Pinky Usage...

Post by Bg » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:23 pm

I rarely use my little finger when playing guitar, except for the classic riffs (i.e. the bend up on the B string then the pinky on the E) I presume this is because the guys I admire hardly use theres and I'm just plain lazy. But since I've been playing Bass, I've noticed I use it all the time, I pretty much do the finger per fret thing.

Anyone else a three fingered guitarist and do you think you suffer because of it?

Bluesbird · Post by **Bluesbird** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:28 pm

I'm a ten-finger guitarist. Not only do I use my pinky on my fretting hand, but my right hand as well.

Post by Bg » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:41 pm

bugger

Richy11 · Post by **Richy11** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:49 pm

Depends on the tempo. If it's slow to medium yes but fast no. My pinky isn't fast enough yet.

Post by Bg » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:55 pm

yeah I can use it for fast stuff on bass but not on the gat - though it is a different fretting style.

Richy11 · Post by **Richy11** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:08 am

I dare say with abit of training and maybe some torture it'll get into line and start shredding.

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 7:22 am

hm....i rely on my pinky alot more then the finger right next to it (whatever it is called), alot more useful when having to put it down on a fret more to the right. Also on all of long stretches pinky is a must have. (low e string fret 3, high e string fret 7/8 anybody? )

oh yah and on the case of being 10 fingered guitarist - lier, ur left thumb never touches the strings (i'm on 9, 5 right hand, and yes all 5 equivalently useful, 4 left hand, 3 of them more or less equal on putting down bars)

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 7:27 am

I have no choice - I almost severed my left hand when I was 12 and have never been able to bend my left index finger since. So I've used 3 fingers on my fretting hand pretty much ever since I started playing. Makes some chords impossible to play, of course. eg: forget dim or aug chords etc

However, I think it made me a better bass player, 'cos I developed a 'space saving' style, since my hand span reach is somewhat shorter than it would have been with 4 fingers.

BG - try my little exercise I developed for my right hand on bass. Just use 1 finger only per string - ie each finger is assigned one string and cannot be used on any other string - 1st finger E 2nd finger A etc. Its not much use for real playing, except when you're bored, but its a great exercise for developing the flexibility needed to use all fingers.

gregtarr · Post by **gregtarr** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 9:31 am

I use my left thumb to fret the E string, and I TRY to use my pinky, but it's just such a weak little thing, compared to all of the others! I can play better with 3 fingers than with 4 at the moment, because mistakes will come in when I try to use the pinky, but I just need to practice more.

offender · Post by **offender** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:52 am

I do use my pinky because its needed for things I find.
Say with those quick blues trills on the B and high E (min-barring the B and E and using the pinky to alternately play four frets up).

But aside from that I will use it when its convenient to do so because I don't want to modify a shape. Another one is the intro to 'Under the bridge' which is necessary to have all four fingers - esp for the hammer-on/pull-off that characterises parts of the intro.

Also I do use it on the other hand when I do fingerpicking stuff which I do from time to time.

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 2:11 pm

right hand pinky - my dad showed me something fearsome on his classical acoustic...
He shreded with all 5 fingers of his right hand at once (5 strings), 4 appregiate the chord, then the pinky strums back up and the process is repeated on a different chord... sounds alot more powerful then john pettruci shredding (he usually goes on about 3 strings or does a progression of 3 strings at a time for top to bottom)

aaa....i am getting off topic. well...now u know how right hand pinky can be used(and cannot go without it) when you are finger picking through ur mix.

stewbaby · Post by **stewbaby** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:56 pm

Having learned classical guitar as a kid, I am a 9-fingered guitarist, and the left pinky gets used for some of the third finger stuff too.

I also use 5 to grip the pick in a white-knuckled desparate attempt to wring a pleasant noise out of the beast ;^).

BG, I do understand what you mean about the need to use 4 fingers to fret the bass... those suckers are wiiiiiiide.

Gelato · Post by **Gelato** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:36 am

I use the left pinky a lot, but I can remember I spent a lot of years being a 3 finger guitarist until I started playing stuff that really needed the pinky.

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 6:15 am

i assume i am off to a good start is I am using the pinky alot already...

B45-12 · Post by **B45-12** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 5:16 pm

Yep use both - like the LH pinky for all sorts of thing but a favourite is pick the string and slide up two frets on the 5th string with pinky, then lay it flat across the strings like a barre (gives you a major chord form strings 4 down to 2) then pull it off having already put down 1st finger 2 frets down on 2nd string to continue riff. Tapping at the 12 fret, 2nd string is an optional extra.