Questions tagged [physical-limitations]
Use this tag for physical limitations of the musician, not the instrument.
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I have a small hand and am an adult. Would 1/2 or 3/4 classical guitar be ok?
I have a small hand, and classical pieces sometimes require wide stretches.
I am considering buying smaller guitar, but wouldn't it compromise playing quality?
If not, is an adult using 1/2 or 3/4, or ...
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What are Rachmaninoff's most difficult chords for the right and left hand?
Context: My teacher and I were playing some AI generated music which included some chords that were quite difficult if not impossible to play. We started speculating about what are the most difficult ...
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How to teach a Piano Student with Hand Mobility Issues
I have recently started teaching piano to a student. They had been learning with another instructor and have a few years of experience.
The students parent let me know in advance that they have ...
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Is playing an electric guitar easier on the left hand than an acoustic?
My left thumb has some arthritis so I am thinking about switching to an electric — thinking that playing an electric would be easier on the thumb joint. Any advice on the subject would be appreciated (...
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Guitar for a patient with a spinal injury
I work as a physiotherapist at a rehabilitation hospital. I am looking to help a patient get back to playing guitar. He suffered a cervical spine injury and has no control over his fingers in both ...
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Relevance of physical size to playing the double bass?
I was an amateur musician for about 35 years and spent time studying guitar, then piano, sax, and finally viola. As time went on, I became more serious and systematic about it, so that by the time I ...
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Can't play barre chords - crooked finger
Okay so, I have been practicing barre chords for the last some 8 months, I can play them but I'm not getting faster.
Then, I realised that I cannot physically keep my ring and pinky together like I ...
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How can I get and stay in shape to play 2-hour gigs on the trumpet?
Do I have to play 2-3 hours every day to make sure I can do this, or is there a way to do something like "weight lifting" for the trumpet?
I'm self taught, and stamina is an issue. I know ...
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How long can a pianist maintain a repeated, fast figure in one hand?
I'm working on an atmospheric/minimalist piece for Pierrot ensemble. I have the following figure in the piano part. I know that while the tempo is rather brisk (it's in 6/8 time, dotted quarter note ...
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Piano music for limited hand mobility
My mom has MSA (multiple system atrophy, a bit like Parkinson's on steroids) and has recently been forced to give up playing the bagpipes because she isn't able to properly seal the holes on the ...
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How broad arpeggiated chords are reasonable?
I am one in a long line of presumptuous amateurs who makes music that they themselves cannot play, so I must ask around to know whether my music is what you might call "reasonable" to be ...
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Modifying Piano & Guitar Techniques For Arthritis
I'm almost 40, and I've played the piano for 35 years. I still play almost daily. I've been playing the guitar off and on for about 30 years, although at a lower level of proficiency than the piano.
I ...
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Managing Dupuytren's Contracture [closed]
I am a pianist grappling w/ increasingly problematic Dupuytren's Contracture. Range of motion of pinkie on right hand is constrained both in reaching beyond a 7th and in terms of general dexterity. ...
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Does swaying your head like Stevie Wonder improve your musical hearing?
Stevie Wonder famously sways his head left and right when he's performing on stage. I've always thought that it was a listening technique linked to his blindness; I assume you can locate sounds easier ...
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How do I play these widely spaced keys on keyboard?
I am struggling to play these keys, and I am not getting the right phrase to search on Google for this type of question. It's clearly impossible to play this with 2 hands. If this is played with 3 ...
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What are the tactics of playing A shape barre chords?
I'm having trouble with playing A-shaped barre chords. I am aware of three ways to play them: Normal shape, using the ring finger, and using the pinky.
But given the structure of my hand (my phalanx ...
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Playing classical without Left index finger for a lefty (or Right index for right handed)?
After a recent accident where I had my L index amputated, I would like to start playing classical guitar again after 15 years of absence. to complete the picture, I'm right handed and trauma was on my ...
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At what nps a note could be considered as just continuous hum?
I am just curious to know the limit of our ear to distinguish time between two notes played. For example: A person playing quarter note at 60 bpm(4/4) is easily distinguishable because the delay ...
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Need advice on a bent pinky problem
I am looking for a good reference for hand exercises and advice on pinky problems.
After an accident on 2017 where I sprained my wrist (3rd degree that forced me away from my guitar) my index and ...
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Western musical instruments that can be played with one hand
https://www.google.com/search?q=western+musical+instruments
Will it be very few western musical instruments that can be played by human beings with one hand only?
Example : Mouth organ.
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Playing rhythm guitar without the right index finger
Decades of playing have resulted in arthritis in my right index finger from holding a pick and playing fast. I'm going to have to radically change my rhythm technique. First step is I'm going to ...
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What hand-span is required by alto recorder
I have small hands and I am 4 feet 11 inches. I was looking into getting an alto recorder. Is the fingering too spread apart for me? Should I just stick to Soprano?
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My hand is too small to play a section of the piece
I've been learning The Second Waltz, and there is part I can't play.
As you can see, the bass has notes more than an octave away from each other at times. My hands can reach about an octave, and I ...
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Chords in Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto
I am currently practicing the first movement of the 2nd Rachmaninoff piano concerto. Luckily I have no troubles reaching the chords in the left hand (Maybe because I am left-handed? The only time it ...
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How to continue to play the piano after cutting off part of a finger?
I used to play piano for hours a day out of enjoyment. I won't try to express the level of satisfaction, peace and enjoyment it brought to me, because frankly I don't think it's possible to do so. I ...
