Keeping Fingers "Ready"

no exercises that I know of...
just the battle.

when I play leads above the 14th fret my pinky l;ooks like an baby elephant's trunk looking for a peanut; drives me nuts.

Dogbite:

Perfect description!! Describes mine to a tee!

Actually, I read an article in a guitar magazine by some great player a few years ago (can't remember who it was though) dealing with this very thing.

You play this simple pattern, but there is a trick.


e------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-
b----------------------------------1-2-3-4---------
g--------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------
d------------------1-2-3-4-------------------------
a----------1-2-3-4---------------------------------
e--1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------

p r m i (continue same fingering)


Here is the trick:

When climbing the scale, after playing a note, continue to hold that finger on the note. So when you play the 6th string 1st fret, leave the index finger on that note as you play the 6th string 2nd fret. Now leave BOTH fingers on the string as you play the 6th string 3rd fret. And again, leave all 3 fingers on the notes when you play the 6th string 4th fret.

Now here is the tricky part. :D

When you go up to the 5th string, only lift your index to play the 1st fret. This may almost seem impossible on the first try. Your middle, ring, and pinky should still be fretting the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frets on the 6th string.

Now lift the middle finger and fret the 2nd fret on the 5th string, middle and pinky should still be on the 6th string. Also, do not lift your index on the 5th string to do this.

Continue in this manner. Keeping all fingers on their respective notes, move the ring finger to the 5th string.

Continue in this manner up to the 1st string.

Believe me, this is an awkward feeling exercise. But it teaches your fingers to move independently.

Now, when you are coming down you do very differently. Lift the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd frets of the 1st string until you are left with the index fretting the 1st fret.

Now, PICK UP AND PLACE ALL 4 FINGERS ON THE 2ND STRING AT THE SAME TIME. Then, just lift each finger one at a time until you are back to your index finger on the 2nd string. Once again, place all four fingers on the 3rd string at the same moment.

This seems like a very odd exercise. But after you try it for awhile you will notice that your fingers are far more independent and stay closer to the strings at all times.

I have been using this exercise for awhile and it really works. Give it a try and see what you think.

Wes:

Thanks a million for that very detailed reply! I'm headed for the guitar right now!..................

There's one more you can try - I originally came up with this when I was learning the piano:

put all four fingers on one string. Now lift your index finger, then replace it... next, lift ONLY your middle finger, and replace it... then the ring, then the pinky.

That got me out of the habit of always moving my ring finger in tandem with my pinky on piano - it's a closely related muscle control for guitar.

I too am a victim of the puppeteer fingers.

Will certainly be giving Wes's lesson a shot...

Hey, that's good too NoteBoat.

These exercises are not easy at first. It takes a little practice to get the hang of them. But they really do work. My pinky used to go straight up in the air, now it stays curved and fairly close to the fretboard. I do not practice this exercise everyday, maybe about once a week or so. But it has really helped.

So, don't give up, it takes a little while to get this. And it really feels weird at first.

Recently I spoke to a elderly lady in hospital, where she told me she had played piano for decades from a very young age. She told me she could clearly remember that she wasn't allowed to sit behind the piano for the first six months: the piano teacher started by having her move her fingers in the way Tom describes. Only after the teacher was satisfied that the basic movement was ok, after half a year, was she allowed to start her first simple tune.

Now we're talking pre-WorldWar2 here so it might sound a bit Spartan, but the message remains the same: It's a problem probably all of us have had or still have and it takes some time to get it really out of your system. For the rest: read the other's advice. :)

Actually, I read an article in a guitar magazine by some great player a few years ago (can't remember who it was though) dealing with this very thing.

You play this simple pattern, but there is a trick.


e------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-
b----------------------------------1-2-3-4---------
g--------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------
d------------------1-2-3-4-------------------------
a----------1-2-3-4---------------------------------
e--1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------

p r m i (continue same fingering)


Here is the trick:

When climbing the scale, after playing a note, continue to hold that finger on the note. So when you play the 6th string 1st fret, leave the index finger on that note as you play the 6th string 2nd fret. Now leave BOTH fingers on the string as you play the 6th string 3rd fret. And again, leave all 3 fingers on the notes when you play the 6th string 4th fret.

