crooked pinky syndrome

[JimmyJeff1]

After a 25 year hiatus, I've been playing again for about 6 months. Previously I just played cowboy chords and never utilized my pinky (because I didn't adopt that version of the G chord fingering). Now I'm learning scales, working toward being able to play melodies over chords, and working on fills. I'm really having trouble keeping my pinky from dramatically curving inward, even on things as simple as the folk fingering of a basic G chord. Or, to keep it straight, I have to dramatically curve my other fingers. Are there specific exercise or techniques that I can employ in order to improve this? Thanks in advance. JJ

[Bingoccc]

My pinky angles in too. Stretching and playing with it have given it an ability to stretch significantly more than the one on my non-fretting hand. I've been using my pinky while playing since I was a kid and learned to use it just fine. What really brought to my attention in recent years was taking up mandolin. G and D chop chords are brutal. The little mando neck looks tiny but those long chop stretches kill me. I devote some practice time to just bouncing between chop chords when I play. I also stretch and exercise my fingers while I watch TV. Doing all this has improved my guitar playing too. Playing a full C shape barre at the first fret is easy now. I used to struggle with it.

It will come with time and practice.

[JimmyJeff1]

Bingocc, are there any specific exercises that you have found helpful? I've seen a YouTube video on warm up stretches that was recommended here on AGF, and I've seen some basic exercises on places like justinguitar that help with reaching on the fretboard, but nothing that has helped so far with my pinky issues.

[Bingoccc]

I guess I just made up the ones I use. Specific to stretching with the pinky, I both spread my fingers apart using the fingers of the other hand to push them apart and I also spread the fingers under their own power against the resistance of the other fingers. I sometimes do it with my fingers out straight and sometimes with them curled in like I'm forming a chord. This has been going on for years now, it didn't happen over night. And this is all in addition to the chop chord practice on my mando.

A lot of folk believe in playing being the best and only exercise for improving strength and reach. My experience in any physical endeavor is that, just training to 100% of your need results in your having to give your max to accomplish a certain feat. If you train a little beyond what is required, that same feat may only require 80-90% of your max. That makes the feat a little easier to accomplish repeatedly and on demand.

Good luck

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by JimmyJeff1

After a 25 year hiatus, I've been playing again for about 6 months. Previously I just played cowboy chords and never utilized my pinky (because I didn't adopt that version of the G chord fingering). Now I'm learning scales, working toward being able to play melodies over chords, and working on fills. I'm really having trouble keeping my pinky from dramatically curving inward, even on things as simple as the folk fingering of a basic G chord. Or, to keep it straight, I have to dramatically curve my other fingers. Are there specific exercise or techniques that I can employ in order to improve this? Thanks in advance. JJ

Hi JJ…

Is your curling pinky giving you fits? Is it interfering?

I know you said to keep it straight you have to curl other fingers, but if you don't try to keep it straight can you still play the correct notes with it?

As a teacher, when I'm working out fingering issues personally or helping students, I hold the guitar with my normal posture and work slowly back and forth between two chord positions which utilize the fingers involved.

You could work between a Dsus (play a normal D and add the pinky which you are going to be moving back and forth) moving to a D/C# (D chord with the pinky on the 4th fret of the 5th string).

You could move back and forth between D and Dsus, or D and D5 with the pinky on the 5th fret of the 1st string. Or you could slowly work back and forth between a D9 inside chord (x2122x) and a D7#9 (x2123x).

I have students practice challenging chord moves by forming the first chord and then playing it in both positions rather than just bouncing off of them and moving fingers without playing the chords. Actually we do both. Sometimes we move fingers without playing anything to establish the correct fingerings, then we move and play each chord to build them into their library of chords.

They are learning to do better fingerings for the purpose of playing, not for how they look or feel.

I had a gym teacher who was ex-marine, and he introduced us to military pushups. Push up to the top, hold it and then lower yourself slowly to the ground…RELAX and start again. Guys who could do a billion rolling pushups struggled to do 10 military style at first.

Similar thing here. The goal isn't to make the pinky pretty and bounce off fingerings. It's to build a skill.

