Guitar Technique

I used to play guitar in a functions/covers band and a day or so before the accident we'd had possibly our best gig for a Masonic dinner in Leeds, 150 very happy punters singing our praises.

We had around 5 hours of material ranging from Gary Moore to Glenn Miller. Then everything  changed.

As you might expect, any thoughts of being able to play again were not even entertained. I had to accept that the memories would have to suffice.


Or so I thought . . .


A Bad Start:
To help recovery after surgery my wrist had to be kept firmly in certain positions, this was achieved by molding a thermoplastic cast into the desired shape and letting it cool. There were occasions where parts of the cast would rub or irritate me in some way so I would use a hairdryer to reshape it.

It was while doing this that I had first attempted to fashion a plectrum on the side of the cast; hoping that somehow that might be a way into playing again. It didn't work so I binned the idea.

That remained the case for around 6 months until we were at a local music festival and there was a guy playing some lovely lead guitar and I noticed that his right technique was unusual in that he held the plectrum in a fist like grip, close to the default position of my hand at the time. It was similar to the picture here; not my natural style.

Making a fist of it:
The guy with the fist looked a little awkward to me; playing individual notes involve rocking the wrist slightly and strumming was a case of moving the forearm up and down from the elbow. It seemed, or perhaps I was just imagining that he too had very little movement in his wrist and hand, but boy, could he play.

I watched him intently and gradually realised that there might just be a way back. My (not entirely inconsiderable) challenge being that I had no feeling whatsoever in my right hand and almost no grip between thumb and forefinger with which to hold anything.

I could hold a plectrum but I couldn't grip it tightly enough and because I've no feeling I'd have no way of telling (without looking) whether I'd dropped it. In fact I dropped it without fail every time I was fortunate enough to make contact with the strings!

The truth is that I wasn't (and still aren't) harbouring thoughts of ever playing with a conventional plectrum again. I knew it would require an altogether more objective solution. Fortunately I'm not bad at that sort of thing so the task was taken on with considerable enthusiasm.

Out with the old:

In with the new:

Not pretty I grant you but as the video shows they serve a purpose. I make them out of the material that my physio' used to make the variety of casts necessary in my rehabilitation. It's called 'AquaPlast' and it's £72 a sheet
(46 x 61cm)












A Little Blues:
14 months in, this is me playing some blues. (I've just noticed it's the same piece as features on the new 'Rehabilitation' video, I'll choose something else shortly). Not too challenging for the right hand but then I've never tried to be flashy. Being able to play like this is a privilege and it gives me more of a buzz than before because I guess that then I took my ability for granted.

Now I relish it.

Here are a few links that show others making music with far greater challenges than mine

No Hands At All!

No Right Hand!
One Handed Player Moves People To Tears.
One Handed
This Guy Takes The Biscuit!