Now here is the tricky part. :D

When you go up to the 5th string, only lift your index to play the 1st fret. This may almost seem impossible on the first try. Your middle, ring, and pinky should still be fretting the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frets on the 6th string.

Now lift the middle finger and fret the 2nd fret on the 5th string, middle and pinky should still be on the 6th string. Also, do not lift your index on the 5th string to do this.

Continue in this manner. Keeping all fingers on their respective notes, move the ring finger to the 5th string.

Continue in this manner up to the 1st string.

Believe me, this is an awkward feeling exercise. But it teaches your fingers to move independently.

Now, when you are coming down you do very differently. Lift the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd frets of the 1st string until you are left with the index fretting the 1st fret.

Now, PICK UP AND PLACE ALL 4 FINGERS ON THE 2ND STRING AT THE SAME TIME. Then, just lift each finger one at a time until you are back to your index finger on the 2nd string. Once again, place all four fingers on the 3rd string at the same moment.

This seems like a very odd exercise. But after you try it for awhile you will notice that your fingers are far more independent and stay closer to the strings at all times.

I have been using this exercise for awhile and it really works. Give it a try and see what you think.

This has to be one of the hardest drills I have done since I started playing! I can BARELY play the notes cleanly especially my pinkie (I was born with bent pinkies!).

How long per practice session is good to practice this? I can see frustration being the limiting factor here! :twisted: :oops:

Thanks Wes

Mike

Yes, this is a very difficult exercise that is very hard to do at first. That is the whole point. If you stay at it, it becomes pretty easy and natural feeling. It is not hard for me to play this exercise at all now. But at first it was killer. :D

Myself, I just practice this maybe once a week. I am not real disciplined about things like this. But I have been doing it for maybe 2 years and I have seen an improvement in my finger independence.

I think I'll have a go at that exercise - can't hurt (or can it?) and looks a bit tricky - but if you don't try you'll never get anywhere....

Anything that increases muscle strength/memory has got to be good for the budding guitarist - or even the fairly experienced guitarist!

Thanks for this one Wes.....

:D :D :D

Vic

So, I tried to force my fingers to stay in the “ready” position just above the fretboard on the first four frets while practicing. I'm only exaggerating a little when I say it takes all the will I have to keep the fingers from arching upwards. It is quite amazing to watch the battle !

Are there any exercises or tips out there to help conquer this? Thanks folks.

I think the key to prevent this is not forcing your pinky to stay in position but to relax it.

An excercise would be to keep the pinky touching the string lightly (!) when fretting with your other fingers. You will not get ringing notes, because the pinky is muting the string but your pinky will learn to relax, while you are fretting with your other fingers.

If you can't control the pinky at all move up to a higher fret until you can. Then slowly work downwards.

Happy practicing,

Patrick

Wes: That really hurts! Does a mighty fine job though - thanks for posting it.

When I was having lessons (waaaay back when), my tutor noticed that I wasn't using my pinky properly (I'd either use my index middle and ring fingers, or index middle and pinky, never ring and pinky at the same time) and that it was about as far from the fretboard as it could be until I did use it, so he gave me the excercise below. Not only is it very good at getting your ring finger and pinky working together for those of us who don't have much independance between the two, but it's also a fantastic sounding little piece with enough different things sprinkled through it to make a pretty good speed drill. I run through it a few times whenever I'm not 'in the zone' - that's probably why I still remember it. :)
E||--------------------|----------------------------------|
B||--10~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--|--10--13--12--13--10--13--12--13--|
G||--------------------|----------------------------------|
D||--------------------|----------------------------------|
A||--------------------|----------------------------------|
E||--------------------|----------------------------------|

------------------------------------||
------------------------------------||
------------------------------------||
--7--5--4---------------------------||
-----------6--6/-7~~~~~~~~~---------||
--------------0--0------------------||

I've knocked it up in guitar pro too, download here: http://piran.co.uk/guitarnoise/neoclassical.gp5

Another good thing is to perform trills between all finger sets. IE, fingers 1-2, 1-3, 1-4,2-3, 2-4, 3-4. Practicing these for a minute apiece 1-3 frets apart (depending on which fingers) has really helped me.