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Fretting with pinky - what if I can't?

#42
Juist to pile on, if you want to play, play - use of the pinky is not required to play bass guitar well. If you're doing your parts, supporting the band, sounding good, contributing to the listener's experience and having a good time doing it, you're ahead of most of the players out there with full physical ability.

The pinky certainly does help, especially if you hand to to leading-edge high-level virtuoso playing. Even then, there's holes in that statement.
 
#43
cxcxcx said:
Juist to pile on, if you want to play, play - use of the pinky is not required to play bass guitar well. If you're doing your parts, supporting the band, sounding good, contributing to the listener's experience and having a good time doing it, you're ahead of most of the players out there with full physical ability.

The pinky certainly does help, especially if you hand to to leading-edge high-level virtuoso playing. Even then, there's holes in that statement.
Click to expand...
I have zero ambitions for any kind of virtuoso playing of any kind.
My goal is just to play loud rock n roll and have fun. Don't even care if I ever get to play on a stage, would probably be fun some day but nothing I'm even aiming for right now.
 
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#44
If you don't use the pinky, the pinky police will come and take away your bass.
When I was starting out on standup bass, and for a long time afterward, the only way I could use my pinky was to stack my ring finger on top of it. I didn't have the strength in my pinky to press the string. That didn't stop me, even from soloing. So don't sweat it - just play. But don't give up on the pinky - use it in practice time as much as you can. It may take years but you may regain control.
 
#45
Can you move your pinky in concert with your ring finger?
As if they were a single finger?
if so, then that's a perfect use case for "124" / Upright / Simandl /Carole Kaye style fingering

ViperTim said:
But on bass there's longer stretches where everybody says the pinky is required. I can make due, but it's tiresome and sloppy. I can make hand adjustments and use the ring finger faster and more precise than what I can use my pinky. But usually that sets me in a bad position for the next note...
Click to expand...

The under communicated "secret" to long stretches is:
you are allowed to move your left hand to reach
Beginners are usually given the impression that the left hand must lock in to one "position', and place the biomechanical burden entirely on the fingers to cover some four fret span /position. This is absolutely not the case, and indeed will make reaching frets -especially lower ones- harder and more uncomfortable than is necessary. if your fingers can't reach, just move you left hand.

The guy I learnt that from:


 
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#46
ViperTim said:
Hi everybody.
Back story is that my pinky on my fretting hand has broken nerves after an accident when I was little. For many years I had zero feeling in the tip of my pinky but nowadays I would rate that I have maybe 90% of feeling (it's a dull feeling) but that isn't the issue.
The issue is that with this I have very little abilities to do fine motor skills with my pinky. It's like an on/off switch - either extended or curled like a cinannon roll. I can absolutely control it inbetween but it requires a bit of effort - effort that I don't have time for while playing.

I've been playing guitar for 3 years and have been using my pinky a bit without any improvement in the fine motor skills thus making me believe that it's not going to get better.
On guitar I can get away with it, there's no longer stretches thus I can make use of my ring finger for all of the quick stuff and slower stuff like forming a chord or similar the pinky actually works (it cannot do hammer-ons for example, I use the ring finger for this).
But on bass there's longer stretches where everybody says the pinky is required.
I can make due, but it's tiresome and sloppy. I can make hand adjustments and use the ring finger faster and more precise than what I can use my pinky. But usually that sets me in a bad position for the next note...

So question is:
Everybody says pinky is required.
But is it really?
There's people without hands playing guitar/bass so my issue is microscopic in comparison.
Click to expand...
Django did fine without his. That said, you will have develop your own technique to overcome your disability. I wish you success!
 
#48
Jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt only had use of 2 left hand fingers.

django-jattandrai2.jpg
 
#50
ViperTim said:
I'm thinking of that old guitar player who's name I cannot remember that only played with two fingers.
Click to expand...
You are probably thinking about Django Reinhart (French/Belgian) guitarist who was a worlwide known gypsy guitarist. After his trailer (yes, he was a real gypsy, living in a trailer) caught fire he lost the ability to play with his ring and pinky fingers. He then went on recording more tunes and solos that you'd probably struggle for years recreating with 4 fingers. Amazing talent, check him out : Django Reinhart.
Cheeers
 
#51
Les Fret said:
If you can’t use it and there is no improvement you can’t use it. So you have to forget the pinky and find other solutions.

The pinky is next to the index finger the most important left hand finger for bass playing, but just use your ring finger instead of your pinky. You will use upright bass finger patterns but replacing the pinky with your ring finger. It’s not ideal but it will work if you stick with it. In this case I would suggest you buy a short scale bass. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Why's the index the most important?
 
#57
Sounds like the three-finger technique that's common on double bass but that many of us use to some extent on electric. It has to do with how the ring finger and pinky are set up anatomically where they don't work independently of each other as well as the index and middle fingers do. So the ring finger and pinky are treated as one. I would just adapt that, using your ring finger instead of the two together (as is done in the three-finger technique). The only downside is you'll find yourself shifting more than four-finger players do. But learn to shift and you'll be fine.

I heard somewhere that Lee Sklar has hand issues going back to childhood that affect his use of the middle and ring finger. If you watch him he mostly frets with his index finger or pinky. Doesn't seem to have held up his career much. He adapted.
 
#58
mambo4 said:
Can you move your pinky in concert with your ring finger?
As if they were a single finger?
if so, then that's a perfect use case for "124" / Upright / Simandl /Carole Kaye style fingering



The under communicated "secret" to long stretches is:
you are allowed to move your left hand to reach
Beginners are usually given the impression that the left hand must lock in to one "position', and place the biomechanical burden entirely on the fingers to cover some four fret span /position. This is absolutely not the case, and indeed will make reaching frets -especially lower ones- harder and more uncomfortable than is necessary. if your fingers can't reach, just move you left hand.

The guy I learnt that from:

Click to expand...


Was about to post Rocco and glad you did. If it's good enough for him, it's good for anyone. Will Lee actually says that's how he basically plays, using his pinky as a mute.
 

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