Do you use your pinky?

[Power_13]

When I'm running through scales, I noticed my pinky always stays tucked somewhere behind the neck until I need it...then it comes forwards onto the fret. Same thing happens when I'm doing chords - it stays tucked in pointing towards the palm.

Is this one of those bad habits I need to steer clear of? It sometimes makes the finger ache a little.

[JJ Gross]

Yeah, I use mine all the time. It takes a little getting used to keeping it someplace besides curled up like an overcooked shrimp. Try practicing (slowly) with your pinky sticking straight out. It will take a while to get used to this and to build up the muscles used to keep your pinky separated from your ring finger. Expect it to be downright uncomfortable and don't be shocked if you get a cramp now and then - you're not damaging anything. You're building new muscles and literally rewiring your brain to do something it's never been asked to do. It'll be tough at first, but that will change if you stick with it. Once it's not a big deal to hold it out while doing simple licks, start integrating the pinky into your scales and runs. Next thing you know it'll be just another finger - in a good way.

In 6 months you could be forgetting about why you never used it before.

Cheers,
- JJ

[Folk_guy]

What JJ said, I have forced myself to use mine I find with some of the more contemporary church music we're doing now we are using more unusual chords that require the use of the pinky. 2 chords, 6 chords, altered chords with augmented 5ths, etc. I also use the pinky when doing scales to now just to get in the habit of using it.

[Cogs]

I used to be from the Clapton School Of The Tucked-In Pinkie. Then I started taking lessons from a jazz guy & he broke me of that habit fast. It might sound funny but using your pinkie when soloing makes it harder to play some blues licks w/an authentic sound but I think the advantages of using your pinkie outweigh the disadvantages.

[Direstraits]

Just take it steady though.. I've used my pinky for years and suddenly due to a change in duties at work (I work in an office) I've overused it due to leafing through large piles of correspondence and developed trigger finger (Stenosing Tenosynovitis). It has more or less stopped me playing until it is sorted out and doesn't seem to be responding to rest & gentle massage .. The next step is cortisone injections or surgery !

[Rickenjangle]

All the time. In fact, sometimes I even raise it up in the air like a British Nobleman when I am drinking a glass of wine.

[hudpucker]

Is this one of those bad habits I need to steer clear of?

Yes.


You have four fingers to fret with...why use only three?

[Cygnus X1]

I use mine. It is strong enough to do bends with!

I do not raise it when grasping my mug of mead!

[KDR]

When I was a younger player I knew it would be a plus to learn to use the pinky. That was 40ys ago and I`ve never regetted it. Keith

[Power_13]

Cheers guys

I do use my pinky, but what I've found is it stays folded into the palm (like I'm making a fist) until it's needed...then it comes out onto the fretboard. I think it's more to do with my wrist/thumb than anything else...I always have my thumb wrapped around the back of the neck. Not bad for chord work, but it makes positioning the pinky in a more convenient place a bit tricky.

[Mesotech]

I've always used my pinky, and it really hurt (physically and playing technique) when I broke the bone in my hand controlling it two years ago in a freak accident. All is better now, except for a slight loss of speed.

I say, embrace the use of the pinky finger. Use it everywhere, chords and scales.

[phantomman]

How you gonna play "Hot Blooded" wiffout a pinky?!?!?

Yeah, I use mine all the time. For as long as I can remember.

[elicross]

I use my pinky as my emergency backup finger. Like when I'm bending the G string and want to hit a note on the B string, or when I want to do some of those nifty steel guitar-sounding licks. That's about it. Otherwise, it just kinda hangs there until it's needed.

Sometimes I stick it out, though, because I'm classy.

[Cygnus X1]

I had just enough "proper" training in my teens to start off with the one fret per finger technique.

I also anchor my thumb on the back of the neck when playing solo notes. I suspect my playing goes a little bit more to "shredder" than most of the folks around here.

I have a light touch.
It's my right hand that slows me down a bit.

[Don]

I took lessons when I was 8-9 or so and again from 15 to about 20. I was taught to use my pinky and use it regularly.

[Rickenjangle]

I had just enough "proper" training in my teens to start off with the one fret per finger technique.

I also anchor my thumb on the back of the neck when playing solo notes. I suspect my playing goes a little bit more to "shredder" than most of the folks around here.

I have a light touch.
It's my right hand that slows me down a bit.

