I haven't started lessons yet, and trying to get a head start before I do. I noticed I anchor my pinkie finger near the pick guard while playing. Is this a bad habit I need to unlearn asap, or is it something others do also?
I don't anchor my picking hand at all. I find it too restricting.
-- John
"Hip woman walking on a moving floor, tripping on the escalator.
There's a man in the line and she's blowin' his mind, thinking that he's already made her."
'Coming into Los Angeles' - Arlo Guthrie
Yeah, I don't think acnhoring the picking hand is a good idea. Especially if you want to play metal, because there's a lot of palm muting and tapping involved in that style.
I anchor my picking hand a lot. Sometimes I do with my pinky (most often with like fingerpicking, mostly whenever I am not using a plectrum) other times I do with my palm (either palm muting or just behind the saddle) and sometimes I dont anchor at all. All depends on what im playing. Practice all of them because they are all handy (in my opinion).
aka Izabella
I don't anchor at all. It feels weird to have part of my hand stuck in place while the rest is moving.
Anchoring is a sign of poor technique - although if you watch the video for Patience, you'll see Slash anchoring his pinky.
Each to his own, I guess; but you just cannot anchor when you play fingerstyle.
Best,
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
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