Accident

Hi everyone,

I had a accident at work 6 months ago with my left index finger. And now i cannot bend it anymore. I cannot play guitar anymore and i miss it so much. Do you have any tips for me. I tried to play withouth but it is a really dominant finger when playing guitar?

That really sucks. First suggestion is to learn to play left handed. I don't think not having the use of your index finger would be as big a hindrance. 

Another would be to switch to playing slide guitar a la Duane Allman and dozens of other great guitarist. Lap steel is also another good choice or any resonator guitar.

ETA: Check out David Gilmore or David Lindley (my two guitar heroes) to see what a lap steel can be.

You have my sympathy, I've been there, I had my left hand smashed in a motorbike accident and I never thought I'd play again, but between a great plastic surgeon and a physiotherapist who put me through hell for several months, and to whom I'm eternally grateful that she did, I got most of the movement back (my pinky in particular gives me a bit of trouble as it's not quite where it's supposed to be) so thankfully I have been able to pick up pretty much where I left off, for now at least. 

Slide was my first thought too from what you describe, can you hold a barre with it? I'll be honest I don't think I could switch to left handed but you might be more adaptable. The other thing is that Tony Iommi and Django Reinhardt both overcame seemingly game ending damage to their hands to become pioneers in their respective styles, Reinhardt only had two functional fingers! It will be hard but I'm sure you could carve out a style that suits you, but I know that's easy for me to say and a lot harder for you to actually do. Best wishes, however you decide to proceed.

Hi Gino 0603.

I disintegrated the last 1/3 of my fretting index finger a year ago, right at the last knuckle, with scar tissue running down most of the rest of it.

Don't give up. I'm sure its sore and hurts, but there are ways.

While what remained of my partially amputated finger was bandaged, I practiced right hand rhythm with a metronome. After the bandage came off, the finger was too stiff and sensitive to use, so I crammed a bunch of surf wax into a slide and started using that finger to play slide notes (in standard tunings). I had to chord and play normal wise with the remaining four. They actually adapted pretty quick, but I had to get creative with choosing notes from a chord I could do.

After a few more months, I slowly worked up the ability to fret with the damaged finger. I started with just a note at a time. Fret. Rest. Fret. Rest. The finger was short and sorta stubby-flubby at the end, so there were definitely stuff that simply didn't go anymore.

There's still a lot of changes and adjustments to my playing that resulted, but I feel as if I'm playing better than ever, and certainly with my own style and sound. So, quite a bit silver lining, even if the finger still hurts a fair bit.

Hope my story helps you out a bit, friend.

Cheers,

Sean

dang, sorry to hear that.… :/ not being able to play something you love is frustrating. maybe try a slide? you don't need to bend the finger much for that and it can sound really cool too. i've seen people play with missing fingers and still sound great. takes time but it's possible. maybe start slow and rebuild from scratch in a new way.