4th finger strength/ dexterity exercises w/o injury ?

[Boomslang]

Any "pearls", relative to increasing the strength and fluidity of the pinky in application? I'm really not happy with the clarity of sound I'm getting, and relative dexterity. I really don't like to shift to 2nd position, (etc), unless that is really where I should be. Never formally trained- I use my pinky on the high C of a C scale, (for example); that normal for most?? I attempt use my pinky, just as if it was another finger on my fretting hand....just seems right ergo and economically, albeit, a challange at times. Feedback please.
Boomslang-

[JeffD]

I find it doesn't work to treat the pinky just like another finger. Because it doesn't seem to have the freedom of motion or independent strength of the other fingers. And I really don't think, in my case, it ever will.

But I have had great success considering the pinky a pet of the ring finger. When I want to deploy the pinky to the seventh fret on the E string, for example, I send the ring finger to the fifth fret, and land it there, while I put the pinky down on the seventh. I get the ring finger into the vicinity and the pinky a step or two away.

I find it works out real real well in most situations to do something similar to the above.

[Toycona]

I can spell pinky strength in 4 letters...FFcP. Check it out on jazz mando.com.

[yankees1]

E-mail Pete Martin at petimarpress.com or look at his free videos. He can tell you exactly what you need to know to improve the pinkie strength !

[bratsche]

There are plenty of things you can do while you're going about your life (away from the instrument) to strengthen the pinkie finger and increase its independence. Tap each of your your fingers in succession while your hand is resting on the desk (or the steering wheel, or... whatever's nearby). Do this starting from a position hovering an inch or so above the surface, then try it starting with them all touching down (this one will likely have your ring finger working the hardest. Try to get all your fingers to make a resounding "plunk" when they hit the surface, or at least an audible sound. Try to make your pinky and ring finger move independently from one another. It will take work, but you will see improvement if you persevere at it.

There will always be some lesser ability of the pinkie finger due to it being so much shorter and thinner than the rest. No getting around that, I suppose. To put a positive spin on it, though, I like to think of my little finger not as weak, but as strong for its size. But not having all my fingers working when or where I need them to would be a definite handicap in my playing.

bratsche

[Pete Martin]

It REALLY helps to get a good left hand position when using the pinkie. Here are some videos of ergonomics of the left hand. Specifically view 4a, 4b (the left hand) and 5a, 5b and 5c (the pinkie).


http://www.petimarpress.com/mandolin...%20videos.html

I have a set of exercises I give folks for development of the pinkie (they are my daily left hand warm up). Email me for a PDF of this.

[JeffD]

It REALLY helps to get a good left hand position when using the pinkie. .

Yes. A lot of sub-optimal left hand positions show up as pinkie problems. In my case anyway.

[Tobin]

Any "pearls", relative to increasing the strength and fluidity of the pinky in application?

Sorry to dredge up a thread that's been dead for seven weeks, but I wanted to mention this. Sometimes I get bored with playing "exercises", or trying to move tunes into different closed-position keys just for the sake of working on my pinky. Unfortunately, a lot of what I typically play doesn't have enough pinky work to keep it strong (but just enough to need it to be), and I don't necessarily want the hassle of working on my pinky just for the sake of working on my pinky.

So what I've been doing lately is picking tunes that I enjoy playing, and taking my index finger out of the equation. Basically, moving all my fingers up one position. First and second frets are played with my middle finger, third and fourth frets are played with my ring finger, and fifth and sixth frets are played with my pinky. This obviously works best on typical first-position tunes that only go to the fifth or sixth fret. But it's a pretty simple and easy way to get the pinky into action, making it work at least as hard as the ring finger typically does. It's quite effective.

[tree]

Pick some tunes in B chord. "Rebecca" will give your pinky a proper workout.

[Canoedad]

If you like Natalie Merchant or the 10,000 Maniacs, here's a very nice song to get some pinky exercise.

Motherland .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRVh6NoC54U

And the mandolin break is fun to get after too.

[Pasha Alden]

At Jeff, agree, my pinkie seems rather sluggish without the ring finger. However, I think it becomes a bit tougher when the ring finger has to be doing duty on another place. Working frantically on a three finger chord of c# minor. My pinkie can go the distance but my ring finger is stronger. I think I am going to put my ring in third and then bring the pinkie to fret four maybe then it will work!

[bmac]

I would ask two questions regarding the fourth finger lack of strength...

Is your mando set up properly? If not the nut is most likely too high demanding a lot more pressure than normal for playing... A well set up mando should not take much pressure to get a clean note on the E strings. But a poorly set up mando will take a lot of pressure to get clean notes, particularly on the first fret.

