Bad Habits

[whitefang]

This might not be all that bad, but...

 

When I strum my guitar, my method is preety much like most other guys, but when I flat-pick single notes, or fingerpick(I only use three fingers)I brace my right hand by firmly planking my pinkie on my pickguard. I don't know when or why it started. I'm not really sure if it's an encumberance or detriment. I'm sure with diligent work I can overcome it, but would I really need to?

 

What do y'all got?

Whitefang

[Griffinator]

I do that too - CONSTANTLY - it keeps my right hand oriented so I don't pick wrong strings...

[A String]

You're in good company. My pinky finger is so firmly planted that you'd think it was glued down. I've been finger picking since I was a kid and, several years back, even got into classical. So far, I haven't had any problems because of my "pinky anchor".

[Jasco]

I planted my pinky when I used to use a pick.

 

I don't anchor any fingers on the guitar when I'm fingerpicking.

 

Don't really know if there is a 'right' or 'wrong'. I've seen/heard great players use both methods.

 

 

[Gruupi]

I would think that planting the little finger would cause tension, so at some point it could limit your technique or possibly even cause injury if you play a lot. I would think if you dont't spend hours practicing and playing that way, it's not going to harm you. But over the years, these things add up.

 

So Whitefang, if you feel with diligent practice you could break this habit, it would probably make for a more relaxed technique, which in my mind is always good. I don't want to disparage anyone else that plants their pinky, lots of people can get away with it.

 

I have been studying guitar ergonomics and tension for a while now. I have noticed as I get older, it's a lot easier to get tired and even sore if I let myself tense up. So it's good to become aware of how your body feels, if you feel tense, it would be wise to take measures to relieve that tension.

[LeftyBlues]

You think that's bad, I hold the pick with two fingers and my thumb. I'm trying to fix that problem.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Steve Morse anchors his pinky also, so I wouldn't worry about it.

It's only a problem when it keeps you from playing something.

[Guitarzan]

my pinky is usually curled around the pickup ring, or on a Strat it is around the volume but not touching it.

of course there are times (very often) when my right hand is everywhere.

[Larryz]

I'm a no anchor kinda hybrid picker guy...but I'd go with what feels right to you and always be open to learning new methods when you feel like practicing new techniques which sometimes replaces the old...

[Guitarzan]

I do that too - CONSTANTLY - it keeps my right hand oriented so I don't pick wrong strings...

 

i took the wrong strings off my guitar so i wouldn't hit them.

i kept the right strings on.

[Winston Psmith]

Petrucci does it, if that makes a difference to anyone. As a Gibson guy, I tend to anchor my ring finger on the pickup ring of my bridge pup, which keeps my picking hand centered over the neck pup. BTW, I'm 56, and I've been playing this way for over 40 years, without any kind of stress injury.

[Eric Iverson]

I plant my pinky sometimes for certain passages where it helps with accuracy, but it's not a hard and fast rule. And sometimes I pick with the pinky extended like Pat Martino.. not as GOOD as Pat, LOL!

Certain rules of thumb [no pun intended] are OK, but I don't think we should be totally locked into any one way of doing things.

For example, I usually play with my left thumb behind the neck, but once in a while I break that rule and grab a bass note with my thumb if it makes sense to do so... or if it makes it easier to bend strings.... so sue me!!!

[dvuksanovich]

Agree with many of the above statements that if it's not preventing you from making the music you want to make, then it's not a problem.

 

If it is truly something you want to change about the way you play then you'll probably need to address fingerpicking and using a pick separately:

 

Fingerpicking - there is a classical practice technique known as "preparation" where you link the stroke of one finger with the "preparation" of the next one. In other words the playing of one string and getting the next finger ready on the next string are one motion. This is a nice way to keep a reference point on the guitar without having to plant any fingers on the body or pickguard. It helps to get rid of that "floating" feeling and may be a nice way for you to transition.

 

Using a pick - my recommendation would be to take the time to reevaluate the way you pick in general. This is a big enough change where you probably won't be able to just shift on the fly and not miss a beat. I have a lesson on reducing tension/increasing accuracy on my website if you want to check it out here's the link:

 

http://www.whyisuckatguitar.com/lessons/physicalproblems/61-i-suck-at-guitar-because-my-picking-hand-is-a-tense-inaccurate-mess-part-1

 

Like Gruupi I've spent a good bit of time studying tension and the way our muscles work as it applies to the guitar.

 

You're probably more advanced than the average person who watches that lesson and you might have less tension than the average person who watches that lesson, but the concepts are pretty much the same if you want to change from one picking motion to another.

 

Happy to discuss further if you have more specific questions.

[Terrell]

I play sitting with my legs crossed sometimes. Which isn't so bad a habit since it keeps the back stretched and takes a little stress of the wrist.

 

But, when you need to strap on and stand up, you'll want to hang the guitar under your chin which just looks funny!

[dvuksanovich]

As for my own bad habits... I've had them all really. An overabundance of tension in both hands is probably at the top of the list. Debilitating, really... still working it all out after 20 year of playing.

[Caevan O'Shite]

I generally play fingerstyle, almost never using a pick.