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I'm a traditional snare drummer who has serious issues using my left hand
I'm looking for exercises to help with my motor control in my left wrist. Ever since I started heavy lifting on a daily basis at work, my left hand has become tighter and stiffer to the point where I ...
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What is the difference between tone deafness and amusia?
Trying to explain that the multiple reasons of the inability to sing the right tone (to match pitch) I encountered two other terms: amusia and ton defness.
I wonder how far these two terms are ...
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How does a performer with smaller hands manage large intervals in Bach?
Has someone created a list of accepted modifications to make certain figures easier to play for a performer with smaller hands?
In the WTC (Das Wohltemperierte Klavier) there are intervals that are ...
user58289
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Beginner to guitar playing with left-hand mobility issues - where should I begin?
I'm right-handed but have had severe mobility issues with my left hand. I desperately want to learn the guitar. Should I buy a left-handed guitar? And if so, what should I start out with?
i have had ...
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Went on two month long bike trip and now it’s hard to use my pinky
I’m about to finish a two month long bike trip across the country. Obviously I’ve had my hand in a fist for a good couple hours every day holding the handlebars. I tried playing guitar today for one ...
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Genetic limitations to learn certain instruments
This is something that has bothered me for quite a while.
I frequently participate in instrument demonstrations for children. My focus is on wind instruments but I'm also curious about others.
What I ...
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Learning the Flute embouchure with a teardrop in the lips?
I'm trying to learn the flute embouchure for an irish (wooden) flute for 2 years now. My teacher mentioned to me that because of the shape of my lips (I'm having a teardrop in the middle of my upper ...
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Does anyone have any advice for an older beginner electric guitar player who uses a wheelchair?
I just found this forum and figured I would ask a question that has hindered my progress in playing the guitar for quite some time. I've been struggling for awhile now with finding a correct way to ...
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Problems reading sheet music with visual disability
I'm not really sure if "visual disability" is correctly said since english is not my native language and had to use Google Translator.
My worries are about reading sheet music.
I'm trying to learn ...
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Bent ring finger. Problem in playing guitar
it seems like I am anatomically disadvantaged for playing guitar. I have been doing on and off practice due to tight schedules. But I have still not got hold of a lot of chords. As you can see in the ...
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Is the fingering of thirds flexible or do I have to follow the rules?
In the exercises of thirds instead of playing it 1/3 2/4 3/5 can I play it 1/3 2/4 1/5 or it's not advisable? It's really hard for me to raise the fourth finger when going to play 3/5; are there ...
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How to acheive this wide stretch legato?
I am learning Piano Sonata no. 1 in F minor by Beethoven. It looks way easier than the Pathetique Sonata and in a sense it is. But the ending of the exposition for my right hand is quite a stretch. ...
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Workarounds for 10th intervals or larger when arranging for piano
So I figured that The Four Seasons might be easier to transcribe than The Nutcracker Suite (fewer lines, only real difficulty reading it is I have to translate between alto clef and treble clef ...
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Left hand injury
My fiance has no feeling in his thumb, index & half of his middle finger on his left hand due to a wrist injury. He was in an accident where a mirror broke and slit through his left wrist down to ...
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Ideas for a musical instrument to learn that is easier on the fingers
I am hoping to learn to play a musical instrument (I cannot play anything as yet) that is easy on fingertips and am looking for some suggestions, please. I have psoriasis on my fingertips and it ...
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How to alter piano music with left-hand octaves to require a smaller span?
I'm learning to play the piano and I'm loving it. I've just started learning to play some pieces with two hands, but I am unfortunately running into an issue with my left hand: I cannot spread my ...
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Can I play the cello without pronation of the bow hand?
I would like to learn to play cello, but I have a mini-disability that prevents me from turning my right hand down (palm-down, or pronation) or up (palm-up, or suspination).
How much is this going ...
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Learning an instrument with visual impairment
I have been lately delving into instrument learning now that I can afford some gear and lessons I am seriously thinking into dedicating into it.
The thing is I only have one seeing eye - the right ...
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Piano exercises post-chemotherapy
Not a common question, not a common situation, and I am not using my primary Music.SE for obvious reasons. The question is simple but not so easy, and I hope you might help not only me, but many with ...
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Piano for small hands (disabled)
I started learning the piano about a year ago (turning 17 this year), and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, school came in between and I had to put learning the piano on pause.
During the time I ...
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How did baroque music sound at the time?
Historical context
Let's for example consider Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (click here to enjoy). It was composed at the very beginning of the 18th century in Germany. At that time:
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How to play these chords on a piano
I want to know how to play the piano notes on the picture and if I just got really small hands.
I play the first two accords with my thumb pressing two keys simultaneously. Is this the correct way ...
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Piano and glasses
At 41, I've now got reading glasses. My eyes aren't terrible, but the glasses reduce the eye-strain for long periods of reading (mainly computer at work). But the glasses also make things appear ...
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What instruments can a four-year-old with left-side paralysis begin to learn/hope to ever learn?
My four-year-old sister has tragically suffered left side paralysis from a brain injury. Because she's so young, her brain is remarkably plastic, and a lot of functionality has returned. She can walk, ...
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Playing with lost finger [duplicate]
I've been playing for many years and love my guitars. Sadly I lost my index finger a few weeks ago. It's pretty devastating. Any ideas on playing using only 3 finger chords? I'm never going to get ...
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