Pinky Trouble

[slap-pop-karl]

I've always had trouble playing with my pinky finger. As soon as I picked up a bass I could play with my 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers, but just can't use my pinky without thinking about it first. Any advice??

[ABGBrian]

John Herrera has a really good left-hand excercise he demonstrates in his NAMM workshop on BP.TV. I suggest you watch that.

 

It's done by doing the excercise I just recommended starting with your first finger on any fret on any string, pluck that note, then put your second finger down on the next fret without lifting or moving the previous finger, move on to the third finger and then the pinky without moving any fingers unnecessarily. Once you have all those fingers down, without moving your 2, 3 and 4th fingers reach for the next highest string on the same fret (so if you started on 7th fret E string with your index reach for 7th fret on the A). The important thing is to not move any other fingers besides the one desired. This will help develop finger strength and independance. Continue by moving the 2nd finger down to the next string, a fret higher from where the 1st finger is, then the 3rd, the 4th and so on and so forth. Go up and down all the strings like this several times if you can, but start slow and deliberately to develop muscle memory.

 

Once you have the pinky up to strength the next step is just to implement it. If you're playing certain licks or pieces with inefficient left-hand strength, rework those passages to include the pinky instead of doing hand shifts or any other such coping strategies to compensate. Hope this helps.

[slap-pop-karl]

Thanks! I'll give that a go! Sound like it should work. I'll also have a look at BP.TV

[DavidMPires]

try this fingering exercise you don't even need the right hand so you can use it to hold a beer or change chanel.

 

The numbers are the fingers i'd sugest you to do this at 5th fret or so

 

1234-1234-1234-1234

 

2341-2341-2341-2341

 

3412-3412-3412-3412

 

4123-4123-4123-4123

 

1324-1324-1324-1324

 

2413-2413-2413-2413

 

3142-3142-3142-3142

 

4231-4231-4231-4231

 

4321-4321-4321-4321

 

This should eep you going for a while.

 

All the notes need to be even don't worry much about volume for now, try to be consistent and even first.

 

Hope this helps

 

[Rocky McDougall]

I use a very dense foam block for hand exercises. It's about 2x2x8 inches, I squeeze it, especially with the pinky finger and the finger next to it to gain strength. It has really helped me wtih strength in the weaker fingers. I will work with it several times a day for 5 minutes.

Rocky

[TimR]

Scales

 

Everyday for 10 minutes as warm ups/warm downs as part of your practice routine.

 

I don't do it but I should!

[Bobby LowTones]

I use a very dense foam block for hand exercises. It's about 2x2x8 inches, I squeeze it, especially with the pinky finger and the finger next to it to gain strength. It has really helped me wtih strength in the weaker fingers. I will work with it several times a day for 5 minutes.

Rocky

slap-pop-karl has difficulty using his pinky without thinking about it. Doesn't look like a strength thing (yet).

 

When I started paying bass (in the '70), I saw this difficulty right away, and imposed myself to use all four fingers with equal importance. Strength came with the usage.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Funny, I use my pinky finger more than my third finger ... TimR, good call on the scales. I don't do it either, though

[Rocky McDougall]

[quote

slap-pop-karl has difficulty using his pinky without thinking about it. Doesn't look like a strength thing (yet).

 

Could it be that his lack of strength in this finger causes him not to use it. That was my problem. I was not using it because I subconsiously avoided it because of a lack of strength.

Rocky

 

[DavidMPires]

Funny, I use my pinky finger more than my third finger

 

Same here

[slap-pop-karl]

try this fingering exercise you don't even need the right hand so you can use it to hold a beer or change chanel.

 

The numbers are the fingers i'd sugest you to do this at 5th fret or so

 

1234-1234-1234-1234

 

2341-2341-2341-2341

 

3412-3412-3412-3412

 

4123-4123-4123-4123

 

1324-1324-1324-1324

 

2413-2413-2413-2413

 

3142-3142-3142-3142

 

4231-4231-4231-4231

 

4321-4321-4321-4321

 

This should eep you going for a while.

 

All the notes need to be even don't worry much about volume for now, try to be consistent and even first.

 

Hope this helps

Whoa you totally lost me there mate.

 

I use a very dense foam block for hand exercises. It's about 2x2x8 inches, I squeeze it, especially with the pinky finger and the finger next to it to gain strength. It has really helped me wtih strength in the weaker fingers. I will work with it several times a day for 5 minutes.