Cygnus, I have just the opposite problem - I play too hard, and speed suffers. But, I never "work around" my pinky; it gets used a lot - and when I teach my guitar students, one exercise we always start out with when they are beginners is.

E string: 5-6-7-8
A string: 5-6-7-8
D string: 5-6-7-8 and so on.

Then, when they've mastered that, keeping their hands relaxed but extended to cover all four frets, we'll move on to

5-7-8-9; then to 5-6-8-9 (this one's hard for me, for some reason); and 5-6-7-9 (that's a great pinky workout).

Then, if they're up to it, we'll perhaps do 5-7-8-10 and so on, and finally we'll attempt 5-7-9-11...though that one is nigh on impossible. But, these things develop strength across all 4 fingers evenly. And...
I ask the student to play them in different orders, too, so they're not learning only ascending or descending patterns.

[HotRod]

When I was a younger player I knew it would be a plus to learn to use the pinky. That was 40ys ago and I`ve never regetted it. Keith

I remember trying to get it to work right at about 16 years old, it was a challenge before God and man and I was determined.

I'll even use it where I used to use my first and third, I've been using my second and fourth so I don't change my hand position as much. Like if I'm in A on the first string, I'll use 1st finger for A and fourth for C, then slide up and use my 2nd for C and my 4th for D, sometimes to get a solid sounding tone in a stretch there I'll back up my pinky with my 3rd finger, the same solid tone without changing my hand position to much. Feels natural now.

- HR

[Fripperton]

Couldn't get by without it. As Nigel Tufnel would say about the pinky "that's one more innit?"

[General Specific]

I'm using it right now...

[Kap'n]

How you gonna play "Hot Blooded" wiffout a pinky?!?!?

Now I know why Jerry had his chopped off!




I use my pinky a lot. Always have. You need it for that big dumb 70's rock wheedly-wheedly triplet pull-off.

[Rickenjangle]

Was it his pinky? I thought it was his middle finger. I'll have to Wiki Jerry now...thanks, Kap'n - another rabbit trail to follow instead of working!

Edited to add:

Wiki reports that it was his right middle finger, chopped off by his brother while they were working to chop wood. Which is really weird because I've met Phil Keaggy and talked with him, and he lost half of HIS middle finger in a childhood accident with one of those old-style water hand-pumps!

What are the odds, two world-class, iconic, masterful guitar players who both lost the same finger!

[Kap'n]

What are the odds, two world-class, iconic, masterful guitar players who both lost the same finger!

Compare that to Django.

Why is it that kids wanting to emulate their guitar heroes turn to hard drugs, and not lopping off fingers?

[NMCA_Ron]

I just recently started taking lessons again (at age 43, it has been a challenge) and getting my pinky to work with the rest of the fingers has been one helluva test on my patience. However, I am using it more and more and hopefully, with more diligence and practice, I will use it just like the other fingers.


Ron

[Doc W]

I had a revelation in my teens (without any drugs) and realized that using all my fingers would make it easier to play guitar so I spent quite a bit of time disciplining the pinky. I can do serious bends with it, but if it is a really serious bend I always use two fingers, either 2+3 or 3+4, depending on the position.

The easiest way to get the pinky picking (say that three times really fast), is good old-fashioned scales, and the best one with which to start is a 6/2, i.e., your starting note is played on the 6th string with the second finger. Now play a major scale (do re mi etc) using ONLY one finger per fret. You can do this scale over two octaves within a span of four frets.

[Rickenjangle]

Now play a major scale (do re mi etc) using ONLY one finger per fret. You can do this scale over two octaves within a span of four frets.

Yep. My students get that one early on too...another useful exercise I use is a more linear scale, broken up into 2 triplets per position, on the e and b strings. If you do it right, you HAVE to use the pinky.

it goes like this (numbers are frets, played sequentially):
b: 0-1-3 e. 0-1-3; b: 1-3-5 e: 1-3-5; b: 3-5-6 e: 3-5-7; b: 5-6-8, e: 5-7-8, b: 6-8-10, e: 7-8-10; b: 8-10-12, e: 8-10-12 and so on, working up to around the 17th fret (or 15th if the student's got an acoustic with no cutaway) and then resolving to a Cmajor chord...

This also works for the middle pair of strings, and for the low E and A strings, too. They just outline a different scale...

