"Cup of Tea" Pinkie.....

[Essthreetee]

Is there anything I can do to work on getting rid of my "Cup of Tea" pinkie? You know what I mean...when I fret (mostly with my ring finger) my pinkie sticks straight out...It seems that my hand is always in some sort of tension because of this...are there any drills/ideas that might help me work on this? I was thinking about taping it to my ring finger (like you would when you jam/sprain a finger)...but I don't know if that would help muscle memory or not...

anyone have any better ideas???

Or should I just ignore it...

[Kyon`]

I don't really know any techniques you can use honestly because I just got into the habit of fretting with my pinkie. But I would imagine try octaves with index pinky, middle, ring and then play around with differing patterns of that. Also try your scales with the just the index - pinkie, ring - pinkie, middle - pinkie.

Also exercises you can try is laying your hand flat down on the table and trying to lift only two fingers without moving the others. Try this with your pinkie a lot with differing combos until you control it very fast without the other fingers moving.

[Essthreetee]

I do fret with my pinkie...I work on permutations, spiders, etc, etc...but I am just wondering about getting my pinkie to stay closer to the fretboard when it is not fretting....

[PaleMelanesian]

Same problem here. I use my pinkie regularly, but when it's not actually fretting a note, up it goes. Looking for advice on this myself.

[Essthreetee]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

Same problem here. I use my pinkie regularly, but when it's not actually fretting a note, up it goes. Looking for advice on this myself.

Well...glad to hear I am not the only one...

[onlyclave]

Stop using your 3rd finger and switch to 1-2-4 fingering. Problem solved.

[PaleMelanesian]

errr... not really.

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

I use my pinkie regularly, but when it's not actually fretting a note, up it goes.

[JackANSI]

Only thing like that for me was the inability to use my pinky. When I moved my ring finger, my pinky went with it. I could not control it seperately. Thankfully there was hardly any strength in my pinky so it didn't make a difference when playing.

Go to your doctor and explain what it is happening and what you want to happen. Mine hooked me up with a physical therapist that came up with tailored exercises and most importantly a retraining plan, with goals, to determine whats working and whats not.

6 months later, my head and arm were 'rewired' (thanks to the retraining) and I can fully bend each finger independantly from about 3-5 degree back to fully closed without having to concentrate on what finger I want to move and what ones I don't. It just happens now.

My insurance covered this too. (Total cost about $5K)

[Essthreetee]

Originally Posted by JackANSI

Only thing like that for me was the inability to use my pinky. When I moved my ring finger, my pinky went with it. I could not control it seperately. Thankfully there was hardly any strength in my pinky so it didn't make a difference when playing.

Go to your doctor and explain what it is happening and what you want to happen. Mine hooked me up with a physical therapist that came up with tailored exercises and most importantly a retraining plan, with goals, to determine whats working and whats not.

6 months later, my head and arm are rewired (thanks to the retraining) and I can fully bend each finger independantly from about 3-5 degree back to fully closed without having to concentrate on what finger I want to move and what ones I don't. It just happens now.

My insurance covered this too. (Total cost about $5K)

$5k + 6 months of physical therapy = not in my future.

I can move my fingers independently. The issue I am having is when I am not actually using my pinkie to fret a note (it actually sticks out and points at the audience). I can keep it down (when I think about it) when fretting with my index finger...it becomes a little tougher when fretting with my middle finger ( I REALLY have to think about it) and next to impossible when fretting with my ring finger (I can do it, but it takes a couple of seconds to get it back down).

[Jim Campbell]

a guitar guy showed me an exercise where you place your fretting hand over the strings,one per fret where you dont have to stretch and practice
pressing down one while keeping the others at the same height,raising it while pressing another.same deal pressing pinkie/middle finger pair simultaneously while maintaining index/ring pair height.......try to press one pair as you raise the other while maintaining height......works on desk tops too where the thumb can be added for variety.....

[JackANSI]

Essthreetee,

Does your hand do it when you type?

