Weak Pinky....Is it normal?

[XtheDeadPawn]

I just got a Planet Waves Varigrip I really dig it but, I can't help but, notice I can barely can't even press my pinky down even on the lowest resistance.

It looks like this BTW http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VariGrip

So is this normal?

[skabass13]

Yes.

Edit: It is very common for people not used to using their pinky finger as much as possible. Keep practicing and you will notice a tremendous improvement.

[Nurb]

Play your bass, you don't need the VariGrip.

[Fergie Fulton]

The link has the same discussion.

The gripmaster

[Boguszewivz]

Ive heard many bass players say that doing the so called "Buddha Rope" is much more beneficial to your speed and strength than the varigrip or other brand equivalents. My immediate guess would be to just keep practicing

[redstrand]

That's great if your hand is normal. My pinky has been damaged a lot. It curves into my ring finger. Making it got the opposite way to fret like normal people hurts like hell. Fretting on a 6 string is far worse for me. The varigrip does help a bit. by helping to build a little bit of muscle strength in that finger it's now more comfortable to flex...still hurts a bit.

When I was trying to work through this my fretting has been horrible because of the way my pinky is, it's a little better now.

Not everyone is the same.

Originally Posted by Nurb

Play your bass, you don't need the VariGrip.

[Kevmove]

Whatever you do, don't overwork your pinkie or you will cause a muscle strain, which will set you back. The best method is to use practice exercises that use 4 frets and don't compensate by moving your hand to use your ring finger instead of your pinkie. It will be slow going at first, but enventually your pinkie will get strong enough.

[FromBeyond]

When i was starting out my pinky on the left hand was really weak as well, just practicing with it while playing scales and stuff reaaaally helps a lot. Can imagine a varigrip helping too.

[Johnny StingRay]

My pinkie finger was busted 20 years ago when my then 5 year old son kicked a soccer ball at me and the ball hit my pinkie just right and jammed it. I still have problems with it and usually have to pull on it and "pop" it a few times during a performance to get it to push down correctly. I've found that if I spend a few minutes warming up just on my bass by running through the chordal scales of the circle of fourths, that that is enough to get my fingers ready to play without overdoing it. I get just enough rest for my fingers between songs and sets, that it doesn't bother me that much.

By the way, your pinkie finger and ring finger share a tendon from the finger tissue to the hand muscles. That is why if you lay your palm flat on a table and curl and tuck your pinkie finger under your palm, that you can easily lift your thumb, pointer, and middle finger, but it is very difficult to lift your ring finger because the tendon is stretched out by the pinkie. So because of that, the pinkie finger and ring finger are inherently weaker than your middle and pointer finger. I wouldn't overwork them.

Isn't it true that Simandl taught to use the ring and pinkie together?? and that is why the fingering patterns that he taught are 1 - 2 - 4 patterns with the pinkie and ring finger working as 4????? I may be wrong on that, but I remember reading that somewhere.

[mefunkufunk]

I used to have a very weak pinky but have been working on exercises to strengthen it. Trying playing major pentatonics using just your index and pinky. That'll get it going. Also try playing the fast part from Dazed and Confused my teacher showed me that and I was never a big Zep fan but that got me going!

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by mefunkufunk

I used to have a very weak pinky but have been working on exercises to strengthen it. Trying playing major pentatonics using just your index and pinky. That'll get it going. Also try playing the fast part from Dazed and Confused my teacher showed me that and I was never a big Zep fan but that got me going!

+1 most players define a weak pinkie wrong. I have found few cases in my dealings and experiences of a weak pinkie. If playing does not solve or improve this situation then yes certain hand exercises will, but not a gripmaster in playing situations.
Brief answer is that a grip master works the wrong muscle groups for the wrong type of movement. If you wish to grip, hold, squeeze, tear, then a gripmaster is the device. If you want to be able to lift your fingers away from the fret board with dexterity, touch, and speed then it is not. A gripmaster develops strength............ Playing a bass requires you to lift your fingers, not grip, so in reality the gripmaster cannot do what you want it to do.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...ogId=507420416

Checkout the link for an idea of how your hand works and its relation to playing.

[XtheDeadPawn]

So shopuld I get rid of it? i mean I wanted it cause it said it'd help all my fingers stregthen thmeselves but, after a couple days I don't see any improvements and you guys are saying I'm just gonna overwork my fingers and hurt myself.

But, honestly I've never fretted with my pinky that much I can't even remember when actually but, .... Anyways should I just stick to pick basslines I've even noticed Lemmy rarely uses his pinky for example Ace of Spades. So I'm pretty sure for Metal and punk I could get away just with my middle, pointer, and ring finger right?

BTW I'M SELF TAUGHT!!!! I uset to go to a teacher but, I'm not able to sit still I've got ADHD and so i'd just screw around. i learned alot solo so i'm sorta underdeveloped I can't do scales, or even know how to read TABs, I'm sorta a trainwreck like Sid if he was sober. But, i'm getting better and not you know really wasted and high and well dead.

[Gyoon]

I'm going to push back the other way and say that your other fingers could be pressing down to strongly. I don't think you need crazy monkey grip to play bass.

