@Louis8 wrote:

For sure there has to more guys then me with this problem.Take the E chord for intance, when i want to use my pinky to make a E7 there’s no way i can do it. Is there an excersise i can do to stretch it out or something?What i’m doing is jamming my wrist between my pinky finger and my ring finger to spead it apart but i don’t think it’s working.

I suppose that you are meaning that you are reaching for the D note on the 2nd string 3rd fret.

One thing that you can do is to use only the inside 4 strings and play a D chord @ the 11th. I know that’s a bit confusing to read but if you were playing a D barre chord @ the 10th – instead of playing a barre ! the 10th – mute the 2 – E strings and use index, middle & ring finger to get the actual D on string 3 – 5. Drop the pinky down to get the 7th of the chord on the B string.

Practice strumming the D chord 1 strum (mute the B string), D6 Chord 1 strum (little finger on B string 12th fret) D7 chord 1 strum (little finger on B string 13th fret). Strum this until your pinky is strong and you have the agility to play it smoothly

Go down 1 or 2 frets and play the sequence again

Keep repeating until you are able to do this to play E chords in the open position.

Under “Discuss your gear” the is a thread called ‘hand exerciser’. Has a few ideas for developing finger independence.
I use this. Where you start on the neck doesn’t matter, higher up may be a little more easy. I’ll use the fifth fret. Play the following sequence. Fifth fret with the first or index finger, sixth fret with the second finger, seventh fret with third or ring finger and then eighth fret with the little finger.
Once a note is played Leave That Finger on The Fret Board.
Next Play the same sequence on the fifth string only moving one finger at a time, the rest remain freted till you play the note requiring that finger. Repeat up each string till the high E string and then play down the strings, still holding your fingers on the fret till you need them.

E —5-6-7-8—
A —5-6-7-8—
D —5-6-7-8—
G —5-6-7-8—
B —5-6-7-8—
E —5-6-7-8—

Try not to mute notes on the next string with fingers that remain on the string your leaving as you transfer strings.

This should help independence and teach you to keep fingers close to fret board.
Start slow etc. 😉

Gordo

I didnt use my pinky for a long time mostly because it was hard to get it to do what i wanted, some times it still dont. just keep at it, the more i use it the better it gets

@Louis8 wrote:

For sure there has to more guys then me with this problem.Take the E chord for intance, when i want to use my pinky to make a E7 there’s no way i can do it. Is there an excersise i can do to stretch it out or something?What i’m doing is jamming my wrist between my pinky finger and my ring finger to spead it apart but i don’t think it’s working.

Just curious if some of the suggestions for use of the pinky has helped and if you are making any progress?

Another thing that you can try, Start by playing the 6th string 11th fret.with your ring finger, then play the 12th fret with the pinky. Go across the finger board with this process to the 1st string and then come back playing it in the same way.
Then using the ring finger and pinky, play hammer on & pull off’ across fret board.

@Louis8 wrote:

Sorry being late on the reply blues guy,got home Sun from working 31 days straight.Boy i tried it yesterday, did you invent that muscle puller??? give me a week maybe more cause this is a mean excerise you gave me there.I’m a big fan of this site, Brian is so good to us,and is the only place i go for lessons and when i go through his lessons and when he throws his pinky for a fast extra note i pretty well have to by pass it. Being a Taylor fan since i have 2 of them im on the unofficial Taylor guitar site, no lessons or anything but a real good site if your a taylor fan. One guy put in the forum ” it’s strange how a guy can practice and practice and then get discouraged and all of a sudden like magic it’s there ” I sure would like for it to be the case here Ha

31 days straight, huh? I remember those days – not fondly either because some of the time, I was working as a maintenance welder on heavy equipment and we were working outside in the snow and ice.

Take your time on the exercise especially if you are using an acoustic. In the past year, I’ve gained a lot of mobility and some of the licks that I play involving the pinky has helped me. To be a good player, we must use all of the fingers and it takes time. I remember instructors complaining because of students only using index and ring fingers to play the pentatonic. My my how far we’ve come!

Hi Brian,

I will ask you the question again about the use of the pinky in guitar playing because I was not completely satisfied with the way you answered the question.

Yes, I agree with you that the pinky is the weakest finger on the hand, and for that reason many guitarists like Eric Clapton rarely used it if at all.

However, although you say that you don’t use the pinky in your guitar playing, I see you using your pinky around 4:34 (when explaining the major pentatonic scale) in your Youtube video entitled “The Blues Scale (Minor Pentatonic) and the Major Pentatonic Scales on the Guitar.”

Therefore, it is difficult for me to figure out what your general take is on this matter of the use of the pinky in guitar playing.

It seems that the overwhelming majority of guitarists teaching guitar in face to face classes and lessons on Youtube, who I have learned from, use the pinky.

I think that in order to address this question satisfactorily you may need to provide examples of the kind of fingerings those guitarists who do not use their pinky use in their guitar playing.

To me that type of an explanation will address the issue of the pinky in guitar playing much better.

Freddy

Many Years ago I bought a GRIPMASTER, I have used it off and on, and my pinky seems to be just as strong as my pointer finger. I actually use it without even thinking. My oldest Grandson as he was growing up used it as a toy, he actually used to come over every day for and that was the first thing he looked for. When started to teach hi to play he had not only dexterity , but also the strength in his pinky .
This is a very inexpensive tool, and I remember it only took me 2 to 3 weeks (when I first got this and used it every evening as I watched TV with my wife) to just not even having to think when wanting to use my pinky.

When you are able to compress the pinky spring all the way without even any effort you will no longer have a problem.

The exercise which has made a huge difference to my playing is called “The Spider Exercise”. Rather than me trying to explain it if you go onto UTube and type “Spider Exercises for Guitar” you get a very good explanation. It basically trains you to use all of your fingers – and it works! When you start off it is a struggle as your ring finger and pinky just don’t go where you want, but stick with it and after a few weeks you will see a difference. As its a fretting hand exercise and does not require you to play the strings you can do it while watching the television – once you get use to it.

Regarding using the pinky or ring finger you can use both. Most guitarists prefer to use the ring finger for bending strings – particularly if you are bending up a whole tone.

Alan

I’ve always used my pinky. I’m good at it. Practice playing songs without using my pointer finger. Now that I’m on here and learning lessons from brian, I think the Ring finger has advantages over the pinky.

obvisously my opinion
1st – I find it easier to learn and remember what to play. an extra finger brings more complexity. The ring finger helps my brain keep it in a box (per say).
2nd – It helps phrase/Promote a blues feel to the kick. I think the pinky makes it different rock/funkish.
3rd – It also guides me to places on the neck that are blues orientated compared to when using the pinky. The pink wants to take me to other places than the blues.

it’s hard for me but I am going to practice using the ring finger from now on. don’t worry I won’t lose my pinky skills.