The Arc of the pinkie knuckle

[alanfc]

Ha -THIS is whats been holding me back these last 24 years ! I've just decided.
But really, I've just realized this...I've always used my pinkie naturally on every type of lead and scale. But for some reason now that I've moved up a gauge in strings I 've noticed I can't just 'make it happen' with bends and other stuff with my pinkie like I could with the lighter gauge.
Looking more closely - its the knuckle....on my other 3 fingers I have this nice arc at the last joint, and my finger points straight down to the fretboard. The pinkie however,,, its coming down at an angle. And the string is under the fatter part of my finger instead of closer to the tip like my other fingers. I tried some s-l-o-w scales with my Pinkie in this straight-down angle and surprise- clean, perfect.
So,
whats some grueling cardio I can do on my pinkie that'll make this angle more second nature?. Beyond my usual messin around with slow scales and all. (I know its mostly just repetition)
thanks

[SRV Fan]

I'd do a lot of quads 1-2-3-4- down each string and Bar a lot of 7th chords while picking your hand up and down to build up your strength and technique.

[alanfc]

cool thanks

I've now been obesessing/tinkering with this a few hours,
and I've come to the conclusion that a slightly higher position of the guitar strap is helping too..

[Power_13]

Talking about the pinkie...I've always wondered whether others do this or if it's a bad habit I need to get rid of. When I play guitar, my pinky always ends up under the neck, until I need to bring it out for a note. It's just painfully uncomfortable if I have to have it in "ready to fret" position at all times.

I've never noticed any loss of performance like this, but does anyone else do this?

[DanTheBluesMan]

wasn't that the name of a stevie winwood album?

[alanfc]

thanks
bump for more ideas/exercises. Especially some I can do away from the guitar for finger independence, like sitting here at work :)
thanks

[Wilko]

That is a major left hand point in classical training. You pretty much need to be on the guitar. Practice holding it properly. Play slow and gradually speed up while remaining accurate. don't play faster than you can with proper position.
Of course, that's classical. If we're talking rock/blues and such, The strength may never be where you want it to be. All the great bends are done with the much stronger ring finger.
You'd be surprised how far up ytour arm you may need to adjust to get it to work right and comfortable. Make sure your wrist is atraight and your forearm is turned the right way.
Use as much proper technique as you want to make it all come together.

[JAM]

I practice an Fmajor scale in the first position where the fingering uses the 5th fret. Hard to explain without a diagram, but starting on the 6th string the F,G, A is fretted 1, 3 and 5 frets with fingers 1,3,4 so the pinkie has to stretch. Keep the fingers down, dont lift your fingers up until you go to the next string. This is a good exercise for strength.

[from the 6th string to the first, the fret pattern looks like this]
1-3-5
1-3-5
2-3-5
2-3-5
3-5
1-3-5

[alanfc]

Thank you !