Playing with three fingers

[Capt. E]

My pinky are long enough but bend in towards the ring finger. This makes the four finger chop very difficult for me. As a result I mainly play with three fingers, not that my pinky isn't ever used). Things improved when I found books using two and three finger chords (Jethro Burns especially). I understand he never really liked the sound of that 4 finger chop.

[Ranald]

I'm not a bluegrasser, and can't comment on Jethro's style, apart from saying that I like it. However, my left-hand has limitations due partly to a plate in my wrist that generally makes it impossible for me to either barre effectively or make four-finger chords. You'll find that many at the Cafe have similar issues -- there are many old-timers among us. I found that using a finger exerciser from D'Addario helped me build pinky strength and precision, but only to a point. T'other day, I heard a scientist on the radio, explain that left-handers are much better with their right hands than right-handers are with their left. He pointed out that right-handers playing string instruments have a more complex job with their left-hand activities. However, the right hand is doing more precise work, keeping rhythm, so there's a reason for the way we use our less coordinated hand. Other than practicing and exercising fingers, I think you just have to play the hand you've been dealt, so to speak. I don't know how important four-finger chords are to your style of music, but many blues mandolinists get by with mainly two-finger "chords".

[Simon DS]

I liked using the pinky on my octave mandolin but have now found that it’s much easier to just use three fingers and do loads of slide exercises.

-try playing a jig on just one string while alternating fingers (to prevent too much damage). Then work up the tempo. I found it really helps with fluidity.
Releasing pressure accurately while sliding takes a while but there are real benefits.

[OldSausage]

A lot of people play perfectly wonderful mandolin and barely or never use their pinkies. Look at Adam Steffey, has some of the best bluegrass tone in the business, and his pinkie rarely gets near the fretboard. Obviously, you have more choice and flexibility if you can use your pinky, but no reason to sweat over it if you can't.

[FLATROCK HILL]

A lot of people play perfectly wonderful mandolin and barely or never use their pinkies. Look at Adam Steffey, has some of the best bluegrass tone in the business, and his pinkie rarely gets near the fretboard. Obviously, you have more choice and flexibility if you can use your pinky, but no reason to sweat over it if you can't.

Yes, as you say "some of the best bluegrass tone in the business and his pinkie rarely gets near the fretboard."

Kind of weird though. I've read dozens of discussions about Adam Steffey and his notorious pinkie... and it was always the other one. And he get's plenty of use out of it!

[pops1]

You can do a great 3 finger chop by fretting for a G chop- G string at the 4th fret, D string at the 5th fret, A string at the 2ond fret, and mute the E string. It's an easy mute and I like this chop better. I rarely use chop chords, but when I do I use this one, 452X.

[Zach Wilson]

Even in the more 'bluegrass-y' jam I used to attend (pre shutdown) I got by with using 2 and 3 finger chop chords, which I prefer.

I like this G chord: 755x

[Capt. E]

Thanks for the responses. I do use my pinky often, just not for those distant stretches. Three strings work fine. I do recommend the various Jethro Burns books. I have learned much from them. Last time I counted, I had about 16 mandolin books by various authors...not just bluegrass by any means. No substitute for a good teacher, listening to alot of recordings and practice practice practice.

[Bill McCall]

Django got by with 2 useable fingers on the 6 courses of a guitar.

If you can make 3 fingers work, great.

Btw, Adam Steffey uses his pinkie occasionally, but his hand is a match for Mike Marshall’s, ie, large.

[Old Dog Dave]

Thanks to all for this very encouraging exchange on three-finger chords. My left-hand pinkie is a full "knuckle-to-tip" shorter than my ring finger (same on the right hand) and I struggle with a four-finger chord, at least in first position. Further down the fretboard I can use it somewhat cleanly, though it is still a struggle. I've been doing some of the things recommended here, but it is comforting to know I am not by myself on this conundrum!! I guess I can forget about getting a finger stretcher now. (Reminds me of when I was in basic training in the Army and my platoon leader sent me to the Supply Room to get a helmet stretcher; I got some odd looks, followed by a rousing round of guffaws on that one!!)

