Home Forums Other Topics "The need for an Efficient pinky is a lie"

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    • #22597
      superblonde
      Keymaster


      Kiko Loureiro – Daily Guitar Practice
      Aug 17, 2017

      All videos taken from his Instagram.
      Video of daily guitar master practice at
      home, backstage, studio, soundcheck, on tour, etc..
      hopefully inspire you to play guitar..

      I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
      And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

    • #22598
      superblonde
      Keymaster

      Andy James must be the absolute worst shredding pinky offender on the planet, and to top it off his fingers are always at an extreme angle when playing anything.


      Andy James – Daily Guitar Practice
      Sep 16, 2017

      All videos taken from his Instagram.
      Video Of daily guitar master practice at
      home, studio, backstage, on tour, anytime anyplace..
      hopefully inspire you to play guitar..

      I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
      And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

    • #22599
      Doug Marks
      Keymaster

      There isn’t a “need” to use the pinky. An effective use of your pinky creates efficient finger movement.

      When I was in eighth grade I was forced, against my will, to take typing class in summer school.  Typing class, back then, was thought of as a less than manly thing to do.  On day one of class I realized that my parents had made the right decision.  There I was at the high school with an assortment of fine young ladies that I had never seen before. Most were from different Junior Highs than the one that I attended.  I can still remember one classmate in particular.  We’ll call her Beth…

      Wait a minute, I got totally sidetracked.  Sorry.  Over six grueling weeks I learned how to touch type.  Until I started Metal Method, typing class seemed like a total waste of time.  After starting Metal Method I began typing every day and I absolutely learned to shred on the keyboard.  Put me up against 99% of all typists that don’t know how to use their pinky (peckers we call them) and I’ll lay them to waste.

      The moral of this story is, you don’t need to use your pinky but it is helpful.  Subtext – typing class wasn’t really that bad thanks to the scenery.  One more thing, there are many excellent guitarists that either don’t use their pinky or seldom use their pinky.  The rest of us need every break that we can get.

       

      Metal Method Guitar Instructor

    • #22600
      superblonde
      Keymaster

      Its surprising that Andy James hasnt taken the time to fix his technique. It would be fascinating to dig into how he got that fast with such horrible finger form. I bet it’s more than the simple “played a lot while watching tv”.

      My pinky looks more like a very slow playing Kiko Loureiro. Sometimes curls up on it’s own when not used. The more I pay attention to it during technique exercises, the better it gets though. Like this https://guitarlessonforum.com/guitar-forums/topic/speed-kills-1-warm-up-fingers-3-4

      There was a video Motley posted, playing a 5-string barre chord progression that I asked him to try, quote below. The reason is because, playing repeated 5th string barre chords, (such as in Hit Me With Your Best Shot), my pinky will slip completely behind the neck and straighten out back there and have some kind of party by itself. Doesnt happen as often as it used to, but still does. Makes it less fast to switch back to playing something with the pinky. Motley has great pinky form in his video:

      You dont happen to have an old video of the same at 120 or 130 bpm to compare do you, just to compare side by side? Anyway from the previous March 110bpm video it looks like now your ring finger, at least, stays much closer to the strings which is awesome.
      Maybe on your next video, could you play these chords in order at 120 bpm, the A,E,D are barre chords, the E* is cowboy chord:
      ||: A A E E | D D E* E* :||x4
      If so, I’ll tell you why later 😀

      Total Technique Override (challenge)

      I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
      And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

    • #22601
      MotleyCrue81
      Participant

      I mean.. if you have 4 fingers, use them. The more fingers, the more you can do. Think if some dude had 6 fingers, they would be able to do some insane stuff. If anything, using the pinky can up your game just a little more than not using it sooo.. knowing that, why not use it!?

      Bring hair metal back!

      • #22608
        superblonde
        Keymaster

        The six fingered man

        I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
        And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

    • #22602
      Igglepud
      Participant

      The better my pinky gets, the more stuff I can do. My scales are faster, I can play more riffs, and I can do some fun stuff with chords.

      MY ROCK IS FIERCE!!!

    • #22612
      Curt Kingston
      Participant

      For the most part, I use my index and pinky to fret power chords. Especially when I do those stretchy George Lynch chords. Now that I’m learning to play lead my pinky is doing rather well but I still WANT to use just three fingers when I am in the Am Pentatonic 3rd pattern and higher on the fret board.  Not sure if its the weird shift in that pattern or just 30+ years of playing a certain way but my pinky just says PISS OFF. I can make it work when I go slow but I play along with the backing track and go from one pattern to another , my pinky just wanders off.

      I can play so many things. Play very complicated riffs at high speed but cheesy 3rd pattern of a pentatonic scale is trying to break me. I’m working through the pain. Lessons 18-22 are lots of fun and I’m slowly training my pinky. Or would that be retraining? Either way, I’ve been reviewing those lessons as I progress forward and it’s so helpful.

      Mario Bros. Plumbing ★☆☆☆☆ (69 Reviews) Hired them to clear my drain, stole my coin collection, stomped my turtle to death and ran off with my girlfri.... (Read More)

    • #22620
      Igglepud
      Participant

      I have the exact same issue. Third position just feels better without the pinky. It’s probably because I learned it wrong.

      MY ROCK IS FIERCE!!!

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