Another problem is that so few folks use their hands much in this society that the little finger of the left hand may simply be weak through lack of vigorous use... Time should take care of that with regular playing... It may be simply that you have not played enough and regularly to have built up enough strength. I don't remember ever having a finger strength problem but I have used my hands probably more than most folks all my life. In my opinion this problem will self-correct in time.

In my opinion the worst thing you can do (playing-wise) is to favor the third finger and ignore the fourth. Unless your middle name is Django.

[Amanda Gregg]

I know a few really brutal pinky exercises. Here's a good one: think of a tune that you play with your first, second, and third fingers exclusively (Angelina Baker, perhaps?). Leave your first finger out and play it with your second, third, and fourth fingers instead. Play slow, stop when it hurts. Fantastic. Huge payoff. I don't do this nearly enough.

[AlanN]

I know a few really brutal pinky exercises. Here's a good one: think of a tune that you play with your first, second, and third fingers exclusively (Angelina Baker, perhaps?). Leave your first finger out and play it with your second, third, and fourth fingers instead. Play slow, stop when it hurts. Fantastic. Huge payoff. I don't do this nearly enough.

This is a good thing to do for pinky work, also what tree said, pick some in B chord. And some chromatic runs using all 4 fingers helps, see this LP for Picky Ricky licks along these lines

Ricky Skaggs ‎– That's It
Label:Rebel Records ‎– REB-1550

[JeffD]

So what I've been doing lately is picking tunes that I enjoy playing, and taking my index finger out of the equation. Basically, moving all my fingers up one position. First and second frets are played with my middle finger, third and fourth frets are played with my ring finger, and fifth and sixth frets are played with my pinky. This obviously works best on typical first-position tunes that only go to the fifth or sixth fret. But it's a pretty simple and easy way to get the pinky into action, making it work at least as hard as the ring finger typically does. It's quite effective.

I had to do that once for a while due to a finger tip injury. Its really a good idea.

[Rockyjohnstone]

Pete, I spent some time watching your videos of ergonomics of the left hand. Very helpful. In particular, the part about using the natural ability for the index finger to stretch back towards the nut without too much effort, resulting in better 4th finger placement.

I practiced this quite a bit over the past few days and found that by moving the instrument a little to the left, I'm able to maximize this concept and keep the wrist/hand geometry straight. In other words, not flattening or pancaking the wrist to stretch the index finger back. This indeed helps my 4th finger achieve the appropriate "curl" and will improve dexterity. Great advice, thanks!

[JRcohan]

The above video shows an exercise I use to help in building and maintaining pinky strength. Pete Martin's technique videos are great places to start. Using your pinky in the playing of tunes is great as well, ie. FFcP of Jazzmando, or even in traditional tunes.

For people looking for a warm-up with a focused pinky workout, I found this exercise very helpful when I ran across it in an old Jethro Burns instructional book. Still use it today.

[AlanN]

Thanks for that. Mention of The Legendary One got me to find this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnop8...layer_embedded

[John Flynn]

I'm one of those people who is too ADD to do much in the way of "exercises." I like to PLAY. The thing that really got my pinky going was playing octave mandolin. Mine has nearly at 23" scale and it forced me to use my pinky. When I first got my OM, I was like a kid with a new toy and I played it almost exclusively for a couple of months. What surprised me was that when I got back to playing regular mandolin, my pinky was just THERE going for notes that formerly I would have stretched my ring finger out to get. It was like whole new finger!

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Play all your favorite D tunes in Eb...

That Homer+Jethro video is spot on! Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks,
Baron

[JonZ]

If you follow the 80/20 rule, spending 80% of your time on the 20% of a tune that is hardest, you will find yourself giving your pinky a lot of exercise. Eventually it will catch up to the rest of your digits, and you will know a lot of tunes. Just check your technique and go ahead.

Of course, you have to play tunes that involve the pinky.

[Mike Bunting]

I'm one of those people who is too ADD to do much in the way of "exercises." I like to PLAY. The thing that really got my pinky going was playing octave mandolin. Mine has nearly at 23" scale and it forced me to use my pinky. When I first got my OM, I was like a kid with a new toy and I played it almost exclusively for a couple of months. What surprised me was that when I got back to playing regular mandolin, my pinky was just THERE going for notes that formerly I would have stretched my ring finger out to get. It was like whole new finger!

ADD? OCD perhaps.

[Jamie S]

I find myself more and more trying to incorporate my pinky into my general play. So, for instance, if I am playing scales I will do a couple of extra notes to play a 6th or 7th fret to use that finger. Also, if I am strumming - say a simple two-finger C, D and G chord I will throw in a couple of fifth fret strums on the upstroke using my pinky just to give extra rhythm and to get it used to stretching whilst keeping the third finger on the fret. It's helping.