# Pinky?



## KURANGAZHAR (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi, I've been playing guitar for 6 years and I barely use my pinky. My friends think my playing is normal as anyone, but looks weird. Is there anyone out there who plays like me? Or am I the only weird player here?


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## nollyflip (Jul 14, 2015)

Andy James has done pretty well with minimum use of his pinky


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## Baelzebeard (Jul 14, 2015)

I broke my fret hand pinky as a kid, and it always had limited strength and range of motion, so I avoided using it for a long time. But....

After I spent the time to work on it and incorporate it into my playing it has become strong and dextrous, and my playing improved dramatically. Sooo....

Ignore the pinky at your own risk.


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## redstone (Jul 14, 2015)

Your highest speed is that of your slowest finger.


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## OmegaSlayer (Jul 14, 2015)

Check the Rusty Cooley fingers workout, don't remember how it's exactly called, but it's the best you can do to your fingers if they're lousy.


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## watson503 (Jul 14, 2015)

I've always belonged to the school of thought that one should exploit their weaknesses as you are only as strong as your weakest link.


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## Lokasenna (Jul 14, 2015)

I've been playing for thirteen years and only managed to start using my pinky in the occasional chord this past winter. So there's that.

Plus, Django was working even less fingers than you and he was faster than half of the guys on this board.


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## Alex Kenivel (Jul 14, 2015)

I use the sh!t out of my pinky.

You cant  without it!


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## KURANGAZHAR (Jul 15, 2015)

Thanks for your response guys, I find it really hard to make my pinky work properly. Maybe because I don't use it for a long time. Call me an ignorant, but I think I'll go further without my pinky and try to be the best 3-finger player out there


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## redstone (Jul 15, 2015)

Lokasenna said:


> Plus, Django was working even less fingers than you and he was faster than half of the guys on this board.



Most people have slow fingers no matter how many they use. That's what happens when you only focus on finger synch. Better have two snakes than four slugs.


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## MetalheadMC (Jul 15, 2015)

I have a similar problem except when I got started years ago I made it a point to myself that I would use my pinky like the greats that inspired me. Now I have trouble using my ring finger because my pinky does all the work


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## KURANGAZHAR (Jul 16, 2015)

Lokasenna said:


> Django was working even less fingers than you and he was faster than half of the guys on this board.





redstone said:


> Better have two snakes than four slugs.



You motivated me guys


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## Solodini (Jul 16, 2015)

MetalheadMC said:


> I have a similar problem except when I got started years ago I made it a point to myself that I would use my pinky like the greats that inspired me. Now I have trouble using my ring finger because my pinky does all the work


 
Ring and pinky independence is tough at the best of times, so if you're going to only use one, you might as well use the one with more reach.


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## OmegaSlayer (Jul 16, 2015)

It might seem stupid and only for people that want to stress their body out of the ordinary to reach results no one will ever give a damn about and very Dragonball like ...but doing some exercise with 2 fingers tied (i and m then m and r then r and p) with a rubber band is something that might help developing new ways to play and reach frets.


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## MetalheadMC (Jul 16, 2015)

Solodini said:


> Ring and pinky independence is tough at the best of times, so if you're going to only use one, you might as well use the one with more reach.



I agree. Most of the time though, my pinky will hit a fret where my ring finger should. It doesn't really hinder me too much anymore since I've been working diligently on getting them to be more independent, because my ring would tend to try and mimick my middle finger.


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## Dantas (Jul 16, 2015)

KURANGAZHAR said:


> You motivated me guys



Dude, I strongly recommend you to use your pinky! Myself being sort of a intermediate guitar player, it helps me so much for doing riffs (especially dropped ones) and chords....I can't play without it. 

It may be hard at the begginning to make the pinky a part of your playing, but the payback will be really worthy!


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## redstone (Jul 16, 2015)

KURANGAZHAR said:


> You motivated me guys



Then don't let your pinkie slow you down. Speaking from experience, building finger speed is EASY. Any finger. Work = result, you can't go wrong unless you don't do it. I know building a finger from scratch is not fun, but it only sucks the first few months. Don't spend more energy beating around the bush, you'll never get that time back, ever.


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## Given To Fly (Jul 16, 2015)

OmegaSlayer said:


> It might seem stupid and only for people that want to stress their body out of the ordinary to reach results no one will ever give a damn about and very Dragonball like ...but doing some exercise with 2 fingers tied (i and m then m and r then r and p) with a rubber band is something that might help developing new ways to play and reach frets.



Robert Schumann ruined his hand by doing something like this. Clever idea in theory, bad idea in reality. It shows you are thinking though!


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## VBCheeseGrater (Jul 16, 2015)

KURANGAZHAR said:


> Thanks for your response guys, I find it really hard to make my pinky work properly. Maybe because I don't use it for a long time. Call me an ignorant, but I think I'll go further without my pinky and try to be the best 3-finger player out there



Yeah definitely no rule that says you HAVE to use any particular finger. I basically use my pinky when it's easier to do the lick WITH the pinky than without it - or if there's just no other way to play something, but if i'm more comfortable using my ring finger for a lick, then that's what i'll use.


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## metaldoggie (Jul 16, 2015)

Michael Keene has an odd looking technique, he doesn't use his pinky much at all.