Rocky

Hmm. I'll look in to that. thanks

 

I use a very dense foam block for hand exercises. It's about 2x2x8 inches, I squeeze it, especially with the pinky finger and the finger next to it to gain strength. It has really helped me wtih strength in the weaker fingers. I will work with it several times a day for 5 minutes.

Rocky

slap-pop-karl has difficulty using his pinky without thinking about it. Doesn't look like a strength thing (yet).

 

When I started paying bass (in the '70), I saw this difficulty right away, and imposed myself to use all four fingers with equal importance. Strength came with the usage.

So your saying it might just be routine? If I stop all the time and think when I'm playing it will eventually stick with me?

 

Thanks guys.

[DavidMPires]

try this fingering exercise you don't even need the right hand so you can use it to hold a beer or change chanel.

 

The numbers are the fingers i'd sugest you to do this at 5th fret or so

 

1234-1234-1234-1234

 

2341-2341-2341-2341

 

3412-3412-3412-3412

 

4123-4123-4123-4123

 

1324-1324-1324-1324

 

2413-2413-2413-2413

 

3142-3142-3142-3142

 

4231-4231-4231-4231

 

4321-4321-4321-4321

 

This should keep you going for a while.

 

All the notes need to be even don't worry much about volume for now, try to be consistent and even first.

 

Hope this helps

Whoa you totally lost me there mate.

 

Finger one 5th fret

Finger two 6th fret

Finger three 7th fret

Finger four 8th fret

 

You can do this on the A string.

 

Does this make more sense?

[slap-pop-karl]

David, Yeah I get ya now. Its similar to what zombie said to do but only on one string with a variation of plucking the notes. Thanks.

[DavidMPires]

You can do this on any string and on any part of the neck you can even do that without a bass using the foam thing Rocky has mentioned. The objective of this exercise is to create independence on all fingers that's why we use diferent fingerings.

[TimR]

This is a strange thread to pop up yesterday. Last night the bassist in the band that were on before us didn't use his little finger at all. He even managed to play a simple version of "The Real Me". Maybe it is common, maybe I was noticing it more because of this thread.

[yourlord]

I have to chime in with the guys who use their pinky more than the ring finger. And my pinky has the callouses to prove it..

 

I had some trouble getting my pinky going in the first 6 months, but I kept at it and eventually it overtook my ring finger in use. In the lower positions it's actually more comfortable over time for your average bass line because a whole step doesn't require you to stretch your fingers apart where you would with your ring finger. (This is a bigger issue fretless because you have to make the full distance, not just land somewhere between the frets.)

 

[ABGBrian]

True that. In fact below the 7th fret I rarely use the ring for anything, including chromatics. It just doesn't have the elasticity or strength you need to work with big hand stretches.

[yourlord]

I'm not saying I don't use my ring finger down there. I just fall back the pinky as a default mode.

[Gruuve]

I use my middle finger most frequently. Oh, we're talking about fretting notes...nevermind!

 

Dave

 

[rdepelteau]

Do scales... scales, and more scales.

[TimR]

I've been playing lots of Octaves tonight, and I noticed that I'm playing first finger, little finger pretty much constantly. I've never given it that much notice before. Although that doesn't help with Independence, just hand strength.

Fingers don't have muscles! There attached to tendons somewhere up your forearm. Build up forearm strength if you want strong fingers/hands.

[kenfxj]

Several years ago I sliced deep into my middle finger on my fretting hand, cutting partially through the tendon. It took me a year or so to regain somewhat full range of motion and I never really regained full strength and control.

 

As a result I use my ring finger as much if not more than my middle finger, sometimes resulting in my inadvertantly flipping folks the bird.

 

I compensated for the injury, but this thread has me thinking I should really start doing the four finger exercises, except in my case it wouldn't be for the pinky.

[rizzo9247]

Several years ago I sliced deep into my middle finger on my fretting hand, cutting partially through the tendon. It took me a year or so to regain somewhat full range of motion and I never really regained full strength and control.

 

As a result I use my ring finger as much if not more than my middle finger, sometimes resulting in my inadvertantly flipping folks the bird.

 

The same thing happens when I play the 1-3-5 chords where I use my index, ring and pinky fingers while my middle finger is flared straight up in the air. It makes for some interesting conversations as to who the finger was directed at