Any tips?

Hi, I am an intermidiate guitarist, but I have a bad problem. I have played for five years, and I still have not learned to use my pinky properly while playing. It's not seriously effecting my playing, it's just inconvinient to use three fingers when playing more advanced solos and things. If anyone could give me a suggestion or tip if you will, on how to be able to use my pinky more often?

My advice would be to start doing scales and pull-off and hammer on exercises using your pinky. Nadeau has lots of exercises using your pinky. Gradually, it will start working. Slowly. I worked for me :D

Good Luck

I've got a couple of suggestions that might help.

One is to learn '3-note per string' scales.

http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=28

This will force you to use your pinky because there's no way to play them without using your pinky. Plus it will give you more to work with when it comes to improvising solos and expand your thinking a lot more.

Another suggestion is to delve a little into tapping to increase your pinky strength.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=1873

Most of these exercises involve using your pinky very quickly and repetitively, so you should see a noticeable improvement in a very short period of time.

Thanks guys, I'll try it.

Im finding its hard to use the pinky as well..I usualy just practice going from fret one thru four using each finger on off on off and occasionaly bending the string all the way down from string 6 to string 1 and so on...each string i find has a different strength in the bending so it gives my fingers a work out and finding out what strings bend easier..then i gradualy move all the way down the fret board ending near the pick up...

There are some great warm up exercises that incorporated the pinky. Some are posted on this site as free lessons. I suggest forcing yourself to use that little booger as often as possible. I really don't see how you have been playing for so long without using it. Choose exerises that force the pinky to press hard and stretch. In time you will be using the pinky as profficient as the other digits.

I know you guys probably never use the thumb, but with the type of music I do, the old thumb comes in handy as well. I don't use the thumb often, but it is awful convenient as times!

Here's a post I made in the Full Access Subscriber's forum a couple of weeks ago. Here it is again in public domain area:


10-12-2007, 03:32 AM
I also attempted to not use my little finger very much when I first started.. I have a double-jointed little finger so it makes life a little difficult in that department.. Anyway.. The way I learnt to include my little finger was that it's basically one finger per fret.. so if you're playing a shape that has a stretch from say fret 5 to fret 8, then you would play the 5th fret with your index finger and the 8th fret with your "pinky" finger. I played quite happily for years without using my pinky but once you get your pinky trained up, it becomes just as useful.

I am currently exploring the Major scales all across the neck.. for example there are two main ways to play the D Major scale on the guitar. The first starts on the 10th fret of the bottom-E string and the other starts on the 5th fret of the A string. Once you know both of those, then you can start playing between them by joining them at different places so you can practise using your fingers and learning the major scale positions.

Here's what I mean.. I've placed a number underneath each note on the tab sheet. These are the fingers I am using for each note. The first finger is the index finger and the 4th is the pinky finger. Also when I am playing the D Major chord starting from the 5th fret of the A string, I run out of room going across the fretboard before I reach the end of the 2nd octave.. so instead of ending up playing the last 4 or 5 notes on the same string, I utilise some basic slides to go up and down. I've included the way I come back down as well because the slides are in different places.

Notice that the two shapes overlap at the 10th fret of the top-E string.. you can use this to your advantage by learning both shapes at the same time.. or find your own ways of joining the two shapes together.. scales can be fun if you want them to be.. There are other ways to play the same scale in different places on the fret-board and that is what I am currently exploring at the moment. I'm trying to figure out which are the most useful for whatever reasons.. Also knowing where "moveable" shapes are helps in quickly finding a major scale in any key, then shifting to a mode from there.



D Major scale - 10th fret bottom-E string
E |-------------------------------|--------------------9--10---------|
B |-------------------------------|------------10--12----------------|
G |-------------------------------|-9--11--12------------------------|
D |--------------------9--11--12--|----------------------------------|
A |---------9--10--12-------------|----------------------------------|
E |-10--12------------------------|----------------------------------|

2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4 1 3 4 2 4 1 2


D Major scale - 5th fret A string
E |-------------------------------|--------------7--9--10------------|
B |-------------------------------|----7--8--10----------------------|
G |-----------------4--6--7///////|/9--------------------------------|
D |--------4--5--7----------------|----------------------------------|
A |--5--7-------------------------|----------------------------------|
E |-------------------------------|----------------------------------|

2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4 4 1 2 4 1 3 4

E |-10--9--7----------------------|----------------------------------|
B |-----------10--8--7------------|----------------------------------|
G |---------------------9--7\\\\\\|\6--------------------------------|
D |-------------------------------|----9--7---5\\\\4-----------------|
A |-------------------------------|-------------------7--5-----------|
E |-------------------------------|----------------------------------|

4 3 1 4 2 1 3 1 1 4 2 1 1 4 2

End of Post

Now that I've been practising with the major scale shapes for a while, I can say without a doubt that incorporating my pinkie into the equation has helped my "muscle memory" and visual memory of where everything is.

Thanks alot guys, this should help. The worst part about it is that I've already learned songs and things without using my pinky, and now it seems that I need to relearn them all to incorporate my pinky. I own a planet waves finger exerciser, the one with the four seperate springs, and I used that for a while, do you think that it would help me to use my pinky by using it? Another thing is, I am also double jointed, and I have a very small pinky, so it makes it even harder.

Thanks again, you guys have been a good help.

For some it's more difficult to change gears after doing something else over a period of time. Depending on the amount of time already invested, certain exercises or patterns may be played more fluently by the current method than by changing the program. Timing may also have developed in the method of style in which it's been played.
Incorporating the pinky may help to expand in new aspects and make certain things easier to accomplish.
I don't feel that it makes an extreme difference by how something is played, as long as it's played well. Use what comes natural.
Some players rarely use their pinky finger while soloing, whereas I constantly use it.
Look at Clapton, Rarely a pinky when soloing, but frequently in chord structure.
Zakk Wylde, too....
Relearning a new method in playing guitar is a personal choice. If it's better, do it.
Django Reinhardt worked with two fingers in his new method because he had no other choice...........