| hey ya weirdo,
I'm pretty new around here as well,
I can't help with the slapping but I can give some advice about the pinky finger...
first, it helps regardless of what style you are playing to find a classical guitar or bass teacher to show you some tips and excersises in a "Classical" position...
I never worry about position while I play, but having a good sense of a "classical position" does several good things for your playing,
one thing you want to do, which is tough, is stop holding your fret hand elbow in the side of your rib cage like most beginners do.
get your elbow out awar from your body and it changes the angle of your fingers against the frets, lining them up with the frets instead of being at a 45 degree angle...
and the biggest single thing I do to help out my little finger is I position my fretting hand as if my pinky is the Number One finger.
Even if I do not use the pinky in that lick, I still position my hand like the pinky is the first and main finger.
Here is the reason: If I position my hand to the index finger, and I want to use my pinky, it has to make a huge "leap" to get to it's fret.
But if I position my hand with my pinky at the 4th fret of a pattern, the index and middle fingers can still easily play the 1st and 2nd fret of the pattern.
I can even reach back down another fret or two, much easier and quicker with my big fingers then I can stretch up with the small finger.
Last edited by Cy_Miles : 02-21-2008 at 03:10 PM.
Reason: mispelled wurds
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