Almost a year ago, I was diagnosed with some form of arthritis. It's only been a problem, though, when I'm doing something strenuous that I normally don't do. Case in point, I love to hike on trails in the mountains. I get a kick out of seeing God's handywork; and, most times, you have to take the road less traveled to see it. Our last trip to the Ozarks was a blast! However, when we got home, my arthritic knee was swollen to the point that I hobbled around for several days. That's just the price I pay now. Welcome to Over-forty-ville...population...a gazillion and climbing.
The problem these days aren't the knees so much as the fingers. I play guitar everyday! I can't walk by one without picking it up, strumming, picking, etc. I go out of my way to play. Unfortunately, the little finger on my left hand has really started taking a turn for the worse...literally. In fact, it seems to have a mind of its own. The last knuckle is deformed a tad and is beginning to bear right. No, I'm not the "Elephant Man" by any stretch of the imagination, but it hurts to play for long periods of time. In addition, some chords are getting harder and harder to fret correctly.
Well, a while back, a watched a video of an old blues guitarist named CeDell Davis. As a child he suffered from polio, which left him with very limited use of his hands. Even though he couldn't play in the conventional manner, he picked up a butter knife and created his own sound by sliding the knife up and down the fret board. I'll admit, listening the CeDell is an acquired taste. Most folks find that his sound is out-of-tune or primitive. But he inspires me. If he can play slide guitar, then why not me?
So...do you want to know how to straighten a crooked guitar finger? Watch my video.
Extra Note: My wife read the blog, watched the video, and then said "I don't get it." I guess it's not self-explanatory for those who don't play guitar. I was trying to be humorous and show that you cover up your inability with a prop...in this case, a guitar slide. Since my finger won't cooperate, I'm learning how to play slide guitar.
2 comments:
I LIKE IT! So how long does the "fix" last, or better asked, how often do you have to do it to keep your finger straight? Seriously, I have a friend who has arthritis in her fingers, they look like they hurt.
Yeah, I didn't get it either. By the way, since everyone seems to be moving or adding Blogger, I creating my own too. The posts you see are ones that I have created in the past week on my new blog through Xanga. So I will just update both!!! This is what you do when you have the flu...you blog.
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