Question for the guitarists...

[Dred]

Ive been playing (if you can call it that) for a bunch of years but ive always tended to shy away from using my pinky finger so ive obviously been lacking bigtime. i just stuck with trying to master my picking and rhythm techniques.

Up until recently i was never quite sure as to why i could really use it, I had tried to use the "gripmaster" thing to build up strength but it still was really awkward to use. Then one day i sat down and tried to figure it out, and this is what i think i came up with and its a mix between 3 things.

a.) i am unable to use my little finger in a smooth fashion. all it does is jerk back and forth, and i have no real control over it.
b.) because of this it hurts like hell
c.) my little finger also seems to be a bit smaller than average which would explain the problems i had with trying to stretch my hand and ending up in pain.

now my question is once again in parts

1.) has anyone ever heard of this being true which would cause problems while trying to learn?
2.) if so, does anyone know of some ways that i can get around this by learning certain ways (scales, excercises, alternate fingerings) to do things with only 3 fingers.

Im not looking to be a super great guitar player, just better than my suckiness now (which involves not being able to play much more technically than the intro to "Fade to Black")


any positive and helpful feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sinergy]

pinky finger thing: It's just about practising once again. At first I never used it, beacuse i thought, the others were enough, and they are at the start, but if you wanna play some more intense and fast stuff later, you should try to use it too...
When I tried, i didn't have control about the fuck it was doing too But you get more and more control with time

 

[TheSeldomlaid]

Same shit with me. It was out of control the first few weeks, but now it does what it's supposed to. You gain a whole new dimension by using it, so don't leave it out.

 

[Mammoth]

Beat that little fucker into submission!!! You really should take a lesson or four just to get the hang of it! Then it gets worse, then better, then you can star to rock out!! Do not be sad it is hard at first! I played for some years without learning dick, now I am a slave to the (fret)board, but my time will come and I will shred the fuck out of this guitar and then buy a Caparison costume and be the coolest gimp on the block!!!!

 

[Silver Incubus]

Just do the 1-2-3-4 on the frets up and down, it will strengthen your pinky while at the same time improve your up down accuracy with those fingers. Alternate pick the 1-2-3-4 as well.

 

[Dred]

any other exercises etc that anyone knows of that will help?

 

[xOrdinary_Storyx]

as incubus said, chromatic scales are the way to go for pinky strength. another thing i do is practice trilling with my pinky, at first it will sound terrible and probably not be at a uniform speed, but it works. hope this helps, and keep on playing!

 

[Dred]

alright heres another question then.....
are there any good websites where i can find chromatic scales and the like. i used to use wholenote.com but ive since forgotten about them. any suggestions?

 

[Silver Incubus]

I don't know of any sites but doing 1st 3rd on one string and 2nd 4th on the next and then 1 3 again 2 4 etc works good at improving individual finger movement and strengthens the pinky as well,

 

[Stun]

If your pinky hurts and can't reach the frets well you may have the same problem I used to have. I just posted this in another thread, so I'll paste it here: where you put your thumb on the back of the neck can greatly affect your range... if it's precisely in the middle of the neck you will have the most range, even tho it'll probably feel weird without practice. Having my thumb in the right place allows my fingers easy access to at least five on the low end, and in the high frets I can reach at least seven or eight (more, actually, if I loosen my thumb slightly in the higher frets... because the body starts getting in the way and I can't keep the thumb in place)... even tho it feels more comfortable (for me) to let my thumb slide towards the top of the neck.

 

[Dred]

thumb position, that could very well be it stun....
now, if only my guitar worked and i could practice all this.....then id be happy

 

[AlexiFollower]

just start practicing with it, i had the SAME exact problem, but i started to use it and now its no problem, as for the problem when you do use it and it jerks back when not using it, that happens to EVERYBODY even alexi, just watch the live in seoul video his pinky jerks back also

 

[Dred]

so maybe im not so gimpy after all....just lazy

 

[Mammoth]

so maybe im not so gimpy after all....just lazy

No my friend you are just gimpy!

Here are some sites for you:

www.ultimateguitarpage.com
www.freakguitar.com
www.rustycooley.com
www.thehun.com

Do not disstrust, that little finger is a mess in the beginning you have to work work work work it! And then one day it does what you want and you go drink beer to celibrate!

-Moth

 

[Dred]

nice site list

 

[BodomiC]

look at Eric Johnson, he barely use his pinky in soling

 

[bobvex]

any other exercises etc that anyone knows of that will help?

get troy stetina's speed mechanics and on the first few pages there is a excerise you can do for fingering. it goes like. .

e---------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2--------------
B------------------------------------1-2-3-4------------------5-4-3-2-----
G---------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------5-4-3
D-------------------1-2-3-4------------------------------------------------
A----------1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------------------
E-1-2-3-4------------------------------------------------------------------

and so on. . .all the way up the neck
and try other ways too

like 1-4-2-3, 1-3-4-2, 1-2-4-3, or 1-3-2-4

 

[-Gavin-]

I have that book but haven't started anything from it, it looks awesome though.

 

[BodomiC]

ill write some stuff down, but im too lazy to do it. anyway fuck the books, just think about some "spider" alike excercises and just do them, if your hand hurts try to hold it in the way it will stop to hurt and carry on. thats easy, takes time, but nothing comes withing one week...