Fingering fifths

[schmig]

Hi all,

Once again, apologies if this has been asked.

I've recently taken up tenure with a straight rock band, like their stuff, they have been compared to Foo Fighters in style...radio-friendly straight out rock, nothing too heavy or serious.

Though I've played with various people over the years, I remain quite mediocre, but in the city I come from, bands and free musicians are few and far between, so we make do with what we can get.

Anyway: a specific question. The style of their music is fairly I-IV-Vish, and to keep some groove in their I'm finding that instead of my usual travel style (years of listening to Zappa bassists), for this music I should stay down the lower registers and pedal heavily on nearby harmonies, mostly, namely, the fifth below.

I'm having some trouble playing this fifth confidently, the problem being in my hands.

Supposing I'm playing C->F->G as the general progression. I thrown in the fifths so at some point at the end of the run I am stomping away on G->D, alternating between the two.

If you imagine I'm fingering the standard 1 finger per fret, I start with my index finger 1 fret left of C, say on B or up on the E on the D string.

Following?

When I want to play C->low G from this position, I am leveraging my index finger as a pivot of sorts and can finger the low 5 with finger #2...as if I am giving someone the bird, that finger is strong and under control.

Still following? Thank you!!

Now - I eventually get to the fifth about the root C at end of a few bars. I am fingering this with my baby finger/pinkie. All very well until I try to get the pinkie down to the fifth below and back up at speed. It just isn't solid enough...don't feel the confidence...pocket lost.

Ultimately, my question - do you folks recommend:

- Move position of hand to get that G under finger #2
- Make pinkie obey its master.
- ??????

your responses will be greatly appreciated.

[Rudreax]

Practice, practice, and more practice is the key. Tons of people tend to not use their pinky too much when they play, and it leads to problems like this. Try finding some James Jamerson basslines to play and see how how he moves across strings. It's what got me moving my pinky up and down the same fret on multiple strings quickly.