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Old 01-23-2022, 1:35am   #7
the new me
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You're in good company, Pete.

Django Reinhardt only had two fingers and he played guitar pretty well. See this short clip from 1939:

Other musicians missing fingers:

Tony Iommi, guitarist for Black Sabbath, lost the tips of his index and middle finger on his right hand (he is a left-handed player) on the last day of his job as a sheet metal worker, after he quit to do Black Sabbath full time. Great story at this Wikipedia link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Iommi#Accident
Part of how he found the inspiration to continue playing was provided by his foreman at the sheet metal factory who insisted that he listen to Django Reinhardt. He ended up substituting bits of a leather jacket for the missing fingertips, then later fashioning fingertips from thimbles and tuning his guitar down so the strings wouldn't be so hard (and painful) to press against the fretboard. This ended up with him creating a unique guitar sound that he became famous for.

Jerry Garcia lost the middle finger of his left hand while chopping wood with his brother as a child. He said he never missed that finger as a musician.

Jim Croce lost use of his right index finger in a sledgehammer accident. So he developed a unique picking style with his remaining fingers.

Dr. John was a guitar player and got shot in his left ring finger when a gunfight broke out in a bar he was playing at. He lost use of the finger for such a long time that his guitar playing suffered so he switched to piano.

Les Paul shattered his right elbow in a car accident in 1948. He refused amputation and had the elbow permanently fused in a 90-degree position so he could still pick and strum.
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