struggling to strengthen my pinky

glug

Hi All,

For the passed couple of weeks roughly about 9 weeks i have been doing scale exercise that i have found online but my fourth finger still very week. I have been doing hammer on's and pull off and been practicing for about 30 mins to an hour a day just on that as well as going up and down the fret board doing normal scales

If i put my hand flat on the table and try lift up my 3rd finger cant at all without lifting the 4th finger. i can do it with my right hand but not my left.

Any help will be appreciated.

AlanRatcliffe

That's something you'll always have to keep working on - it'll always be your weak finger. Patience though - just keep at it and it will improve.

A very important thing in building up a weak finger is to limit the speed of your other fingers. Never force riffs and scales at tempos that your other fingers can handle, but your weak finger cannot. Take the whole riff down to the tempo that your slowest finger can handle and stay there until it builds up the strength and coordination to move up a notch. If you force the tempo, you will essentially be practising a mistake and committing it to muscle memory, which can be incredibly hard to unlearn.

Wormwood

glug

Thanks guys,

Ill keep practising

beardedmoose

This helped me a alot... Laugh all you want but it works a charm..

Some Serious Content...

It may not seem very rock and roll to have to think about doing warm up exercises before playing your guitar, but it's something you should really think about making part of your guitar playing routine.

Finger exercises done before you start playing, enable you to play better, faster and more precisely. They can also help to prevent injuries to the hands such as cramps and more troublesome bouts of tendinitis. These types of guitar exercises also help to maintain callouses which offer good protection to the finger tips.

three options for finger exercises include:

The O Stretch

For this you need your palm facing upwards and then you need to make an O shape with your thumb and index finger. Hold the shape for a few seconds then release and relax your fingers. Repeat with each finger in turn, making sure to move only the fingers, not the hand. Take it slowly to begin with, gradually building up speed as you become more proficient at this exercise.

Tennis Ball Squeeze

As the name suggests, you're going to need a tennis ball for this guitar exercise!

Place the tennis ball in the palm of your upturned hand and slowly squeeze. This is going to be pretty hard to start with so just keep practising, every day, doing 8 to 10 squeezes on each hand. This will help to develop strength and flexibility in your hands.

Finger Flexes

This is a quick and easy stretching exercise that just requires a flat surface to rest your hands on.

Place your hands, palm down, on a table. Stretch your fingers out in a fan shape then bring them back together again. Repeat this exercise about 6 times. Then lift and lower your fingers one at a time, repeat 6 times. Then relax your hands and give them a really good shake out.

:goodtimes:

Stoffeltoo

beardedmoose wrote: This helped me a alot... Laugh all you want but it works a charm..

Some Serious Content...

It may not seem very rock and roll to have to think about doing warm up exercises before playing your guitar, but it's something you should really think about making part of your guitar playing routine.

Finger exercises done before you start playing, enable you to play better, faster and more precisely. They can also help to prevent injuries to the hands such as cramps and more troublesome bouts of tendinitis. These types of guitar exercises also help to maintain callouses which offer good protection to the finger tips.

three options for finger exercises include:

The O Stretch

For this you need your palm facing upwards and then you need to make an O shape with your thumb and index finger. Hold the shape for a few seconds then release and relax your fingers. Repeat with each finger in turn, making sure to move only the fingers, not the hand. Take it slowly to begin with, gradually building up speed as you become more proficient at this exercise.

Tennis Ball Squeeze

As the name suggests, you're going to need a tennis ball for this guitar exercise!

Place the tennis ball in the palm of your upturned hand and slowly squeeze. This is going to be pretty hard to start with so just keep practising, every day, doing 8 to 10 squeezes on each hand. This will help to develop strength and flexibility in your hands.

Finger Flexes

This is a quick and easy stretching exercise that just requires a flat surface to rest your hands on.

Place your hands, palm down, on a table. Stretch your fingers out in a fan shape then bring them back together again. Repeat this exercise about 6 times. Then lift and lower your fingers one at a time, repeat 6 times. Then relax your hands and give them a really good shake out.

:goodtimes:

Thanks Moose

High \ IIII +1
CD