[mbruno]

I'd suggest studying double stops as much as you can. If you haven't really looked into them before, they are a great way to move around the fretboard and offer lots of voicings for 2 finger chords. Aside from helping reduce the number of fingers used for chords for your specific issue - they also are great for comping in a big group and changing the timbre of chords (for example playing the G chord as 7 5 x x or 7 5 5 x instead of x x 2 3)

I put together a workshop for the California Bluegrass Association's South State 48 this year on the topic - went over really well. Feel free to check it out here https://mattcbruno.com/basic-double-stops/.

[Ranald]

Django got by with 2 useable fingers on the 6 courses of a guitar.

If you can make 3 fingers work, great.

One difference between Django and me though is that he was a musical genius and I'm not.

[Bill McCall]

One difference between Django and me though is that he was a musical genius and I'm not.

I resemble that remark.

[Simon DS]

One difference between Django and me though is that he was a musical genius and I'm not.

-though, Ranald, I’d rather listen to you playing!

[Fretbear]

Not looking at pictures of Sammy's fingers helps too...

[Dagger Gordon]

I don't play bluegrass and don't use chop chords.

For most of the tunes you might play in a Irish or Scottish session, you can easily get by not using your pinky.
For this reason, I like to practise tunes in F and other flat keys which usually DO work better if you use the pinky, and it helps build strength as well as widening your range and abilities.

[John Kelly]

As a guitar player first I have used my pinky since my early days of playing, and find this has been of great use on the mandolin. Like Dagger I am not a chop chord nor Bluegrass player but do play a lot of fiddle tunes and many of them are in F or Bb and I like playing them in those keys - it saves having to transpose the notation and gives the brain and the fingers a good workout.

[dhergert]

My pinky are long enough but bend in towards the ring finger. This makes the four finger chop very difficult for me. As a result I mainly play with three fingers, not that my pinky isn't ever used). Things improved when I found books using two and three finger chords (Jethro Burns especially). I understand he never really liked the sound of that 4 finger chop.

I use 3 finger chords just about all the time, mostly an index barre over courses 1, 2 and 3, with the middle and ring fingers alternating back and forth, covering the chord notes not provided by the barre. Then I'll walk all the way over to the 4th course and up into the high range with the little finger for picking out the melody notes as needed. This whole barre-based formation climbs up and down the neck to reach different octaves and to provide a foundation for moving into any key.

The barre concept is very similar to box or closed chord work up and down the neck, but means that the index finger doesn't have to move around quite as much as with box or closed chord work because the index finger is covering 3 courses instead of only one. What barre work does require is building up sufficient strength in the index finger to cover the first 3 courses, aided by sufficiently low action that makes barre work reasonable.

Conceptually this requires looking carefully at each chord pattern and figuring out where the index barre provides the most handy foundation for the middle and ring fingers as they form the rest of the 3-finger chord, which most of the time is simply the physically lowest position on the neck that needs to be covered for the chord.

Doing a 3-finger chord pattern everywhere up and down the neck makes the notes for that chord available for picking out melody and for double and triple stops. I primarily develop chord melodies using this technique.

The only area where this doesn't work as well all the time is above the 14th fret, where it can become difficult to fit an index barre and the middle and ring fingers between tight frets in order to form the full chord pattern. Often I'll use a closed chord pattern above the 14th fret instead, or just cover required courses as needed in order to pick out melody or harmony notes.

I do also always use a non-standard tuning which for me makes barre chord work easier because it forms the exact triad involved with each 3-note chord (this tuning is explained in the "About how I tune my mandolins" link in my signature), but the concept works just as well for standard and other tunings too. It just requires examining each chord pattern to decide where the barre is most conveniently positioned over the length of the fingerboard.