Fretting hand little finger exercises needed........

BahHumbug

I've never been afraid of, or shied away from using my little finger on my fretting hand.  Needless to say it's still not my strongest or most dexterous fretting finger but I'm happy to live with that.  However there's one issue that bugs me and I wonder if any one here knows any good exercises that might help.
The problem is really about independence between little finger and fingers 2 and 3.  For instance say I'm practicing a 1 octave major scale in a standard pattern across three strings and four frets.  When I get to the highest three notes in the scale I'm going to fret and play the note under my first finger, then the note under my third finger, then the octave note under my little finger.......then I've reached the top of the scale and I'm going to start descending, by removing my little finger so I can play the note under my third finger.  And here is the problem; my little finger resists being lifted off while the third finger is fretting the next note.  It will move, but there is resistance.  If I'm playing with a metronome running at above about 130, doing two notes per click, then it gets difficult to smoothly turn around at the top of the scale.
Ok, it's not exactly debilitating for most everyday playing but it bugs me and I do wish I could exercise it out.

ps I've been playing and practicing fairly diligently for over 30 years, so it's not lack of scale practice, I really think there must be specific exercises for these movements.

LeeCassidy

I had the opposite problem; my little finger always pokes out, like I'm midway through high tea. I think the remedy will be much the same, though. Make a couple of very basic exercises that really encapsulate the problem. Find a two or three note lick where it happens (sounds like the turnaround at the top of a scale is a good one to start with), and play it very slowly and deliberately, using Jedi-like powers to control your fingers, making them go where you want, when you want.

Try to find other situations where the problem occurs, and do the same with those. Make very slow and deliberate exercises. 

I guess you can try other strengthening things, like trilling with just 3rd and 4th fingers, bending with the 4th, eta. But I'd direct my attention to where the problem occurs at first. 

One issue I found when trying to tackle my own problem was that it felt great and all, doing these exercises, but once I went back to regular playing, it was either too stilted and disruptive trying to employ the technique, or else it felt like I was undoing any hard work I'd put in, by 're-reinforcing' the bad habit. But, over time, I felt more able to employ the control in more circumstances where it previously was a problem. Hopefully that was the case, and will hold true for you, too.

Long story short, I'd say prepare to have to work on it, and be prepared for fairly slow progress. 

LeeCassidy

I forgot to add that thumb position behind the neck is very important, as is which part of the finger you're using to fret each note, and the angle your hand and wrist are at, relative to the neck. My issue was helped when I started using the tip of my pinky, rather than the flat pad of it, and when my thumb was less high up behind the neck, and when my palm was more parallel to the neck.

This probably needs pics or video to convey better, but the take home point is, also pay attention to your whole hand and arm. And if you feel you need to adjust any of those things to get where you want to be, then adjust them.

Ravenous

First of all, fingers are not independent - some of them share tendons and it's impossible for all of the fingers to display the same level of independence.

So you will always have one finger that's worse than the others.

The bit that Lee said above (about finding real, musical phrases where the problem appears and repeating them) is the key I think - with plenty of breaks to do something else of course. (Don't want to get RSI or something.)

Phil_aka_Pip

Try these exercises - fingers 1 to 4 on frets n to n+3, where n starts at 1 and goes up to as far as you can reach. Start on the 6th string then repeat on strings 5,4,3,2,1 before moving up a fret.

ex1: Play the notes under fingers 1,2
ex2: Play the notes under fingers 1,3
ex3: play the notes under fingers 1,4
ex4: play the notes under fingers 2,3
ex5: play the notes under fingers 2,4
ex6: play the notes under fingers 3,4

Dont lift off the finger playing the lower note as you add the finger playing the higher one. It may help to put down the non-playing fingers as well eg in ex2, play finger 1 then add 2&3 together before sounding the note under 3.

OnTheRopes

BahHumbug

Thanks gents for your ideas.  @LeeCassidy thanks for taking the time to write your thoughtful posts.  I get all your points.  I'm confident that I'm doing the right things in terms of hand position, thumb position etc, which is why I'm looking for a specific exercise to deal with quite a specific problem.  @Ravenous thanks for pointing out the physical connections between the fingers.  Makes me feel a bit better about it.
I'm going to work with @Phil_aka_Pip s exercise, which makes some sense to me.  Thanks Pip!  I have a fairly well disciplined practice regime (with a practice notebook even!), so building in a another exercise will be no problem.

cheers

BRISTOL86

Hijacking this thread a little, I find my main issue with my pinky is it wanting to come down in the same space that the ring finger occupies. I’ve actually cut the side of my ring finger with the fingernail of my pinky more than once! 

Anyone else or just me?!

Phil_aka_Pip

BahHumbug said:

I'm going to work with @Phil_aka_Pip s exercise, which makes some sense to me.  Thanks Pip!  I have a fairly well disciplined practice regime (with a practice notebook even!), so building in a another exercise will be no problem.

yw, mate hope it helps

Ravenous

BRISTOL86 said:

Hijacking this thread a little, I find my main issue with my pinky is it wanting to come down in the same space that the ring finger occupies. I’ve actually cut the side of my ring finger with the fingernail of my pinky more than once! 

Anyone else or just me?!

Not that one, but I notice my middle and ring finger tend to collide fingertips quite often. The ring and little fingers rotate sometimes, then when flexed the ring rubs up against the middle.

I can separate them to play wide, classical-like chords and so on, I just have to practice each awkward hand position to get there. (I don't particularly do special exercises aimed at this sort of thing so can't say if they help.)

GeeJay

I think what I'm about to suggest is the same as Phil_aka_Pip but can't quite tell from his earlier message.

I found a really good way of getting my pinky my independent of other fingers is to pick a fret - here let's say 3rd fret - on any string. Then place your 1st finger on fret 3 and trill with your pinky on fret 6. Then place your 2nd finger down onto fret 4 and keep trilling with your pinky on fret 6. Then place your 3rd finger on fret 5 and trill with pinky on fret 6. Then work backwards until you're trilling between fret 3 and 6 again.

If you repeat this a bunch of times on different strings, frets at different speeds your pinky should get a great workout and should get stronger / more independent if you practice enough.

Also just hammer ons and pull offs of the pattern 3-5-6-5-3 over and over (for minutes at a time if you can) helped me get the 'momentum' down.

Phil_aka_Pip

@GeeJay I think that's a variation on my exercise. Worth trying