[larry45]

I didn't know you could NOT use your pinky....I suppose if you didn't have one...

[Offshore Angler]

Yep, on BOTH hands.

[Stonefreefuzz1]

I use it, I still do finger exercise's that I did 13 years ago to keep my fingers nimble and they include the Pinky.

[CJ Neel]

Yep, on BOTH hands.

Ditto.

[NeoFauve]

I use my left (fretting) pinky all the time, sometimes even when the third finger would do. It just lands that way.
I never used to do that. It's not something I practiced.
I think doing graphics on a PC, and the way my left hand is anchored to the edge of my keyboard unconsciously changed the way my hand and fingers fall.

I use the right pinky when sipping tea.

[Don]

Yep, on BOTH hands.

Me too! 'Cept I use my right pinky to hang on! I didn't even realize it until recently, but the finish is worn through on the body of my Tele where I hang onto the lip of the bridge with my pinky. Same thing's starting to happen to my Les Paul.

I need to learn to use my right pinky properly to save my guitars from expensive looking natural relic-ing!

[Offshore Angler]

Me too! 'Cept I use my right pinky to hang on! I didn't even realize it until recently, but the finish is worn through on the body of my Tele where I hang onto the lip of the bridge with my pinky. Same thing's starting to happen to my Les Paul.

I need to learn to use my right pinky properly to save my guitars from expensive looking natural relic-ing!

Just play "Train Kept a Rollin'" a few times. That will force your pinky off the bridge!

[Gris]

I use both. If you are not using your left (fret) hand pinkie you are probably missing more than just scales. I use it most for those little jazzy blues double stop octave hammer thingies or whatever you call em, you know where say if you are playing in A you hold the A down on the high E with your pinkie while holding down the D on the B string with your index finger and hammering before using your other fingers to play more 2x stops. Similarly, all us country guys couldn't do our bluegrass banjo rolls w/o the pinkie. No orange blossom express, LOL!

[music-n-motorcycle]

I didn't read all the posts, so I am sure you have been answered.

But, Yes it is a horrible habit . always use your pinky. in fact, any beginning book has your pinky on the board right away.

[Rickenjangle]

M'n'M - I teach out of the Hal Leonard book, and that doesn't utilize the pinky much, since nearly all the notes taught in the first book are 3rd position or less.

However, the chords require it - and I require it too - I give them the exercises I've outlined above...

[refin]

My pinky is still my weakest finger after 42 years......some things I have no trouble with,but my playing is so hit and miss unorthodox that I need to get better using it.

[music-n-motorcycle]

M'n'M - I teach out of the Hal Leonard book, and that doesn't utilize the pinky much, since nearly all the notes taught in the first book are 3rd position or less.

However, the chords require it - and I require it too - I give them the exercises I've outlined above...

Don't know much about the Hal Leonard methods, but when I was learning as a child, the pinky was required on all fourth fret fingerings in the first position.

Then again, WE had to use our pinky in finger picking too. P-I-M-A was out, although they did teach us about it.

You're right, I did a search and it seems that most instruction nowadays leaves out the pinky.

My recommendation: Every one who wants to be above average should start practicing with their pinky right away.

[R-Dub]

my pinky has always had its own little callous pad as well. I use it lahtz. It does tuck away though when not being used. Stretches and runs, it works as well as any of em'.

[Offshore Angler]

No pinky on fretting hand usually equals poor wrist position and only playing barre chords, soloing from the root, ie., blues wanking.

First thing I correct on a new player is to make the open G chord using the pinky on the sixth rahter than the ring finger. They bitch, and then I make them swtich chords from G to C to G to Am to C7 and they become pinky converts pretty fast.

Next, get them playing melodies inside of chords and nature takes care of the rest.

[Rickenjangle]

...and then I make them swtich chords from G to C to G to Am to C7 and they become pinky converts pretty fast.

Next, get them playing melodies inside of chords and nature takes care of the rest.

Yep. Me too. It's important to teach the kids the right way to do something...

Although I teach them the G5 chord right away , too, that uses all 4 fingers - middle (G), index (B), open D, open G, ring (D) and pinky (G). This shape makes it easy to go from the G5 to the C9add5 to the D and back. Then I teach them the intro to Green Day's "Good Riddance" and they seem to really like that. But, even with the G5 fingering, the pinky gets used a lot.