practices guarantreed to improve your pinkie

Ok so i was jamming with a friend of mine when i started playing some stuff and he said "i can play that but not as good" then when he was playing, it didnt sound as good as mine so i started wondering why his playing sounded worse than mine. so i asked him to play it again and i noticed he never used his pinkie. i asked him why and he said "its too hard my pinkie's too weak and slow."

so thats why i am writing this. so your pinkie won't be too weak and slow to do something your other fingers can.

im just gonna give you some exercises that helped me out a bunch since im out of school for a while and i finally have time for stuff, besides finding a job, getting ready for the track team next year, and weight training.

ok first ill start off with the easy stuff then ill get harder and harder

USE A METRONOME

----------------------------------------------6-7-8-9-----------------
-------------------------------------5-6-7-8----------7-8-9-10-------
----------------------------4-5-6-7----------------------------etc----
-------------------3-4-5-6--------------------------------------------
----------2-3-4-5-----------------------------------------------------
-1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------------------------

remember to keep a maximum of one finger on the fretboard at all times

try to do that with a metronome and slowly increase speed until it stops sounding clear. remember clarity is the key. stay clear so your muscle memory can register the clear playing instead of the insanely fast sloppy stuff. its easier to make a bad habit than to get rid of one.

ok once youve mastered that or if you wanna try something different, try this

-------4-1-------------2-5-------------6-3-----------------------
-----3-----2---------3-----4---------5-----4---------------------
---2---------3-----4---------3-----4---------5-------------------
-1-------------4-5-------------2-3-------------6-etc-------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------

every string gets its own finger

thats also a good practice for sweep picking.

ok try this now (with ring and pinkie)

--12h14---

the first note should sound as loud and clear as the second note

and

(with pinkie)

--12^(14)-----

keep practicing bends with the pinkie if you seriously want to make it stronger. i know its impossible at first, but if you wanna play faster songs, hammer on and pull off with the pinkie, you're gonna need to make the pinkie stronger.

ok now try this its supposed to build speed and clarity (use metronome)

finger numbers: 1-index 2-middle 3-ring 4-pinkie

-------------------|--------------------|-------------------|--
-15-13-12----12-13|-15-13-12----12-13|-15-13-12----12-13|--
-----------14------|-----------14------|-----------14------|--
-------------------|--------------------|-------------------|--
-------------------|--------------------|-------------------|--
-------------------|--------------------|-------------------|--
_4__2__1__3_1__2 etc


remember MAXIMUM OF ONE FINGER ON THE FRETBOARD ALLOWED ALL THE TIME

remember clarity is key. don't wanna go too fast until you can't play it right.

ok this one's pretty hard. looks easy but its pretty hard.

--15-14-----------14|-15-14-----------14|--
---------15-13-15---|--------15-13-15---|--
---------------------|--------------------|--
---------------------|--------------------|--
---------------------|--------------------|--
---------------------|--------------------|--
__4__3__4__2__4__3 etc

just keep practicing these and remember clarity. I might add some more next time i get free time.

ok now im gonna go watch anger management so peace out... some rep would be cool

You know there's a whole area of GT devoted to putting up tabs and exercises like this. You should go put them in there and quit wasting my space. Sorry if it sounds mean but I don't know how many times I've said it. Stuff like this belongs in the lesson section.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaYou know there's a whole area of GT devoted to putting up tabs and exercises like this. You should go put them in there and quit wasting my space. Sorry if it sounds mean but I don't know how many times I've said it. Stuff like this belongs in the lesson section.

while I agree this belongs in the lesson section, I think that may have been a little harsh, I mean, he's only trying to help people! at least he posted on the right forum! :cool:

cool lesson btw pure! I'll give it a try when I can. in the meantime, you should submit this to the lessons!

Excellent! Time for a pinky workout! :D

Originally Posted by: AkiraI have to disagree there.

You should use a metronome and start from slow, gradually building to a tempo with which you are comfortable with, then slowly push a bit further every now and then. You don't want to try blazing away at it straight away as it wont give your fingers the chance to build up their muscle memory.

