Hi and a Question

Hi...new forum user and new to Guitartricks.com...

So... I've been playing for many years (got my first guitar a 8), though I quit / barely played for the last 11 years. I've never considered myself anything better than an average player, for several reasons...some I can definitely fix (theory knowledge, sight reading) and some that I consider problematic. I want to work on both (one reason I'm here).

One of my problematic issues is my pinky finger on my fret hand... I could hack it off and not miss it much, other than a little blood loss and pain. This finger is clumsy, weak, and slow. Any time I tried to develop it, I got a lot of hand pain. So needless to say, I've neglected it, and resorted to what I consider cheating, or using my ring finger for notes that would more properly be played with my pinkie finger.

I was watching a video of other forum user play and noticed that rarely used his pinkie finger... maybe it was the nature of his licks, or maybe he also suffers from pinkie hatred. It got me thinking, so I thought I'd ask... Is this a problem for a majority of guitar players? Are there some exercises that I can do to target this problem? Should I just HTFU and deal with it?

-Ryan

I am no professional player by any means, but I had the same deal. I was self taught until I joined this site. My pinky was week, unflexible, not indepenent, etc. I would purpously "modify" my playing to avoid using it much. Having read some of the other posts on this site, it seems like a common issue for many beginners.

I have noticed in watching many of my favorite guitarists that the pinky isn't really used a whole lot, atleast in the styles I enjoy. (Rock, Blues, Classic Metal. I bet those jazz dudes with all those wild chords do tho). But it does need to work when you need it to (Like mad solos, barre/power chords, and accenting like D-Dsus). Think of your basic open chords, most of them don't require the pinky.

I have practiced a lot of the excersizes on this site and my pinky has gotten better..slowly, but it has. I works well enough to hold down the string i need it too anyway. It does take a lot of work and some pain. But it will happen.
As far as the excersizes go, ones like the scale patterns worked for me. In my case tho i had to force myself to use my pinky where the instructor used his and not "cheat" with my ring finger. But now i am used to it and it works!

You know the old saying, no pain, no gain. Just be careful not to over do it and really hurt yourself.

Good luck!

My problem is more specific... I can use it for power chords, open G chord without using the index finger, scale transitions from middle to pinkie... these things are OK. My biggest issues is semitone transitions from ring to pinkie finger and pinkie finger independence.

Brian May doesn't use his pinky much. Says 'it feels weird'. Not that this helps you much :)

I have pinky issues, too but they are getting better. Still very hard to bend, but hammer ons & pull off's are coming pretty easy now. Used to be my pinky wouldn't move unless my ring finger led the way.

I'd bet if you talk to most guitar players, they'd all mostly say that there is some part of using the pinky that they aren't fully comfortable with.

Me; it's using the pinky doing an ascending 1-3-4 pattern. Every other way such as ascending 1-2-4 and any descending is fine but that ascending 1-3-4 is just beyond what my pinky can do and I've tried every drill I can to make it happen. It's just how the joint is, I guess....

There are two related, but separate issues at work with getting the pinky (or any finger) to pull it's weight: dexterity & strength.

1. Dexterity is the most important. The ability to control the fine motor skills is what is necessary to build. How? Practice, practice, practice.

2. Strength is necessary of course to a degree, but not as crucial as dexterity. At first it might be necessary to build a certain degree of strength to get the pinky usable. But after that necessary minimum it's time to work on dexterity!

Originally Posted by: JeffS65
... that ascending 1-3-4 is just beyond what my pinky can do and I've tried every drill I can to make it happen.

Have tried this one?

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419

I also just published these that might help:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=898
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=899

Best of success!

Just remember that while it is "Proper Form" to use your pinky, when you don't have to, then don't! You're not really "cheating" by not using it, unless it is making it more difficult for you to play, or ends up sounding bad.

Just like anything else in your everyday life, you probably don't maintain a completely idealized, perfectly-balanced grip when you hold your coffee cup or cellphone. On your instrument, learn the form, exercise your hands, and then do what is the most efficient for you to make the sounds you want to make with it.

The pinky is obviously a great tool and gives you a lot of reach. It'll always take more work than the other fingers. But if you don't learn to use it well, there will be "gaps" when you try to move around. Your hands won't sync up because you're struggling to land that fretting hand while the other one is already picking.

I believe Michael Angelo Batio once talked about forcing himself to play with only his ring and pinky fingers, as an exercise. It definitely works. I used to put myself through all sorts of torture like that, and in the end, it made my hands work like well-trained robots. The problem was, I could fly up and down the neck, but I wasn't really playing anything musically relevant.

So always relate this stuff back to actually making music happen.

-Carl.

Cool. I'm going to get to work on this... wish my pinkie luck!

Originally Posted by: GarthhogMy problem is more specific... I can use it for power chords, open G chord without using the index finger, scale transitions from middle to pinkie... these things are OK. My biggest issues is semitone transitions from ring to pinkie finger and pinkie finger independence.

It sounds more like an independence issue between your ring and pinkie fingers as I'm experiencing the same problem. In fact, I'm finding it harder to play descending scales i.e. lift fingers off the frets as opposed to placing them down, so I don't think it's so much a strength issue.

As a relative beginner to lead (and I stand to be corrected), it seems to me that finger strength and stamina seems to stem from developed/used forearm muscles rather than the fingers themselves.