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Hey guys can somebody please give me some advise on how to make your left hand pinky stronger? I hate it because my pinky just wonders of while im trying to change chords and it slows me down. .....Somebody please post some exercises on that if you can. I appriciate it, thanx guys.
Jim-O, slurs--that is, hammer ons, every day for a couple minutes. Between the ring and pinky finger will do the job. Go slow but do it every day and you will be impressed by your progress.
Play 1st finger on 5th fret, 2nd on 6, 3rd on 7, 4th on 8, all on the bottom E string. Now repeat the sequence on the A string, moving ONLY one finger at a time-. all others remain anchored. Repeat up to the top E string and back down again.
Only one finger moves, the other 3 remain anchored. Play this very slowly at first: clarity is more important hhan speed.
When you can play it fairly quickly, starting on fret 1, your finger will be under control.
I second Sean's advice. That's the best excersize I know to get the pinky in control. Note that its not so much making it strong, as getting control over the muscules. When you do this make sure the pinky never gets more then a quarter inch above the fret board. Start slow and increase speed as long as you keep the pinky a quarter inch.
A word of advice--I recommend that you do not attempt to confine the motions of your fingers while playing. When you try to control a finger, for example, don't allow it to fly up, you are using a muscle to keep it in. That is bad because it leads to excess tension. The right way is to put your hands in the attitude of moving economically, and learning how it _feels_ to play right. If you play it right, your fingers won't fly. That is a different thing than using muscular tension to constrain them from flying. Always be guided by the sensation of doing it correctly, as do the dancers and martial artists.
Hello, I had exactly the same problem. To the extent that I would not use my little finger to play, but would rather use the finger next to it (ring finger) instead. If you have a guitar handy, there is no substitute for those pinky exercises similar to the ones suggested above. But one thing that might also help is a Planet Waves "Gripmaster". It is basically a hand exerciser that allows you to work each finger individually to build up its strength. They are available in different levels of resistance, but I find the "medium" level is about right for the pinky finger, or maybe the "light" version if the finger is extremely weak. They are fairly cheap to buy, and come with a list of exercises that can be used regularly to develop the strength in the fingers. I found that the Gripmaster improved my finger strength a lot, and was very useful on buses and trains when you don't have your guitar handy to do exercises. here is a link to view the product:
Hey James I did buy the Gripmaster, the medim tension. But was I not sure how to use it correctly, and the one I bought did not come with any list of exercises I dont know why. Anyway thanx again for your suggestion, I'm definitly going to try this again. Thanx James.
Hi, the gripmaster should definitely come with a list of exercises- mine did. If you bought it in a shop, I would take it back and exchange it for one that does have the exercise list included. Alternatively, there is a list of exercises here:
Jimbo, I think you will find the "powerpinch" exercise at the above website most useful for strengthening your pinky. But one I use a lot is to hold the gripmaster in the "triggergrip" or "fingerplay" positions (as featured on the website) except with the index, middle and ring fingers curled inward toward your palm (behind the gripmaster) so that just just the pinky finger is resting on the far right gripmaster button. Then use the pinky finger to compress the button. Another way is to place the tip of your thumb on the bottom of the curved black rubber pad to the far left of the gripmaster base (when the pointed, hooked end is facing to the right), then place your pinky finger on the far left button on the top. This way the gripmaster unit is held only between your thumb and pinky, and not touching any of your other fingers or parts of your hand. And just compress.
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.....Somebody please post some exercises on that if you can. I appriciate it, thanx guys. 
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