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Thread: Flying Fingers

  1. #1
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    Hi All!
    Believing that good technique leads to better playing, I've been concentrating lately on keeping my fingers closer to the fretboard while playing. I'm getting better, but I can't get control over my pinky.

    Especially on descending runs, if that little bugger isn't firmly planted on a string it'll stand out straight like I'm drinking tea from fine English china. It seems like there's nothing I can do to prevent it.

    Any suggestions of where I can look in my technique (grip, maybe?) to figure out what's happening? Any exercises that will help me get control of the little guy? (while writing this I thought of one - fret the e string at the 7th fret with my pinky, and do descending three note runs with the other fingers on another string - think it'll help?)


    Thanks!

    c~
    Carl

    "Facts are useless in emergencies..."

  2. #2
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    I wouldn't worry all that much about it. Both my favorite bluegrass player (Adam Steffy) and my favorite old-time player (Curtis Buckhannon) don't really use thier pinkies at all. And despite all the preaching you see about generally keeping the fingers down, you see that some of the other great players out there have thier fingers flying all over the place when they really get cranked up.




  3. #3
    8 Fingers, 2 Thumbs Ken Sager's Avatar
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    Are you concerned about how it looks, or what it might be doing to slow you down? If it's looks alone, I'd say don't worry about it. If you think the unnecessary motion and distance is wasting energy and creating more work for your pinky to fret its next note, then work at practicing s-l-o-w-l-y and deliberately moving your fingers only when necessary. The simplest exercises are chromatic 4 finger 4 fret runs where you simply leave fingers where they are until needed on the next string. Like this:
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    Less talk, more pick.

  4. #4
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    If you want to see an interesting combination of flying fingers AND economy of motion watch Ronnie McCoury. Beautiful
    changes playing leads and double stop melody where all his fingers are just off the strings and then he'll rip into a Monroe style and his pinky is flyn all over. Go figure.
    Ken's method above is similar to the Alonzo scale method. They work.

  5. #5
    Chief Moderator/Shepherd Ted Eschliman's Avatar
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    If your intent is to play a lot of open strings, pull-offs, and hammer-ons, let your pinky go wild.
    Play with no fear. Play without wearing pants...
    If you want to play styles that demand a degree of disciplined chromatic sophistication, your concern is inarguably valid. Closed fingering positions demand a stable, stealth pinky.
    And it takes some training. Check this out:
    Lydian DUDU.
    Ted Eschliman

    Author, Getting Into Jazz Mandolin

  6. #6
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    I'm not really concerned about how it looks (actually I think it looks kind of cool - like I'm really doing something) but it seems kind of inefficient.

    As a raw beginner I play a lot of open strings; but when I need that 7th fret, about half the time my pinky is AWOL - either poking up toward the ceiling or somehow tucked in under my ring finger.

    Thanks for the scale exercise, Ken. I remember seeing something similar for guitar players - real knuckle busters! Masochist that I am, I'll give it a try.

    And by the way Ted, your FFcP system (and the rest of the JazzMando site) has done as much for my understanding of the mando fretboard as anything I've ever seen. Forgive me for hijacking my own thread, but I just wanted to say Thanks!

    c~
    Carl

    "Facts are useless in emergencies..."

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    I have been playing a mere three years (nearly) and I am just now really working hard on that pinky. #For the last couple of months I have been playing simple melodies like Amazing Grace between the 5th and 10th frets. #Through heavy labor, I have started to break that connection between my pinky and ring finger. #I think for most of us those two ten to move together, as when gripping a baseball bat or a glass of iced tea. #But as with your experience, the pinky seems to be unable to play well with its other three friends and flies way off the fret board while the other three fingers tend to stay about where they ought to be. #Moral of the story is hard work, hard work, and more hard work and that pinky will eventually get as good as it can be. #You can only do your best, so we'll all have to hang in there for another 10 or 20 years

  8. #8
    Registered User Joe F's Avatar
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    I have the opposite problem: when my pinky isn't pressing down on a string, it tends to curl back against my palm. #That really slows me down on tunes where the 7th fret B note is used a lot. #Similarly, I've been told many times that the pinky should remain planted on the G-string D note (7th fret) when switching between the D and G bluegrass chop chords, but as much as I've tried it, my pinky simply won't stay put.

  9. #9
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    Not to worry. On my instruction tape by Sam Bush,his first number is Blackberry Blossom,played at speed. He insists that you should use the pinky conscientiously to get control of it,and he does. When not fretting at seven,his pinky is cocked completely back like a pistol hammer. When the time comes,it lances out like a frog nailing a bug and right back again. He does OK with it.
    Jim

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