Size or Shape of Hands: Excuse or Reason?

[Chupacabra]

In the 2 or so years that I've been learning the culture of percussion I've heard more than a few people state that the reason that they are not able to improve their sound is because their hands are too small, fingers too thin, too thick, too stumpy, not enough this or too much that. I've had some people of various different skill levels say to me that I have ideal hands for hand drumming. They are big, strong working hands with layers of callouses and scars. My joints are not very flexible though.

How much weight should this concern have with a person's ability to get the right sounds out of any hand drum? Obviously someone with my hands would have a hard time getting into playing tablas.

For someone wishing to learn congas is there any physical hindrance for people with short fingers or small hands to not be able to produce the correct sound even if their technique is proper?

If so, what kind of adaptations or adjustments can be made to make up for the physical characteristics of the student or player's hands?

[vinnieL]

I think it does have a lot to do with sound. Ive noticed that guys with thick (not neccesarily large hands) have a sound thats hard to explain. I have good size hands but they are not thick hands. I talked to JC about this once and we agreed that there was something to the sound of these guys with thick hands. There are however a lot of guys that have played beautiful that didn't have thick hands so i don't know what to think. Ultimately it boils down to the individual working on good clean sound. I do wish i had thicker hands though.

[ABAKUA]

All nonsence.
Shape of your hands has nothing to do with it. I have smaller, thick, stumpy hands and people comment that my power, sound, presencia and projection come from as a result of my hand shape/size etc. Load of crap.
It comes from years of putting in the work of developing your sound, technique etc.

I have rumbero friends with big skinny hands with long fingers etc who also project as great a tone as me etc etc. And their hands are twice the size of mine.
Giovanni has little hands, Angas hands were similar to mine, I know JC has big hands, Ritchie Flores has small chunky hands, it all comes down to what you do with it and how you train your hands.
Some might say smaller hands move faster, again rubbish, one of my rumbero friends has lighting fast hands and his hands are long and skinny.

[CongaTick]

Abakua's right. Anybody who believes hand shape/size is key.....well, that's just a hand job. (Couldn't resist.)

[Chupacabra]

That's pretty much what I figured too. A person has to make the best of what they're given and shouldn't try to use crutches to make up for lack of effort. I do believe the size or shape of a person's hand will be part of a player's sound but it shouldn't prevent them from hitting the surface of the skin with enough pressure and correct positioning to create the right sounds.

Not that I've mastered the techniques yet; far from it. I would like to be able to state this point assertively when I encounter other fellow students who use this as an excuse for sloppy playing. It can get frustrating at times during group lessons when the teacher(s) have to keep on going back to repeating "the bass, tone, slap" spiel to everyone just for a couple of people who should already know this!

[congamyk]

Patato and Tata had little fly-swatter hands and they sounded great.
Giovanni's hands look like ugly bird claws and he does pretty good too.

It's all technique.

[Chupacabra]

I have to agree that Giovanni has a pair of the nastiest hands I've ever seen! His fingers look like they could bore a hole right through someone's forehead.

[akdom]

Hi all

I agree with Abakua.

Hand size and shape doesn't matter.
I think you might want to adjust the thickness of your skin according to your hands and what sound you are aiming at.

I have big thick hands (I am a big guy 1m87, 135Kg). I set up my drums with 4/5mm thick skins. I love sharp no overtone sound, I I like to be able to play soft when needed and loud when required.
Now my big hands were not an asset for me. I had to work my sounds in order to have what I was looking for. It took me about one year to get decent slaps and about 3 years to be fully comfortable playing high speed and intricate patterns.

So the key word is work. I saw short skeleton like people moving enormous sound and big guys playing like third grade.


D

[pavloconga]

The size or shape of your hands does not have much to do with the sound you can get.
It all depends on what you do with what you've got.
Just one example: one of my teachers in Africa was only around 5'4", small build, small soft hands, with short fingers.
Yet... his sound quality, volume, projection, distinction and presence were all at the very top of the scale.

[afrocubarico]

Giovanni's hands look like ugly bird claws and he does pretty good too.

That was so funny congamyk! I've seen Gio's hands and always thought they looked pretty funny too. I agree wholeheartedly with Abakua on handsize. I have the hands of a 10 year old and I would never use that as an excuse for not developing the right sound out of my drums.

afrocubarico

[tigre77]

IN all respect this topic is nonsense. Size or shape will differentiate what a singular drum sounds like when slapped by a large hand or a small hand but that is it. A person that is 5'6 is delusional if they expect arm length leverage that a 6'0 tall conga player will have with everything else being equal. Some things are set and some things cannot be changed. A player's understanding of music structure, their persistent practice and the soul factor within that drives the whole performance are the only improvable abilities that can be harnessed. The best a player's hands can expect from a player is hand cream and injury prevention consciousness. Other than that become proficient at making lemonade. Peace.

Edit: Let me go further by explaining the post bump. I was the newbiest of noobs when I discovered this forum right. My hands were average size, not so meaty since I do white collar type work...etc. Now after 8 months my hands are thick as if I worked construction all day abusing my hands and my sound has improved dramatically. Hand size is but a sliver of significance when playing well all things considered.

[guarachon63]

doesn't matter. Anyone who says otherwise, just show them this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88v_PnL46E

[tigre77]

doesn't matter. Anyone who says otherwise, just show them this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88v_PnL46E

That is it, tremendo video guarachon63 y rapido con cojones. Peace.

[ABAKUA]

Ibellis vid, man I remember seeing that for the first time so many years ago, I still get the same joy now as I did back then seeing them.
They are all grown up now, I will be looking up Didier (quinto/lead vox) when I arrive in Havana later in the year. They are kickin ass.

[danno]

Giovanni's hands are indeed frightening. I saw him in february and noticed his fingernails were growing around the tips of his fingers. It upped the weird factor for sure. He sometimes plays with his nails like Tata Guiness used to do. I suppose that's why the nails are growing around the fingertips. Speaking of 'seven hours a day' or 'putting in 10,000 hours'. I think Giovanni has got everyone beat by along shot.