Rob Balducci wrote a lesson in Total Guitar that I found useful - I can't seem to find the link anymore though.

Basically it was to pick 1 2 3 4 in all possible combinations going all the way up the fretboard. I find it helpful to find the most awkward combination and practice that up to the speed of the rest of them.


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## OmegaSlayer (Jul 16, 2015)

Given To Fly said:


> Robert Schumann ruined his hand by doing something like this. Clever idea in theory, bad idea in reality. It shows you are thinking though!



It really depends how much you stress yourself.
5 minutes per couple of fingers each day won't do any harm...it's just there, when you feel it starts to hurt, you stop, but that's for any other exercise too.

I remember watching a Ritchie kotezen interview in which he said he used stuff to keep his fingers distant to increase his reach.


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## Spicypickles (Jul 24, 2015)

I watched a vid with dimebag explaining why he uses his pinky, and every since then I incorporated it into my playing. It's definitely paid off. Now that I think about it, I use my index, ring and pinky fingers the most. I only really use my middle finger for chords, sweeps and 4 note per string runs.


Funny thing is that when tapping stuff, I strictly use my middle finger on my right hand.


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## Simic (Jul 25, 2015)

Got a pinky related question myself - lately I've been trying to minimize the distance from my fingers to the fretboard (meaning after I fret a note, I try to lift the finger as little as possible from the fretboard, so that it's closer to it for the next time it'll need to fret a note). Thing is, I got it to work with my first 3 fingers, but my pinky keeps jumping up and down like crazy, and it's noticable (as in it's hindering my speed), because the other fingers don't move half as much... Does it have something to do with my pinky simply being too short?

Hope this makes sense


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## redstone (Jul 25, 2015)

Simic said:


> but my pinky keeps jumping up and down like crazy, and it's noticable (as in it's hindering my speed)



No it isn't. Large amplitude is a consequence of you being slow, not the cause. Reducing the amplitude won't increase your speed but the other way round. If you try to reduce the amplitude beforehand, you'll run out of amplitude (and strength) when you'll increase your speed. Make sure the outer edge of your hand is close to the neck when it can shorten the pinkie/string distance and stabilize its movements (or you won't be able to control it), then do some relaxed gesture frequency exercices ad infinitum.


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## karjim (Jul 25, 2015)

We have 4 fingers on the fretboard. Pinky represents 25% of your speed. How do you play a hammer pull off like a 3 7 or 7 12. If you can t and want to play a tab with this stretch...there s a problem. Mention that I don t give examples of giant stretches.Satriani Petrucci Steve Vai Paul Gilbert Shawn Lane Becker Cooley Govan or Buckethead the madman...I couldn t live with this because that s because of these guys I play the guitar. Get your pinky strong !!! It s totallyworth it


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## SilentCartographer (Jul 25, 2015)

I have fairly large mitts and try to incorporate my pinky as much as possible but some things are just easier without it!


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## Solodini (Jul 27, 2015)

Simic said:


> Got a pinky related question myself - lately I've been trying to minimize the distance from my fingers to the fretboard (meaning after I fret a note, I try to lift the finger as little as possible from the fretboard, so that it's closer to it for the next time it'll need to fret a note). Thing is, I got it to work with my first 3 fingers, but my pinky keeps jumping up and down like crazy, and it's noticable (as in it's hindering my speed), because the other fingers don't move half as much... Does it have something to do with my pinky simply being too short?
> 
> Hope this makes sense


 
Try just doing slow trills between your pinky and each other finger, speeding it up a little when you're consistently able to do so relaxed and with minimal movement at that speed. If speeding up sees you making bigger movements, slow back down and ensure that your muscle memory is up to scratch, consistent and relaxed, before speeding up again. 

I'd suggest making sure trills between your pinky and your ring finger are as good as your trills between pinky and middle, pinky and index, before speeding up, rather than progressing only with a couple but leaving a growing weakness.


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## TRENCHLORD (Jul 27, 2015)

^^^ Great exercise, and like many other drills it will instantly transfer into your own playing/writing.


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## Simic (Aug 2, 2015)

thanks for the tips, will definitely do the thrill exercise


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## DudeManBrother (Aug 2, 2015)

I have to give guys props for doing trill exercises and what not. I feel like I'd get bored too quickly doing that. I just try to write the music in my head and practice whatever techniques required to achieve the desired results by playing something musical over and over. I definitely use my pinky all the time, hell I have to use two or three fingers on my right hand a lot as just four on my left is rarely enough.


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## Solodini (Aug 3, 2015)

Even small bursts of trills as warm ups or coming up with an etude using trills will help.


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## redstone (Aug 3, 2015)

DudeManBrother said:


> I have to give guys props for doing trill exercises and what not. I feel like I'd get bored too quickly doing that. I just try to write the music in my head and practice whatever techniques required to achieve the desired results by playing something musical over and over. I definitely use my pinky all the time, hell I have to use two or three fingers on my right hand a lot as just four on my left is rarely enough.



It feels much better when you experienced how useful and timesaving it is. Furthermore, it's the only way to get fast fingers. Those who don't practice trills hit a speed wall. Once it happens, your fast licks will be limited to a few tricks you will repeat over and over and over again whereas 99.9% of the interesting licks won't be accessible. So how boring does it sound ?


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