In a tragic dish washing incident, I nearly cut off the tip of my middle finger. They glued it back down rather than stitching it, and said it may not reattach, but would eventually heal, leaving a scar. This is on my fretting hand, which is a huge drag.

So now I am without a 2nd finger for probably a couple weeks, which rules out so much of what I had been working on. I don't want to deal with trying to refinger everything, so I've been looking at things that don't require a middle finger. I think I can play the pentanic positions without that finger and of course power chords. I've been playing Nirvana songs, which so far haven't required that finger. I'm a Nirvana fan anyway, so that's cool.

Anybody have other suggestions for what I can be playing without that finger that will keep me progressing? I've only been playing since June, and I don't want to lose a bunch of time. I can't really play open or barre chords without that finger, which seems to rule out so much.

about 2 months ago i got a deep cut on my middle finger- left hand.. the e.r. doctor also glued it closed- no stitches. a week later i was back playing.

you should be fine soon

Nothing like a bit of sympathy eh Nevin ..... and that was nothing like . . .

In another tragic dishwashing incident (tragic because having to wash dishes is tragic) i sliced into my third finger right hand on an unseen broken glass. 6 stitches later . . .

The good lady wanted a dishwasher so one was duly bought when kitchen room was available.

I drilled a hole through my index finger last year. Just put a slide on it and keep going. Make sure you don't swell with the slide on

Hi aamm, as a car mechanic I've had my share of hands and fingers injuries. At some point, I dusted my old classic guitar just to be able to so some very basic non agressive stuff in order to keep practicing. So you could do that also, after a minimum healing period, try scales, slide, tune down and experiment with different tunings with less tension, you could even focus on some theory stuff. I wish you a speedy and total healing. Take care.
Claude.

Tony Iomi made leather pads for his fingers after he cut the tips off. He thinks this is what gave them their sound in the early days.

Hey ther aamm, hope your finger decides to get well soon!

Friend of mine cut of the tip of his ring-finger a few months back. Why was he operating a cirular saw again? Can't remember. Anyway since he's a guitar tutor he was pretty much busted during the re-growth period. It's still a bit tender he tells me but he's back to work and callusses do the job. Even all teh nerves grew back.

So I hope the best for you mate.

Cheers,

-Nutter

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I started out with nothing, and still have most of it.

You could use the healing time as a chance to hone your slide skills.A few months ago I gave one of the fingers of my left hand a bad slicing while drying my sharpest chefs knife-I keep my knives sharp enough to shave with- brushed on copious amounts of super glue and after about 2 weeks it had healed completely.Good luck and I hope it heals well.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Don't rush it, Let your finger heal all the way before you try using it for chording. Back in 1992 I was living in Seattle, and I worked in a Print shop. I was making an adjustment to the press while it was running, ( if anyone ever ran an older press, you know some adjustments are made on the fly, Not Advised, but it is done) anyway The wrench slipped and I got the tips of my middle and ring fingers on my left hand caught between a plate Cylinder and a blanket Cylinder, I thought they were a goner, but one fractured and they both lacerated. I had a few stitches and a splint for a couple of weeks, but wanted to keep playing guitar. well, they healed fine, but due to my eagerness to jam before they were fully healed, My ring finger, the one that got fractured, is a little flat and it makes it difficult to play all the strings cleanly ( deadens some strings) On Acoustic it's more of a problem than Electric. But never the less, Give The Finger Time To Heal Properly. You will be glad you did Later

Thaks for all the advice guys. The finger is coming along nicely. The glued down part is staying put. I guesstimate a couple more weeks before it is back to normal. I still pick up my guitar every day, I just stay off that finger to let it heal. So far so good. I'm just a hack noob bedroom player. I can't imagine how much this would suck if I was a working musician.