I agree with Akira, muscle memory is what gets you speed. If you go at it too fast from the start you end up hitting a plateau pretty quickly and you pick up all sorts of bad habits along the way. I agree with the exercices though, three and four note per string runs are the best way to get the left and right hands in sync. I'd stay away from the sweep picking untill you have alternate picking down though.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaYou know there's a whole area of GT devoted to putting up tabs and exercises like this. You should go put them in there and quit wasting my space. Sorry if it sounds mean but I don't know how many times I've said it. Stuff like this belongs in the lesson section.

sorry i didn't know about the section. ill go look for it.

can't find it...

It's at the top of every page. Right under Beginners, which is right under forum. Click here to contribute. Have fun man.

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrswhile I agree this belongs in the lesson section, I think that may have been a little harsh, I mean, he's only trying to help people! at least he posted on the right forum! :cool:

cool lesson btw pure! I'll give it a try when I can. in the meantime, you should submit this to the lessons!

I'll tell you when I'm being harsh.

do i have to have a flash video or can i just have tablature? i don't have a video recorder.

Well, you couldn't add video if you wanted to. Only Instructors can do that. If you want you could add an mp3 of the lesson but you can just put up the tabs and an explaination if you like.

Originally Posted by: AkiraWell, i've pretty much got sweeping down, but my alternate picking sucks!!

By "got my sweeping down", I mean as in the intro to Smoke and Mirrors by Symphony X up to speed.

I just can't seem to crack alternate picking, even with all these exercises I do which are aimed towards improving my alternate picking, I just can't get it down. :(

I'm just the opposite, I got alternate picking down to the point where I say "why do people complain about this? it's easy!" yet, dear god, I can't sweep pick for the life of me.

maybe its cause alternate picking and sweeping are like complete opposites. like the way you think when you alternate pick is preventing you from learning sweeping. like whenever i try to sweep, like house of the rising sun, i end up alternate picking. i mean alternate picking is so easy to me it comes naturally i dont even try to alternate pick it just comes. but no matter how hard i try to sweep, i feel like a professional basketball player playing football. i feel like dribbling that football, even though i know i'm not supposed to.

Originally Posted by: AkiraWell, when it comes to alternate picking, I just end up using legato instead, it's a habit I tried to get out of for a while but now I think i'm working on my strengths, I've given up all hope of ever being good at alternate picking, for now.

that seriously just made me cry. now that i see its impossible for you to learn alternate picking because you know sweeping, i feel its impossible for me to learn sweeping because of my alternate picking.

maybe its just me cause sweeping has the same hand movements as chording, and i never devoted time in my life to learn chords. maybe my hand would be more comforable sweeping if i did more chords. but im more the solo type.

Originally Posted by: AkiraBtw, never neglect chords.

amen.

besides, a lot of solos are built around chords, so obviously knowing them can improve your soloing as well.

Originally Posted by: AkiraIt is possible to be good at sweeping and alternate picking, look at malmsteen, petrucci, etc. :rolleyes:

yes i know. just as its possible to be a professional basketball and football player.

maybe ill try learning chords some time later.

It's ok I suck a little myself. I figure I'm just ok at all these techniques. I know how to do them I'm just not very clean. Good thing I got decent tone. :cool:

Good tip on the pinky, that used to be my "weakness" now I love the pinky, it opened up many doors. Great lesson, I working it on it now!

Originally Posted by: AkiraBah, you and your tone, who needs tone? *que malmsteen* :rolleyes:

you cut me Akira, you cut me real deep just now. :( :p

Originally Posted by: caino1976Good tip on the pinky, that used to be my "weakness" now I love the pinky, it opened up many doors. Great lesson, I working it on it now!

i used to hate my pinkie too. now i treat it just as any other finger. good luck with the pinkie. you can't be good at guitar with a "weakness"

when I'm playing legato/tapping I find that it's actually my 3rd finger that's the weakest.