If you know how, you might think about lowering the action so that your pinky is not pushing down on the strings lighter than your other fingers. Play simple things slowly and concentrate on applying the same level of pressure with each finger.

No matter how hard you pluckthe bass, your left hand fingers don't have to push down that forcefully.

[wetzelman1]

using my pinky a lot has improved my playing substantially. When I warm up, I'm primarily doing runs with all of my fingers or doing just pinky stretches. opens up more options and speed.

[iabssplyr]

I used to play guitar and used my pinky for power chords. It's made things a lot easier for playing bass, though I now need to convince all the other fingers they have an important job to do too!

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by XtheDeadPawn

I just got a Planet Waves Varigrip I really dig it but, I can't help but, notice I can barely can't even press my pinky down even on the lowest resistance.

It looks like this BTW http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VariGrip

So is this normal?

might be better to use your strings for that.....a guy showed me a thing where you practice pressing down on one finger while bringing another up to the same height as the one you just pressed down,then double stops alternating 1st 3rd with 2nd 4th etc

[mambo4]

as mentioned, grip trainers only strengthen muscles needed to use a grip trainer.
Your bass is all you need.

A simple exercise for Fretting finger strength, from a classical guitar lesson:

1.)Fret the E string on fret F (finger1)
2.)Then ,keeping finger 1 down, fret F#(finger 2)
3.)Keeping fingers 1 and 2 down, fret G (finger 3)
4.)Keeping 1,2, and 3 down, fret G# (fret 4)

Then reverse:
Keeping 1,2, and 3 down, Lift finger 4
Keeping fingers 1 and 2 down, lift finger 3
Keeping 1 down, lift finger 4

Then repeat on the A,D, and G strings, then back down to E.

while doing the exercise, keep in mind:
-Do this slowly and deliberately, and fret accurately( right on or just behind the fret).
-Do not worry about speed.
-Don't use the beginner's death grip:use the minimum required pressure (see below)
-Keeping the other fingers down when using the pinkie will lend them strength.
-Think of it as using your whole hand to fret and your fingers are just there to focus that final detail.

and an exercise for how to fret with the minimum required pressure:
1.)fret a note and start plucking a steady pulse
2.)while plucking, slowly ease the pressure on your fretting
3.) eventually the note will begin to rattle against the fret
4.)slowly increase pressure until the rattle ceases. this is the "sweet spot" of fretting pressure -probably a lot less pressure than you are using
5.) repeat 2-4 a few times for each finger to familiarize your brain & muscle with the "sweet spot"

Practically speaking, you will not be perfectly in the "sweet spot" all the time - in the middle of a gig there are usually other things you will focus on. I tend to "check in" with my fingering pressure every few minutes to make sure I'm not stressing my left hand and remind myself to relax

[MonetBass]

Originally Posted by Johnny StingRay

Isn't it true that Simandl taught to use the ring and pinkie together?? and that is why the fingering patterns that he taught are 1 - 2 - 4 patterns with the pinkie and ring finger working as 4????? I may be wrong on that, but I remember reading that somewhere.

You are correct. I started on string bass and was taught to use the ring and pinkie together. This is because on a DB, the notes are simply too far away to do otherwise (especially for kids). When I picked up the EB a couple years later I kept the 1 - 2 - 4 fingering from habit.

To the OP, keep working on fretting with your pinkie and it will get stronger. Eventually it will become 2nd nature.

[StarscreamG1]

When I first played, I actually never used my pinky. My fingers are not short, they arent the longest Ive ever seen but they arent short, nice bass fingers I think though heeh. But, my pinky is just... stupid short for whatever reason... I just couldnt reach anything with it so I got good and pretty reachable with 3 fingers. *shrug* I swear you really couldnt tell it to hear me play. Anyway... when I put it up and then got back into it a couple years ago, I was on here one day and there was a discussion about using the pinky vs not on the fretting hand. I was reading it and some member said that they way he looked at it, if you didnt use your pinky on your fret hand you werent a real bass player....

Well, I didnt take too well reading that. I have an actual reason, as do some here from what Ive skimmed on this thread, for not using the pinky. But the comment kind of stuck with me so for whatever reason I started practicing with the pinky. Much to my surprise it did expand my playing, I use it now as much as the other fingers but its shortness does cause me problems... anything past about the 10th fret and I physically can NOT reach the E and A with my pinky. Just cant do it so I compensate and life goes on. The finger is not as strong as the rest but Im working on it and it will sometimes simply lock at the knuckle joint going straight out and I cant bend it, and that will hang me up sometimes. Thats when I go back to my 3 finger technique until it unlocks *shrug* Ive got a doable 5 fret reach with the 1st and 3rd finger from the 1st fret to the 5th so its not like dropping the pinky off the line up sometimes really hurts me...

Practice your pinky by just playing and working on it. I say if theres some areas of the bass you just physically can't use it, dont be upset by it, work out another method and keep on trucking!!!

Oh and yea, I still dont agree with what that one member said that if you cant play with your pinky on the fret hand you arent a /real/ bass player but whatever...

[XtheDeadPawn]

Wow. That's almost exactly like me my pinky is also insanely short I can't even do the 4 finger 4 fret rule thing. I just mainly do the 3 finger thing.