I've been struggling for a long time trying to play things that require much bigger hands than I have (I was issued small child hands for some reason). Most people say "Get a guitar with a narrow neck." I have a guitar with a narrow neck. Though my fingers are short, the length of the fingers is not the issue...the real issue is the narrow palm.
When I have my hand outstretched with the fingers touching each other, the measurement from the outside of my index finger to the outside of my pinkie is just under 3 inches. This makes it so that I must use my index finger and pinkie to do power chords where most other players use index finger and ring finger (I only get 2 notes with mine instead of 3).
It also makes it so I can't play certain things at all, like the opening to "Hot For Teacher" by Van Halen as I can't reach the 3rd and 7th frets with my index and pinkie stretched as far as they'll go.
Short of a hand transplant, or breaking and trying to stretch my hand somehow, are there any exercises that I can do that will enable me to reach up the neck farther? I'm frankly on the verge of selling my guitar, which I really don't want to do... but the point of playing guitar is to play what you want to play on it and most of what I want to play requires man-sized hands.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time.