Pinky Issue again

[decosta1228]

I'm just curious whether this is a problem.

My pinky isn't stiff or locked,what happens is that when ever I go to put my third finger(ring finger down),my pinky goes in the oppositedirection, so if i need to use my pinky, it takes that extra bit longer to go in the direction.

Is this normal, its fine in other situations.



P.S - Whats the best guitar program out there for 1) Learning and 2) Recording.

[Krieselman13]

It willl be like that until you get better finger independence. Try to get a grip master. It will strenthen you pinky as well as all of your fingers, as well as improve finger dexterity.

[smfulla]

no the gripmaster wont improve dexterity. Everyone said that in that post about grip master and finger weights.
Umm best software for recording... maybe Cakewalk or Cubasis. For learning, the best software is a guitar teacher =P

[decosta1228]

Will squeezing a squeezy ball help my fingers(i.e like those stress balls).

[slaughteredsoul]

Playing the guitar will stengthen your fingers the right way.:)
Squeezy balls..i dont think so.
Just stick to getting your fingers used to the positions they play on the fretboard,i know that's the best way to get them to become more flexible.
I had the same problem with my pinky,but in time i realised i tamed the little rascal,no gripmasters or squeezy balls,just daily guitar practice:)

[gck]

hmm, there are some "anchoring" practices that will drastically improve your pinky finger dexterity:

1) Play

---1-2-3-4---

on all strings, starting from low E, moving up to high E. Use your index for the 1st fret, middle for 2nd etc... When ever you move up one string, keep the pinky on the 4th fret of the last string, play --1-2-3--- on the above string again, then move up your pinky for the --4--. Do this until you reach the high E.

2) Play

---4-3-2-1--

on all strings, starting from high E down to low E. This time, you do the following. As soon as you've played the -4- on a string, move your pinky to the 4rth fret on the next string and keep it there, while you play -3-2-1- on the above string. Do this until you reach the low E.


The key here is not to tense up too much, if the first 4 frets are too wide for your hand to span, play it on the 5th to 8th fret.

This one helped me a lot to achieve dexterity and strength with my pinky. Also, scales are also a good idea to practice (with a fingering that involves all four fingers of your left hand (and maybe the thumb, if you're up to that).

[55'gibby]

one exercise that I was shown years ago was called the spider walk it goes like:

--3--1
4--2--
--3--1
4--2--
--3--1
4--2--

do this until you can do it smoothly and quickly

[smfulla]

another good way to improve your pinky strength and speed is doing trills with the pinky. Do this with index and pinky, middle and pinky, and ring and pinky. Then after you've done that you can start to stretch the pinky to higher frets. Make sure you can get the trills going really fast.