GuitarMonky55
06-18-2004, 07:17 PM
The pinky finger. isnt it our best friend? its there, and we see many great guitarists using it with ease but when we go to play we often find that our own little digit seems to have an agenda to drive you insane. you tell it to go right and it goes down instead. you move one finger and your pinky follows even though you didnt tell it to. so how can this be solved? well ive created a little pinky finger boot camp with the goal to get that finger going as fast as your index and middle with no trouble.
first off, a variation of the chromatic excercise we so dearly love:
E:---------------------5-6------------------------------
B:-----------------5-6-----5-6--------------------------
G:-------------5-6-------------5-6----------------------
D:---------5-6---------------------5-6------------------
A:-----5-6-----------------------------5-6--------------
E:-5-6-------------------------------------5-6----------
use your ring finger on the 5th fret, pinky on the 6th. do this over and over, then move on to string skipping variations, just play with the standard chromatic excercises but only use your ring and pinky fingers.
alright now that we are warmed up its time for some long trills. stick your ring finger firmly on, say the 8th fret g string. start a trill to the 9th fret with your pinky and keep it going for at least a minute or until it burns so bad you are considering cutting off the finger to end the pain, whicher comes first. now move your pinky to the 10th fret, ring finger still on 8, lather, rinse, repeat. keep doing this moving up one fret each time until you reach your maximum stretch.
feeling it yet? now try this:
E:-------------------------
B:-------------------------
G:------------7---------5--
D:--5---7--5-----5--7-----
A:--5---5--5--5--5--5--5--
E:-------------------------
perform this excercise by fretting the 5th fret a string with your ring finger, and using the pinky for the notes on the d/g strings. start slow and get going faster, this ones a real finger twister but it does wonders!
moving ahead, heres another little nasty that will sure to have you aching after a few minutes. here we have this ordinary looking lick :
E:---------------
B:--8-5---5-8-5-
G:------7--------
D:---------------
A:---------------
E:---------------
use your ring finger to fret the 5th fret b string, and use your pinky for the 8th fret b string and the 7th fret g string. as always go slow at first and speed up when it comes smooth and clean.
now for the final stage of the session, start doing some bends with your pinky. use only your pinky to push the bends, dont allow and other fingers to touch the strings. pick a note anywhere, and bend up a whole step and hold it, making sure it sounds as you do. make sure that you are bending to the correct pitch, if not then push harder! when you finish those, take some notes, fret with your pinky only and give em a big wiggle! do it for as long as you can.
thats all for now folks, but ill make a continuation when i work out some more pinky excercises
first off, a variation of the chromatic excercise we so dearly love:
E:---------------------5-6------------------------------
B:-----------------5-6-----5-6--------------------------
G:-------------5-6-------------5-6----------------------
D:---------5-6---------------------5-6------------------
A:-----5-6-----------------------------5-6--------------
E:-5-6-------------------------------------5-6----------
use your ring finger on the 5th fret, pinky on the 6th. do this over and over, then move on to string skipping variations, just play with the standard chromatic excercises but only use your ring and pinky fingers.
alright now that we are warmed up its time for some long trills. stick your ring finger firmly on, say the 8th fret g string. start a trill to the 9th fret with your pinky and keep it going for at least a minute or until it burns so bad you are considering cutting off the finger to end the pain, whicher comes first. now move your pinky to the 10th fret, ring finger still on 8, lather, rinse, repeat. keep doing this moving up one fret each time until you reach your maximum stretch.
feeling it yet? now try this:
E:-------------------------
B:-------------------------
G:------------7---------5--
D:--5---7--5-----5--7-----
A:--5---5--5--5--5--5--5--
E:-------------------------
perform this excercise by fretting the 5th fret a string with your ring finger, and using the pinky for the notes on the d/g strings. start slow and get going faster, this ones a real finger twister but it does wonders!
moving ahead, heres another little nasty that will sure to have you aching after a few minutes. here we have this ordinary looking lick :
E:---------------
B:--8-5---5-8-5-
G:------7--------
D:---------------
A:---------------
E:---------------
use your ring finger to fret the 5th fret b string, and use your pinky for the 8th fret b string and the 7th fret g string. as always go slow at first and speed up when it comes smooth and clean.
now for the final stage of the session, start doing some bends with your pinky. use only your pinky to push the bends, dont allow and other fingers to touch the strings. pick a note anywhere, and bend up a whole step and hold it, making sure it sounds as you do. make sure that you are bending to the correct pitch, if not then push harder! when you finish those, take some notes, fret with your pinky only and give em a big wiggle! do it for as long as you can.
thats all for now folks, but ill make a continuation when i work out some more pinky excercises