Survey: Your ultimate stretch from index to pinky on fretboard

What is your stretch distance from index to pinky?

  • Below 5â€�

    Votes: 2 9.1%

  • Between 5â€� to 6â€�

    Votes: 9 40.9%

  • Between 6â€� to 7â€�

    Votes: 7 31.8%

  • Between 7â€� to 8â€�

    Votes: 2 9.1%

  • Between 8â€� to 9â€�

    Votes: 1 4.5%

  • Between 9â€� to 10â€�

    Votes: 1 4.5%

  • Above 10â€�

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    22
A

AustinHing

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So I’m curious to find out what is your maximum stretch distance from index finger to the pinky on the fretboard.

Some songs especially those chord melody types really requires superhuman level stretch.

In my case, I have ridiculously short fingers aka Baby T-Rex Hands Syndrome. My stretch is at a stupidly 5.5 inches, barely made it on for a chord shape that need to stretch from 5th to 14th fret on a soprano. I can’t play that song (Music Box by Jake Shimabukuro) beyond soprano scale due to my very limited stretch. But that’s okay for me cos I’m a soprano addict.

If ok, just humour me by sharing your stretch distance to confirm I do have very short stretch. Thanks!

Edit:
Conversion list
5” = 12.7cm
6” = 15.24cm
7” = 17.78cm
8” = 20.32cm
9” = 22.86cm
10” = 25.4cm
 
Last edited:
3 frets...:D :shaka:
 
Mine's 5.5 also, and I prefer baritones.
Do I wish it was more? Yeah, sure, but you know how that works! :rofl::biglaugh:

bratsche
 
bratsche said:
Mine's 5.5 also, and I prefer baritones.
Do I wish it was more? Yeah, sure, but you know how that works! :rofl::biglaugh:

bratsche
Click to expand...

Wow, there are more small hands folks than I thought. Or as of now. I did got a baritone guitarlele and tried finger style on it and failed miserably. I’m okay for general strumming though on the bari.
 
5.5” sounds great to me. My stretch is only 4”. Little kids have bigger hands than me. Gotta love being short!
 
AustinHing said:
Wow, there are more small hands folks than I thought. Or as of now. I did got a baritone guitarlele and tried finger style on it and failed miserably. I’m okay for general strumming though on the bari.
Click to expand...

The music I most like to play (hint: see my avatar) is full of chords that are too big for my hand to reach, so I roll them - shifting my hand quickly to reach the top notes from a higher position ("shift happens", as they say!) Or if that is not possible, I "cheat" and re-voice the chord to a more accessible fingering. Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do. :D

bratsche
 
7” comfortably here, ~7-3/4” if I reeeeeeally stretch, but I don’t think I could practically use that extra distance.

I feel right at home on larger scale, smaller body configurations and do enjoy the extra reach I am blessed with. That said, I don’t practice many pieces that require much beyond 4-5 fret stretches despite arranging some pretty brutal jumps in my spare time...:rolleyes:
 
"Wow, there are more small hands folks than I thought."

Possibly not typical of the general population. Could be that people with small hands are more likely to consider the uke. Wilfried Welti has very large hands. I remember him writing that he could stretch from the first to the twelfth fret! He assumed that was why ukes (sops) are made that size. I can manage first to fifth, on a soprano.

I believe Rachmaninov had enormous flippers, but he was not renowned for his ukulele skills.

John Colter.
 
Last edited:
I had to go searching for a really old tape measure to find on the measured in inches. Why can't you just use cm like the rest of us?
 
Because some of us were brought up using inches, feet, & yards. :p

It's like I always feel short changed at only having 100 pence to the pound, it used to be 240 pennies. ;)

Edit: Usually when one talks about hand stretch, they are referring to thumb tip to pinky tip, mine's 9". But to cover strings, using index to pinky, I'm just over 6".
 
Last edited:
robinboyd said:
I had to go searching for a really old tape measure to find on the measured in inches. Why can't you just use cm like the rest of us?
Click to expand...

And here you go :)
5” = 12.7cm
6” = 15.24cm
7” = 17.78cm
8” = 20.32cm
9” = 22.86cm
10” = 25.4cm
 
bratsche said:
The music I most like to play (hint: see my avatar) is full of chords that are too big for my hand to reach, so I roll them - shifting my hand quickly to reach the top notes from a higher position ("shift happens", as they say!) Or if that is not possible, I "cheat" and re-voice the chord to a more accessible fingering. Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do. :D

bratsche
Click to expand...

Yes, I tend to do this as well. It’s not cheating but creativity instead. Haha
 
UkeDoxie said:
5.5” sounds great to me. My stretch is only 4”. Little kids have bigger hands than me. Gotta love being short!
Click to expand...

I though I got it bad but... now I feel better. Bleh! Just kidding!
 
Reach is not he only thing, on my concert I can reach from 1st fret to 8th fret just fine. And i'm in the second category. with short fingers too.
On guitar I found always the Bb chord, barre on first fret and other fingers on 3331 top strings, quite difficult, but managing because it is needed.

It is your threaded E chord just one fret lower and with much bigger space in frets with guitar, that 4442. I can play it fine with ukulele, but almost never do, because I use the easy 1x02 2 finger chord. Muting C string with index finger.
Another hard chord for us reintrant uke players is C#m, 1104. I can play it just fine, but I seldom do. I instead play 110X, muting the A string with my hand.
Those are the only 2 basic chords I use the muting technique. Because we can :)
 
C#minor - I prefer 1444. Uses all the strings, nice clean sound, not difficult to finger with my small, surgically altered left hand.:)

John Colter
 
YogiTom said:
7” comfortably here, ~7-3/4” if I reeeeeeally stretch, but I don’t think I could practically use that extra distance.

I feel right at home on larger scale, smaller body configurations and do enjoy the extra reach I am blessed with. That said, I don’t practice many pieces that require much beyond 4-5 fret stretches despite arranging some pretty brutal jumps in my spare time...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well sometimes it just so happened that a song you really like, have a part that requires a good stretch. In my case, I have plenty of such songs, though it may be a normal stretch to others.
 
ukantor said:
"Wow, there are more small hands folks than I thought."

Possibly not typical of the general population. Could be that people with small hands are more likely to consider the uke. Wilfried Welti has very large hands. I remember him writing that he could stretch from the first to the twelfth fret! He assumed that was why ukes (sops) are made that size. I can manage first to fifth, on a soprano.

I believe Rachmaninov had enormous flippers, but he was not renowned for his ukulele skills.

John Colter.







John Colter.
Click to expand...

I agree to this too since I find that most of the uke players don’t play guitar too. On a out of context stuff, Ibanez has a acoustic guitar of the tenor size (17”) which I’m intrigued to get.
 
ukantor said:
C#minor - I prefer 1444. Uses all the strings, nice clean sound, not difficult to finger with my small, surgically altered left hand.:)

John Colter
Click to expand...

Your C sharp root note is then quite high. 1104 and my easier alternative sound better to me though.
Hope we are not digressing too much of the main topic, I don't think, because they are not the easiest chords.
 
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