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Ring finger and pinky independence
The Finger Duos Speed Challenge caused us to see how well our ring and pinky fingers can work. I noticed both @jimp and @Calvino mentioned needing to work on their ring and pinky finger strength and independence.
My small win is I can do this exercise with my ring and pinky fingers way better than I used to be able to do. The reason is because I have used other warm ups that focus specifically on your pinky.
One warm up is to do the same basic arrangement playing one string at a time and working down, but go between the index and pinky, then middle and pinky, then ring and pinky.
Another is “trilling”. Basically, this is repeated hammer ons. Fret the high E string with your index, then hammer on with your middle as fast as you can multiple times, as long as you can get sound. Then do it with your ring, and finally with your pinky. Then, use your middle finger to hold the string and do this again with your ring and pinky. Finally, the killer; use your ring to hold the string while you “trill” with your pinky. That will develop independence between your ring and pinky like nothing else. Oh, and be careful. You can tire out you hand very easily with this exercise. Don’t over do it.
MG 😀
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8 Replies
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Mike- Thanks- (I think!😜)
Gonna give them a try.
Mark J
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You’re welcome @Mark. Please let me know how it goes. It didn’t take long for me to see some benefit when I first started. But it has been awhile now and I had stopped doing these exercises regularly as my hand needed a break. But I have much better finger control. This lesson reminded me I need to start doing these again but not over do it.
MG 😊
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That is a really great idea about the trilling. (Auto correct wants me to type drilling – now that would be a different tip entirely!). I’m going to build that into my daily routine so thanks for sharing.
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@Moonhare, I am happy to help. In this case, I consider it giving back as your video post has inspired me very much.
MG 😊
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Hi guys. I am a total newby with guitar and am 60 years old.
I am doing the 30 days to play course and am having trouble with my ring and pinky finger. The pinky will always get in the way and will not be inderpendent no matter how hard I try to concentrate. Any advise on exercises I could do would be much appreciated. Hope it’s no bother asking here.
Warm regards River Jordan from down under🙂
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Hello @riverjordan_61 , I assume you read the original post which describes 2 different exercises in detail. These exercises use the guitar. There is another exercise that I started with. You put your hand(s) flat on a table and lift each finger one at a time. Index, middle, ring, then pinky. Do them in different orders. Try doing them in pairs, especially the index-ring and middle-pinky. This is the best exercise I have heard of to start developing finger independence. It helped me a lot at the beginning. I did it every day for quite a while.
MG 😀
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Thanks for the tip MG🤗
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👍
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