worried about my pinky

heavyfunkmachin · #1 10-02-2007, 12:51 PM

im working on suite #1 in G major by Bach, and its pretty intense on the pinky, and im concern... i find that my pinky is shorter than it should be, related to the other fingers... and i guess i´m used to pressing the strings with other fingers mostly... anyway, the thing is that instead of curving my pinky when pressing the string down, the "MIDDLE JOINT" goes flat and the pinky gets a 90 degree angle in the last joint... i dont know i you can imagine it--- kind of a seven or this shape: _____I

do you kniow what i mean?

anyway, after playing a while i get a "funny" feeling in this pinky, and i dont know if its because i m not used to playing it mucho or because a wrong technique... what do you think? what problems could this pinky-joint-thing bring me in the future?
do you think i could develp enough strengh to play in a curved-proper way??

im worried

ThorBassManiac · #2 10-03-2007, 12:45 PM

It sounds to me like a strength and endurance issue. I would start a practice schedule that has emphasis on using the pinky finger and take into consideration when it starts to have this "funny feeling". As soon as it does, take as long as a break necessary so you don't hurt yourself.

As far as the bending, with enough practice you'll be able to correctly curve the pinky with no problem. The 90 degree thing is interesting, but I can do that independently with ALL my fingers, so it's nothing out of the ordinary.

heavyfunkmachin · #3 10-03-2007, 01:48 PM

my biggest concern is if i can injure myself by doing the 90 degree thing when using the pinky. ... in both short and long term.

PoundinThunder · #4 10-03-2007, 02:06 PM

i have the same problem i think. does the pinky kind of lock up? if it does, u just have to practice playing with a bent pinky. i have a problem where my pinky id shot and bends in towards my palm. most of the time i can get away without usin my pinky tho. you might want to try to fix the problem as soon as u can because it can prolly cause some joint problems down the road. idk tho i guess try to find ur way around it like me or practice with ur pinky more.