Bad Habit. Doubled Up Pinky and Ring Finger on LEft Hand. Any way to break this?

[Get_da_funk_Out]

I play both bass and guitar. With guitar I play lots of power chords in which I will double up my fretting hand fingers, namely my pinky and ring finger. I notice when i'm playing bass that I tend to keep these two fingers together a major part of the time and I feel it slows me down in my playing. How can I break this habit? Any suggestions of patterns to practice? Thanks for any replies.

[TrevorOfDoom]

just do it.
i run several exercises that emphasise individual fingers.
start with your pointer at the second fret and walk up to the 5th fret using all the fingers of your hands without changing hand position.
do this on the E, then the A, then the D, then the G, then reverse it. now slide your hand up so the pointer is on the 3rd fret, repeat exercise.
do this until you hit the 14th fret with your pointer.
as an added bonus, do this with your metronome at 70bpm.

[ishouldbeking]

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

just do it.
i run several exercises that emphasise individual fingers.
start with your pointer at the second fret and walk up to the 5th fret using all the fingers of your hands without changing hand position.
do this on the E, then the A, then the D, then the G, then reverse it. now slide your hand up so the pointer is on the 3rd fret, repeat exercise.
do this until you hit the 14th fret with your pointer.
as an added bonus, do this with your metronome at 70bpm.

and beyond that I'd say mixing up the pattern is a good idea too, so you don't develop the habit of only moving your pinky immediately after you moved your ring finger. also do similar exercisce patterns using one of these "orders": index-ring-middle-pinky; middle-pinky-index-ring; or even start with the pinky to put an extra emphasis on it, pinky-index-ring-middle... just make up your own patterns, run them a lot and keep it varied until your pinky seems like any one of your other fingers.

[mambo4]

I agree practicing 1234 fingering is the way to learn it. But what you are doing may not be a "bad habit"*

using a 124 fingering, with the pinky and ring finger acting as a unit, is actually pretty common, especially in the lower 5 frets. or for bassist with smaller hands. I'd say switching back and forth is even more common, which is what I do.

Is using 1234 more efficient? mmm possibly. Is it faster? possibly. But my experience (mostly pop/rock) has been that it's neither faster or more efficient enough to matter to my playing.



*Unless your pinky and ring are actually barring the frets, flat against the fingerboard. Keeping a nice curve in your fretting fingers is more desirable.

[UncleFluffy]

If you want to change a habit like that, slow everything down until you can get it right every time, then speed up 10% and try again. Rinse and repeat...

[seventhson]

Originally Posted by Get_da_funk_Out

I play both bass and guitar. With guitar I play lots of power chords in which I will double up my fretting hand fingers, namely my pinky and ring finger. I notice when i'm playing bass that I tend to keep these two fingers together a major part of the time and I feel it slows me down in my playing. How can I break this habit? Any suggestions of patterns to practice? Thanks for any replies.

nothing wrong with doing that. in fact, i believe that's the proper technique for double bass. i do it all the time. yes, i mostly use 1,2,3,4 in my fingering, but i'll double my ring and pinkie occasionally. it's all about comfort.

see posts above mine for learning 1,2,3,4 fingering.

[Stanley Design]

I only use my ring finger when my pinky is busy/getting ready for another note. I rarely ever use it.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by mambo4

I agree practicing 1234 fingering is the way to learn it. But what you are doing may not be a "bad habit"*

using a 124 fingering, with the pinky and ring finger acting as a unit, is actually pretty common, especially in the lower 5 frets. or for bassist with smaller hands. I'd say switching back and forth is even more common, which is what I do.

Is using 1234 more efficient? mmm possibly. Is it faster? possibly. But my experience (mostly pop/rock) has been that it's neither faster or more efficient enough to matter to my playing.

*Unless your pinky and ring are actually barring the frets, flat against the fingerboard. Keeping a nice curve in your fretting fingers is more desirable.

Agreed. you have what is natural for the hand so either embrace and enhace it or fight it.
You have what is part of a Simandl technique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Simandl

it's neither faster or more efficient enough to matter to my playing.

Again agreed, its application is personal, if you have no real need for total finger independance, then don't develop it.

[TrevorOfDoom]

the only thing else i'll say is that learning 1234 fingering helped (helps?) greatly when picking up fretless, IMO