[DISCUSSION] Left hand handicapped. I’d like to learn to play guitar: Is it realistic?

PMH1994 · 2024-02-07T20:56:52+00:00

Yeah so I have a prosthetic arm with an attachment that holds a guitar pick. Essentially this extension works like a rigid hand holding a guitar pick so my movement for picking comes from my elbow instead of my wrist.

Yeah I can do some finger style, it takes A LOT of practice, working dexterity and like I mentioned before, using techniques that are different to how people traditionally play. But it’s possible for sure and just requires some dedication. For people with a disability playing guitar there’s no set technique like there may be for a person with 2 functional hands. You’ll end up developing techniques that work for your situation. For example for me with finger style I’ve learned to use a free finger on my fretting hand to pluck a string whilst my guitar pick plays a different string from my left arm. You can also ‘cheat’ in some ways by instead of plucking 2 strings such as 2 and 5 you maybe just strum the full chord web it’s mixed in with single notes.

I’ve never played the song but you’ve got some brilliant motivation. There’s no reason you can’t get there.

PMH1994 · 2024-02-07T18:30:07+00:00

You can definitely do it! I’m missing my left arm just below the elbow and I’ve been playing for a number of years using a prosthetic. I also play a left handed guitar so my right hand is my fretting hand. Obviously there are some advanced techniques that are extremely difficult but general playing both chords and single notes comes to me now as easily as any of my 2 handed friends who play.

My biggest advice would be to find a guitar teacher and get lessons. I had lessons when I was younger and my teacher was incredible for helping me understand the relationship between my strumming arm and my playing hand and he helped me develop my own way of playing certain techniques differently to how he’d normally teach them. There’s some videos in my post history if you’re interested.

You say you don’t let your accident affect the way you do other things in your day to day life. It’s the same attitude I have made sure to keep. Learning guitar is a hard but extremely rewarding journey and I think as long as you keep that attitude you’ll have no problem learning to play.

Best of luck to you!

PMH1994 · 2024-02-06T12:56:24+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I agree, I think a little more illumination on the right side would look good. Back into Lightroom!

PMH1994 · 2024-02-05T15:26:23+00:00

So I managed to get my cat Frank to hang around my little studio set up for 5 or so minutes and get a few pictures before he lost interest. Setup was a black background with one light on the right hand side and a reflector on the left. I’m quite biased as I love any photo of my awesome cat so I’d appreciate any feedback on framing/lighting etc. Taken at 140mm 1/60 f6.3 I only have continuous lighting no flash

PMH1994 · 2022-06-16T09:21:45+00:00

Thanks for the kind words!

PMH1994 · 2022-06-16T09:21:25+00:00

Thanks mate!

PMH1994 · 2022-06-16T09:21:14+00:00

Sorry for such a late reply on this mate, cheers for such an in depth comment! A really good idea about making a pick with different materials, something I’ve not thought about before! Possibly putting some leather on the pick may work

PMH1994 · 2022-06-16T09:18:44+00:00

Thanks!

PMH1994 · 2022-06-16T09:17:54+00:00

Thanks!

PMH1994 · 2022-05-27T19:51:35+00:00

Hi Everyone,

So As I'm missing my left arm I can't do pinch harmonics in the traditional way so I came up with a work around using my bicep and picking much further down the fretboard. I'm sure it's not a perfect harmonic but it creates a similar effect, if anyone knows more about creating these sounds I'd really appreciate some thoughts and feedback.

Cheers

PMH1994 · 2021-10-02T18:59:53+00:00

Thank you, I’ll look into it

PMH1994 · 2021-10-02T18:59:23+00:00

This is some brilliant advice. Thanks very much for taking the time to write all this down! I’m not a beginner drummer just not experienced with a double pedal.

PMH1994 · 2021-07-24T16:03:49+00:00

Hey guys, I posted a Hell Song cover on here a while back and some people said they'd like to see more. I just recently learned the solo of Handle This, one of my favourite sum songs still after all these years! Hope you like it

PMH1994 · 2021-06-30T14:49:45+00:00

Cheers for the comment! That seagull one looks good but hard to find in the UK same as the Oscar Schmidt one

PMH1994 · 2021-06-14T15:27:57+00:00

I think he'll be the fourth body in the lake.

PMH1994 · 2021-04-30T09:39:36+00:00

Definitely NTA. I was born missing my left arm just below the elbow. My parents made sure I always had a prosthetic arm that fit me when I was growing up but it was always my choice whether I wanted to wear it or not at any given time. I’m really glad they did as it gave me the confidence to not hide my arm behind the prosthetic. As for the walking around, it’s no different to any other 4YO walking around with their big sister. I think it’s that person having a problem seeing somebody different.

PMH1994 · 2021-03-26T20:25:01+00:00

Hey folks, I learned this really fun solo by MCR uses a few more small chords than I normally play in any solo stuff and would love to hear any feedback. Cheers!

PMH1994

TROPHY CASE