 

When using my i (index) or m (middle) fingers or nails in a manner similar to a guitar-pick, my c ("pinkie") finger often points downwards in a way similar to what several of you here have described, only it's between strings, sometimes touching to damp or mute as needed, sometimes 'at the ready' in the air above the strings. It isn't used much as an anchor-point at all.

 

I think I'd probably still do the same things if I were using a pick, as well.

[whitefang]

You think that's bad, I hold the pick with two fingers and my thumb. I'm trying to fix that problem.

 

That's how I HOLD my pick, too. I just couldn't hang with that "between the thumb and crooked index finger" technique.

 

To address Gruupi, another bad habit of mine developed as a result of too many years with a bowed neck, and medium gauge acoustic strings: even with callouses my fingertips get sore quickly from all that time that required me to press down extra hard to play. Now that my neck action is much better, and the use of lighter gauge acoustic strings, not a lot of pressure is needed to make clear tones, but I still have the tendancy to push down as if my guitar is strung with cable and sitting 1/2 inch over the fretboard.

 

I also used to bemoan the fact that I rarely use my left hand pinkie when playing solos. Then I saw a YouTube video of McLaughlin playing on an old Carson show, and HE rarely used HIS pinkie, too. Then I felt better.

Whitefang

[Gruupi]

I am always trying to break bad habits myself, it's easy to let tension causing things to creep into your playing. I was playing an event in recently and after about 45 minutes my left hand started to cramp up. I guess over the course of a few months I had started pressing harder on the strings than needed, I didn't notice it till I the added pressure of performing made me press even harder.

 

I've been practicing trying to use much less pressure for the last couple of months, and it's funny how easy it is to slip back into bad habits. A big part of playing with less tension is just being aware of your body and being able to feel the tension. Like most of us here, my instinct is to just play and not worry about technique too much, but as I get older I really start to feel all those little aches and pains. I would hate to have to lay off playing guitar due to injury so I am really starting to pay attention to tension, guitar really should require little physical effort. I have heard that Pepe Romero says it's easy to play the guitar well, it's really hard to play it badly.

[Caevan O'Shite]

You think that's bad, I hold the pick with two fingers and my thumb. I'm trying to fix that problem.

 

That's how I HOLD my pick, too. I just couldn't hang with that "between the thumb and crooked index finger" technique.

 

I thought that was, largely, the NORMAL, correct way to hold a pick... ? Either that, or with just the thumb (p) and index-finger (i), and with NONE of them "crooked"... ? I thought that the pick was supposed to be like an extension of the finger or fingers, either lined-up parallel in the same direction as the finger-tips, or turned, rotated, 30 to 45 degrees or so...

 

I rarely ever use a pick of any kind, anyways, though...

 

To address Gruupi, another bad habit of mine developed as a result of too many years with a bowed neck, and medium gauge acoustic strings: even with callouses my fingertips get sore quickly from all that time that required me to press down extra hard to play. Now that my neck action is much better, and the use of lighter gauge acoustic strings, not a lot of pressure is needed to make clear tones, but I still have the tendancy to push down as if my guitar is strung with cable and sitting 1/2 inch over the fretboard.

 

Yeah, I have to occasionally make a conscious effort to lighten-up on the strings, as well; somehow an unnecessarily high pressure grip sometimes sneaks up on me gradually...

 

I also used to bemoan the fact that I rarely use my left hand pinkie when playing solos. Then I saw a YouTube video of McLaughlin playing on an old Carson show, and HE rarely used HIS pinkie, too. Then I felt better.

Whitefang

 

If using the 4th/"pinky"-finger will enable you to do more of what you want to do, great. If you're doing just fine and it'd be a matter of changing your fingering for no real reason, then it's no big deal NOT to use that little digit all that much; no need to be keeping up with the Pinkie-Joneses...

 

I do try to use that li'l 4th finner more often than I might, just because it affords me better fingering, more reach, keeps my fingers more parallel to the frets than angled across 'em as when reaching with only three fingers... I use it a lot for partial-barres, as well. But I couldn't give a green crap about whether or not it was more highfalutin.

 

Also, look at Django...

[whitefang]

To clarify, Caevan, the word "crooked" was meant to be pronounced "crookt". Like how it would look if wrapped around a trigger, sorta...

 

In one old guitar instruction book I have laying around, they illustrate the "correct" way to hold the pick is to have the index finger bent in the described position, with the pick placed between it and the thumb. If you can imagine what it must look like. I always found it clumsy. It might work for latter-day players who lately seem to like strumming by moving their entire forearm from the elbow instead of using their wrists.

Whitefang

[Caevan O'Shite]

Oh, crooked, crookt, same difference, I envisioned something like you describe with the trigger-finger analogy...

 

I understand that the way I like a pick to sort of follow the finger is possibly similar to surgical scalpel grip... ? Or, like some artist's brush-holding technique... the pick, the scalpel, the brush, points where your finger points...

 

But I rarely hold or use a pick, anyways. I more often use my index-finger's nail like a pick, instead, or that of the middle-finger when my index's nail is worn down or trashed...