Acoustic Guitar to Baritone Ukulele

Hello . . . I'm new to both the ukulele and this Forum, but happy to have found this site.

Many years ago I played guitar, but in 1989 I had an operation on the little finger of my left hand that resulted in the fusion of the finger's middle joint. The operation was successful in correcting an old football injury and making the finger look human again (it had stuck out sideways at that middle joint for years).

But it ended my guitar playing.

I recently learned about the baritone ukulele, and wondered if it might not give me the best chance to play music again. The more I considered it, the more I wanted to give it a try. I ordered a Kala KA-B that should be here soon and I'm looking forward to giving this an earnest shot.

If anyone has any good advice to give me, please do so. And I have a pretty thick skin, so I can take your well-intentioned criticism if you truly think I'm kidding myself. I'm hopeful of a good result, of course, but don't yet know what I don't know.

TIA for any words of wisdom you care to provide.

TJ

If you are determined to play,and your finger does not pain you too much, then go for it! You may be surprised at how well it goes, as Baritone strings are gentler to fret than normal guitar strings. And you always have options. Like open tunings, and playing with a barre on all four strings? You never know until you have a go. Good luck with your attempts,and I hope they reward you!

Welcome TJ! Far fewer 4 finger chords on a uke...……..I'd give it a try.

TopDog said:

If you are determined to play,and your finger does not pain you too much, then go for it! You may be surprised at how well it goes, as Baritone strings are gentler to fret than normal guitar strings. And you always have options. Like open tunings, and playing with a barre on all four strings? You never know until you have a go. Good luck with your attempts,and I hope they reward you!

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I appreciate your reply, TopDog . . . there's no pain in the finger - in fact, the operation was necessary because of the constant pain I experienced because the joint was "broken." Whenever I'd use that finger in playing guitar, it would either work great (but hurt), or collapse and not work at all (and hurt, too.)

My guitar playing was doomed whether I got the finger joint fixed or not.

When I tried playing again after the finger had completely healed, I quickly learned that the many ways the little finger comes into play on the upper strings was no longer an option. Because the finger no longer bent at that middle joint, I couldn't use the finger above the third string.

I considered both re-learning chord shapes in a way that eliminated the little finger as well as re-learning to play left-handed. Neither option proved viable for me, and it was beyond frustrating.

When I recently learned about the baritone ukulele, I got excited all over again! It looks to me like a mostly non-functioning little finger isn't much of an impediment in forming chords on a four-string instrument. At least that's my sincere hope.

My Kala will arrive in the next few days and I'm looking forward to giving this my best effort.

TJ

stevejfc said:

Welcome TJ! Far fewer 4 finger chords on a uke...……..I'd give it a try.

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Thanks for the encouragement, stevejfc. I will indeed give it a try. Hopefully, I can report that it's going well and I'm enjoying the experience.

TJ

Welcome to UU, TaoJones!

I would jump in and get a uke, or even two: tenor and baritone. If shops around you are open, you could try more than one size and feel which one you prefer.

One of my guitar students fell at an ice rink and someone skated over his left-hand pinky, severing it near the middle joint. The doc sewed it back on but both sensation and control were nearly nonexistent at first. I figured he's try to play with three fingers. However this kid just didn't give up, eventually learning to play with that finger extremely well. He couldn't control the middle joint but he moved from the main knuckle. It kind of flapped and looked stiff since the middle joint was frozen. However, after about a year he could play fast scales and most chords using the flapping pinky technique. No problem blazing through Bach's 1st cello suite on the guitar and he actually became a much better guitarist after the accident.

Ms Bean said:

Welcome to UU, TaoJones!

I would jump in and get a uke, or even two: tenor and baritone. If shops around you are open, you could try more than one size and feel which one you prefer.

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Thanks, Ms Bean, for that advice. I imagine I will get other ukuleles if this experiment with the baritone works out. I would have to acquire a taste for the higher pitched, more twangy (to my ear) ukuleles, though.

TJ

gochugogi said:

One of my guitar students fell at an ice rink and someone skated over his left-hand pinky, severing it near the middle joint. The doc sewed it back on but both sensation and control were nearly nonexistent at first. I figured he's try to play with three fingers. However this kid just didn't give up, eventually learning to play with that finger extremely well. He couldn't control the middle joint but he moved from the main knuckle. It kind of flapped and looked stiff since the middle joint was frozen. However, after about a year he could play fast scales and most chords using the flapping pinky technique. No problem blazing through Bach's 1st cello suite on the guitar and he actually became a much better guitarist after the accident.

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Thank you so much for your post, Peter. It's hard to imagine a case that is more similar to my own. My little finger hinges well at the hand, and there's a little movement in the last joint out at the tip, but the middle joint is fused.

In point of fact, the joint is no longer there. The surgeon slit the side of the finger and snapped it in the other direction so that the joint would protrude through the slit. (I requested a local anesthetic so I could watch the operation.) He then sawed through the middle phalanx and proximal phalanx very close to the joint and disposed of the useless joint.

Steel rods were inserted into the interior of each phalanx with the end of each prodtuding about two inches outside the skin where they crossed. The hand was thoroughly bandaged so that it would be hard to catch the steel pins on anything. Hard, but not impossible, as I found out - I had to push the steel pin back into the middle phalanx. I kept that information to myself, but I can report that there was no pain from doing that.

On thing I learned from the surgeon was that when you bend each finger individually, their tips will land in the same general area on the palm. For that reason, it was critical at what angle he sawed the ends of each phalanx so that when I hinged that finger it would still land in that area of the palm. Not all doctors know that, he said, and some fingers heal in a set that results in the finger closing toward the wrong place in the palm.

So it finally fused together in the area of the now-missing joint and there was no longer any pain.

I'm trying to picture the "flapping pinky technique" your student perfected, but I'm really stoked that he proved that it's possible to overcome a non-functioning middle joint on the small finger. I admire his tenacity! If someone can do something that seems impossible on first consideration, then others can follow with confidence.

Thanks again for your post!

TJ