Could a right-handed character play the violin if he was missing a finger from his left hand?
I've already asked this in the Music section, which is the obvious place for it, but just thought I'd also post here on the off-chance that any people in B&A are also violinists.
There is a character in my book who plays the violin. He's right-handed, and I would like him to have a finger missing from his left hand. However, I'm not sure if this would stop him from playing the violin. Which hand would a right-handed violinist use to hold the bow, and which hand do they use for finger-placement on the strings?
If it's the left hand that's used on the strings, would a missing finger stop someone from playing the violin altogether, or would they able to adapt to playing with three fingers and a thumb, or three fingers and a stump and a thumb?
If necessary, could he swap hands and learn to the play the other way round, as some guitarists have managed to do after accidents?
Also, would it make a difference which finger it was that was missing? For instance, is there a particular finger that's more dominant in violin-playing?
(If it makes any difference, the character in question is a self-taught fiddle-player of the kind you see in English and Irish folk bands, not a classical violinist.)
As you can probably tell I am a musical dunce and also struggle to tell left from right, so all help is gratefully received.
If the violin-playing was a really major part of the story or had to be described in detail, I'd obviously do some more in-depth research, but it's more something that occurs in passing and I just need to know if it would be possible. If it isn't, he will get lucky and be allowed to keep his finger...