The physical therapist said that I was reinforcing my bad habit with the way I learned to type. Had a Commodore-64 before I was in 1st grade and learned to type (with more than two fingers) by the age of 7. Lots of time to learn the wrong way on how to use my fingers (3 fingers, no pinkies). I always assumed the reason I picked up bass so easy was because I could type fairly well and always looked at it being a very similar action to playing... here it was teaching me the wrong way

When I remember how I used to type, I used to tuck my pinky up out of the way when my ring finger was reaching for a key. I could see how lifting and pointing your pinky out of the way would make it easier to type as well.

[Essthreetee]

Well I am typing this trying not to think about it too much...but yes it appears that they rise up as I use the other fingers. They go to the correct place when it is their turn to be used (same as when I play) but when it is not their turn, they do sort of rise up out of the way a little. it is not as extreme as when I am playing, but maybe that is due to the amount of pressure being applied by the other fingers

My dad was a keyboarding teacher...so I can type fairly well...and have been able to for a long time...he was also a coach and nothing was ever done the wrong way...which is maybe why I am trying to figure out if I can fiz my pinkie....

Commodore-64....WOW...theres something you don't talk about everyday...as I type on my Mac...I think back to the very first Macintosh that my parents bought....

Originally Posted by JackANSI

Essthreetee,

Does your hand do it when you type?

The physical therapist said that I was reinforcing my bad habit with the way I learned to type. Had a Commodore-64 before I was in 1st grade and learned to type (with more than two fingers) by the age of 7. Lots of time to learn the wrong way on how to use my fingers (3 fingers, no pinkies).

When I remember how I used to type, I used to tuck my pinky up out of the way when my ring finger was reaching for a key.

[PaleMelanesian]

Ha! I sometimes do it when I type, and more on the left than on the right.

I mouse left-handed, and it's standing at attention right there. I'll work on that.

Thanks.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by Essthreetee

The issue I am having is when I am not actually using my pinkie to fret a note (it actually sticks out and points at the audience). I can keep it down (when I think about it) when fretting with my index finger...it becomes a little tougher when fretting with my middle finger ( I REALLY have to think about it) and next to impossible when fretting with my ring finger (I can do it, but it takes a couple of seconds to get it back down).

Where is your thumb positioned? Is it wrapped around the neck or is the fleshy pad of the thumb on the back of the neck?

[Jim Carr]

Our fingers are under conscious control. However, if you move your attention away from a finger, it will go back to it's accustomed attitude until ordered elsewhere.

Solution:
Practice. Focus only on things that make it stick out, and simply don't let it. Make your pinkie the focus of your work for a week, you will retrain it. BTW, it should stay curved and fairly close to the fingerboard.

There are a lot of one finger per fret patterns that will exercise your pinkie (4th finger). Find some and use them, slowly and with the focus on your 4th finger at all times.

[Fergie Fulton]

http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/PICT0005.jpg

http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/PICT0001.jpg

Try holding a small coin in your small finger while you practice as shown in the links and your problems will ease if not cured. All your doing is giving your little finger a task while it is not being used. You can use the same technique in your other hand to help improve your picking hand. Its a bit more involved but this is the just of it, see how you get own, any question drop me a line.

[Would'e?]

My pinky does the opposite. When I'm not fretting it tucks itself BEHIND the neck, curled toward my palm. This is actually its natural position when my hand is completely relaxed.

[Mazatleco17]

Originally Posted by Essthreetee

Well...glad to hear I am not the only one...

Same here, I use my pinky all the time but I have the same issue.

[Essthreetee]

Originally Posted by Febs

Where is your thumb positioned? Is it wrapped around the neck or is the fleshy pad of the thumb on the back of the neck?

The second one...I keep my thumb in the middle of the back of the neck.

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

Our fingers are under conscious control. However, if you move your attention away from a finger, it will go back to it's accustomed attitude until ordered elsewhere.

Solution:
Practice. Focus only on things that make it stick out, and simply don't let it. Make your pinkie the focus of your work for a week, you will retrain it. BTW, it should stay curved and fairly close to the fingerboard.

There are a lot of one finger per fret patterns that will exercise your pinkie (4th finger). Find some and use them, slowly and with the focus on your 4th finger at all times.

I will be working on this...thanks.

[Disraeli Gears]

Implement your pinkie into your playing as much as possible and PAY ATTENTION to it when you're practicing. If you're playing it a lot and really paying attention to keeping it from going up it should eventually become second nature. That worked for me anyway