Amputated fingers?

[roller]

A few weeks ago, a family member of mine lost the tip of their lefthand ring finger in an accident. This person is doing surprisingly well with the injury, both with the pain and the mental factors.

All of this has certainly led me to thinking how this would affect someone's playing and how they'd adjust to it.

I'm familiar with Tony Iommi, Django Reinhardt and more... all truly inspiring.

Anyone here been though something like this? Care to share how you handled your day-to-day activities? And your playing?

 

[mongo2]

Not an amputation but...

A little over 3 years ago I suffered a minor stroke that messed with my right side. I could still walk if I was very careful but my right arm and hand suffered the most and continue to do so. I had a few hours of a couple of transient attacks went to the emergency room and was immediately admitted. After a few hours I was having my blood pressure taken at 4 AM when the stroke finally hit. First thing I did after the stroke hit was to see if I could move the fingers on my right hand. My right index and middle were least effected but my ring pinky and thumb are still worse. After 2 more days of tests and scans and scans and tests I was released from the hospital.

I had a show to play two days after I was released so I immediately tried to play and found that, while I could pluck strings strings well enough, the coordination between my right and left hands was way off and my right arm had difficulty settling. There is some pain that continues today which chased the word comfort from my lexicon. I also found that I couldn't use my Hofner Club bass due to the strings being too close together for my now somewhat clumsy right hand. I switched to my Mustang for it's wider string spacing and decided to practice as much as I could and simplify my parts and the coordination improved enough that I was able to play the show and every one since. At first I had to watch my right hand as an aid in the coordination but I gradually was able to stop relying on that and look at my charts instead.

Things like walking and being able to eat without hitting myself in the nose with the fork have improved. Life has become more challenging but as far as playing skill goes, I'm about 80% back to where I was before the stroke. I can now use the Hofner some but there's lingering issues with numbness, pain, feeling of heaviness and knowing what my right side is doing.

We just finished out pandemic abbreviated Summer schedule so it's time to work up some new songs.

As a result of the stroke I still can't play guitar or piano effectively and typing is difficult so I'm gonna stop now.

 

[Michedelic]

A few weeks ago, a family member of mine lost the tip of their lefthand ring finger in an accident. This person is doing surprisingly well with the injury, both with the pain and the mental factors.

All of this has certainly led me to thinking how this would affect someone's playing and how they'd adjust to it.

I'm familiar with Tony Iommi, Django Reinhardt and more... all truly inspiring.

Anyone here been though something like this? Care to share how you handled your day-to-day activities? And your playing?

Jerry also…

In my hometown, there was a hippie blues band of sorts when I was a kid, the Mystic Number National Band. Their lead guitarist,
Bob Sebbo, had a deformed left hand, his fingers were just nubs. But he had flipped his guitar to lefty position, and carried on, using what there was to pick the strings…

He’s in the middle, with the LP, and that’s me to the left, watching them. They still managed to get a record out…

Currently, in my hometown, there’s a young blues guitarist, CJ Walker, who suffered birth trama to his left arm; what he accomplishes is amazing….

 

[RayWithFlats]

Dr. John switched from guitar to piano after getting the tip of his finger shot in a club in 1960. It didn’t slow him down too much, he kept rocking and rolling for the next 60 years.

 

[temmrich]

I spent 15 years as a prosthetic technician, the last five dealing exclusively with upper extremity amputees and the majority of those partial hand amputees. A single partial digit amputation should not inhibit the playing of anyone dedicated to playing. There will certainly be an adjustment, and be on the lookout for neuromas which can be intensely painful and reduce the function of the remaining digit. He should still be able to fret, at least to some extent, with the remaining digit. And look at all the guitarists out there that only use three fingers anyway.
I've known several people missing much more, including entire hands, be very proficient guitar/bass players. Bill Clements, anyone??
If he wants to play, he can still play.

 

[mongo2]

I've known several people missing much more, including entire hands, be very proficient guitar/bass players. Bill Clements, anyone??
If he wants to play, he can still play.

When I discovered my right hand had problems coordinating with my left hand following my stroke I thought if I couldn't recover that coordination I could fret/tap the notes hard enough with my left hand to make them sound. Fortunately my coordination improved enough to play my simplified parts in a couple of days and that wasn't necessary. Nice to see it can be done effectively and all the best to Bill.

 

[Texaspandj]

I guess if you had to.