Knuckle shuffle

What's Hot
drpbierdrpbier Frets: 225
My teacher wants me to focus on maintaining the bend in the last knuckle on my fretting hand. I find this hard, especially on my little finger and especially on the low E string. Any good exercises people can recommend to help with this?
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    Don’t think I’ve ever bent the low E with my little finger, but I guess if you press the other fingers to it so all 4 are acting as one and then pull the string towards the A string you should be able to hold it there
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 225
    Sorry, I might not have described what I'm after very well. I need to maintain the 'arch' in my fretting fingers, and not let them flatten out, to allow more precise fretting and better pull-offs. My habit is to let them straighten out, especially when stretching for a note. Does that make more sense?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    drpbier said:
    Sorry, I might not have described what I'm after very well. I need to maintain the 'arch' in my fretting fingers, and not let them flatten out, to allow more precise fretting and better pull-offs. My habit is to let them straighten out, especially when stretching for a note. Does that make more sense?
    Ah, sorry yes, misunderstood the word “bend”. Yep, maintaining the arch while still remaining totally relaxed is something players of many diverse instruments work on their whole lives! 

    One of the key things is maintaining a very loose wrist and not being afraid to let your arm move, loosely, to help those stretches. You can’t grow your fingers in length so let your hand position help you not hinder you. 

    Then it’s all about practising and letting the muscles strengthen. But not in a body-builder way, rather more in a ballet dancer way :)
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    You can try keeping your thumb in contact with the neck and keep your elbow closer to the side of your body (at the dusty end of the neck)
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • You can try keeping your thumb in contact with the neck and keep your elbow closer to the side of your body (at the dusty end of the neck)
    On a related note, practice in front of a mirror...if stuff looks awkward, that could be an indication for an area of improvement.

    Here's an exercise that came to mind (it's for string skipping actually!):
    https://i.imgur.com/MgY9fy9.png
    Source:

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Here's another mindless exercise (one I wrote this time):
    https://i.imgur.com/mNVoRSw.png
    I use this primarily as a right-hand warm-up but your fretting has to be in shape to keep it clean!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.