerpicking might help you.

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Aloha Roxhum,
I agree with It'sme and other posts...When I was a teenager I played basketball and broke my left pinky finger at the first joint and never fixed it..so it stayed bent..
So when I started to play ukulele again, it wouldn't react when it supposed to...but through alot of playing and practice it rehabilitated and strenghtened my finger and the surrounded muscles.
It took a long while thought(two years) and still my finger at times do not function but I can manage to use the surrounding muscles, hand, and wrist to put it in the right position..Thank God
for my uke playing to rehabiltate my finger and brought it back to a little bit more use...I hope it helps...Good Luck and "Keep strumming them strings" Let us know of your progress.MM Stan..

Roxhum, e kala mai ia'u for the hijack back there.
I used to use these Chinese exercise balls to build strength and coordination in my hands. Had it on my desk at work a handy location to grab when talking on the phone etc. It's a great stress reliever too.

I used to have those Chinese exercise balls. I wonder what happened to them.

Thanks, good idea. I am also finding putting my hand in, how to say it, like a claw position is helping with those hard chords that required all four fingers. I guess having my pinky curled up instead of straight gives it more coordination. I don't know if that makes any sense. And of course practice, practice, practice.

I'm lucky I suppose as I have fairly good pinky dexterity, I think it's because when I first started and knew nothing I used it for the C chord, which I still do, its also in there in my G chord and D7. I have been playing around with a song that has a progression in it today which goes from a G7 to a G+ (0332) to a C and hey all I had to do was bar the C and E stings with the end of my pinky and hey presto there it was. My left hand pinky is definitely more bent back now than my right handed one. (mind you the song has a progression in the song from a C, 2 strums to a B, 1 strum to a Bb, 1 strum to an A.....ughhh. Practice practice practice, sigh)

Cheers

I just laugh at myself when I am staring at my pinky, only about 10 inches from my eyes, and I can't get it to move where I want it to. It's like there is some disconnect somewhere between my eyes, brain and pinky. I am saying, "Hey, just pop over to that fret right over there." But it either doesn't move, or all the fingers decide to dance around in anarchy. I'm thinking, "whose body parts are those?"

... and before anyone says it... I know; practice, practice, practice.
Its all good

Janeray - Dumb question, but consider the source: do you use that finger-strengthening gizmo on your pinky only, or all of your fingers?