hi i`ve been trying to hammer on with
my pinky but i seem to be unable to
get the snap or power into this finger
is it just a case of pratice and then more
practise or is there an exercise to improve.
any help or tips most welcome.
i think i know what the answer is PRACTISE :roll:
bry
trying to learn the guitar with my 50 birthday just around the corner SH*T it`s come and gone
Practice is the key you'll have to build up strength.
Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear!
ChuckNorrisFactsdotCom
tips:
get a gripmaster, and use it when your not playing guitar. This helped my strength.
practice vibrato with your pinky, that will get it real strong.
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
- Jimi Hendrix
You already knew the answer when you posted this thread.
Just use your pinky as much as possible. Practice fretting notes with your pinky both up close and stretched out. As your strength increases so will your ability to do more with your pinky (and the other fingers as well)
Unlike the other fingers, the pinky doesn't have much muscle on its own. A lot of the strength for pinky notes will actually come from muscles in the side of your hand - they don't get used for much else, so they're under-developed.
Try walking exercises like this:
-2-4-2-4-----------------
---------2-4-2-4---------
-----------------2-4-2-4-
etc.
You'll feel those muscles right away... and practicing with this (and with 3-4 in the same manner) will help you develop the strength. Then it's just a matter of getting the finger speed for a clean hammer, and practice hammering will do that for ya.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Let me revisit this thread.
There is an exercise from the "Pumping Nylon"book that really makes you feel that muscle NoteBoat mentioned.
It is a strectching exercise using Hammer Ons (just what you are after)
Leave the index finger planted on the 1st fret throughout this exercise.
using first your middle finger Hammer on in order the 2nd, 3rd, (ooomph Stretch) and 4th frets (remember you index finger is still on the 1st fret)
the Ring finger does the 3rd, 4th and 5th frets and your Pinky does the 4th, 5th and 6th frets.
Repeat this on all 6 strings.
You probably wont be able to reach everything at first so just reach as far as you can.
Give it a try and tell us what you think :D
Edit: for clarity, you pluck the string freted on the 1st fret then do a single hammer (say middle finger on second fret) then pluck the string fretted on the 1st fret again and this time hammer the 3rd fret ect...So each hammer on is seperate.
So on the low E it would be E-h-F, E-h-F#, E-h-G ect...
