Roy Orbison

I came across this picture of Roy Orbison (without his trademark dark glasses!)
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/20358141/Roy+Orbison+roy102.jpg


I noticed the way his little finger is curled over his ring finger (hand holding the glass). I find it almost impossible to do that, even when I force my little finger across the ring finger. Can anyone here do that finger gesture easily?

Dear Lynn,

I looked at the picture. Tried holding a round glass paperweight in that fashion. (No glass tumbler available at this moment).

I found that I can do it VERY easily. Especially when I put the ring finger on the opposite side of other fingers (just like the photograph).

In my childhood, we used to play making 'Ginger' with fingers, i.e., putting fingers one above other in the sequence - Index/Middle/Ring/Little finger. Tried doing the same at this moment. (Index finger at the bottom). I can still do it. The reverse sequence is also possible - but difficult to maintain for longer period. Obviously, these things are done with help of the other hand

regards

Chakraborty

PS - My hand is soft and very flexible for a male. I can put my hand (palm + wrist + some portion of fore-arm) inside a dia 3"pipe (Internal dia - 78.9 mm) without any discomfort. None of colleagues can do that ! Otherwise I have an ordinary sized hand only.

Hi Lynn

I think it might be very natural for a guitarist to hold his fingers in this way because he would have been used to curling his left hand fingers around a guitar fingerboard. Frequent curling and stretching over a long period of time allows the fingers to move far more easily. An instrumentalist is very likely to have more awareness of individual fingers than a non instrumentalist might have, so holding his fingers this way, while possibly feeling unnatural to many others, could feel very natural for a guitarist.

Sue

hi Sue, very good point, his fingers will be flexible due to guitar.

chakraborty, I just tried it holding a glass and it is easier. Hope you don't get your hand stuck inside a 3" pipe

Lynn wrote:I came across this picture of Roy Orbison (without his trademark dark glasses!)
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/20358141/Roy+Orbison+roy102.jpg


I noticed the way his little finger is curled over his ring finger (hand holding the glass). I find it almost impossible to do that, even when I force my little finger across the ring finger. Can anyone here do that finger gesture easily?

Lynn, I think the ring finger is sort of curling around the glass and the pinky finger appears to be at a considerable distance from the ring finger: see the shade just below the ring finger.

I think your impression about the picture is kind of just the result of a visual effect only - because this is likely not an 'impossible' gesture at all.

So, if you would ask someone to hold a glad like that ... and then ask to lift the pinky finger, I think, that the result might be the same.