Hope this adds to the discussion…

[creamburmese]

I'm a little confused - is it interfering with your playing? My pinky is frequently curved inwards and I am playing on its outside corner edge - get a better reach that way...

[Riverwolf]

I have tried to ask this question several times but no one before seemed to understand.
My pinky also curves inward and with stubborn insistence.
My pinky looks normal enough with the hand open and flat.
But when fretting it looks nothing like any guitarist that I see online.
I can only use it on a few fingerings and then only on the high e string.
For instance, on a Em7 I have to drop my ring finger on 3rd fret B string.
The pinky can not physically go there.
I am becoming more adventurous with the other remaining fingers.

[ljguitar]

Hi all…

Posted pictures help us understand…

[JimmyJeff1]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I have tried to ask this question several times but no one before seemed to understand.
My pinky also curves inward and with stubborn insistence.
My pinky looks normal enough with the hand open and flat.
But when fretting it looks nothing like any guitarist that I see online.
I can only use it on a few fingerings and then only on the high e string.
For instance, on a Em7 I have to drop my ring finger on 3rd fret B string.
The pinky can not physically go there.
I am becoming more adventurous with the other remaining fingers.

Exactly. I can barely get the B string with the side of the pinky fingertip, but it affects the quality of the note.

[Bingoccc]

I've watched enough Clapton video to see he has a limited ability to stretch out his pinky. He often does angle all of his fingers (kind of like mandolin players) to get the reach he needs.

[JimmyJeff1]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi JJ…

Is your curling pinky giving you fits? Is it interfering?

I know you said to keep it straight you have to curl other fingers, but if you don't try to keep it straight can you still play the correct notes with it?

As a teacher, when I'm working out fingering issues personally or helping students, I hold the guitar with my normal posture and work slowly back and forth between two chord positions which utilize the fingers involved.

You could work between a Dsus (play a normal D and add the pinky which you are going to be moving back and forth) moving to a D/C# (D chord with the pinky on the 4th fret of the 5th string).

You could move back and forth between D and Dsus, or D and D5 with the pinky on the 5th fret of the 1st string. Or you could slowly work back and forth between a D9 inside chord (x2122x) and a D7#9 (x2123x).

I have students practice challenging chord moves by forming the first chord and then playing it in both positions rather than just bouncing off of them and moving fingers without playing the chords. Actually we do both. Sometimes we move fingers without playing anything to establish the correct fingerings, then we move and play each chord to build them into their library of chords.

They are learning to do better fingerings for the purpose of playing, not for how they look or feel.

I had a gym teacher who was ex-marine, and he introduced us to military pushups. Push up to the top, hold it and then lower yourself slowly to the ground…RELAX and start again. Guys who could do a billion rolling pushups struggled to do 10 military style at first.

Similar thing here. The goal isn't to make the pinky pretty and bounce off fingerings. It's to build a skill.

Hope this adds to the discussion…

I can do a Dsus without any problem, but if I'm having to reach more with the other fingers or reach very far with the pinky, the issue surfaces. So, for example, with the Em7 mentioned above, if I am using fingers 1, 2, 4 I can keep the pinky pretty straight. But, if I finger it 2, 3, 4, the pinky curves in and the side of the fingertip (but still the tip) gets the B string. Or if I am trying to get the low E and A strings when doing my scales it is an issue. I can get the notes, but the quality of the tone is impacted because it is just barely hit with the pinky fingertip rather than the side of the pinky. As was mentioned by someone earlier, when I see videos online I don't see anyone with the kind of pronounced curve my pinky has, so I'm just trying to figure out whether this is a technique issue I can improve or a physical issue to work around.

[JimmyJeff1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

I'm a little confused - is it interfering with your playing? My pinky is frequently curved inwards and I am playing on its outside corner edge - get a better reach that way...

When I play on the outside edge I'm unable to hit the note as cleanly or with the same quality. Maybe I'm just not good enough at using my pinky yet.

[SteveBurt]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I have tried to ask this question several times but no one before seemed to understand.
My pinky also curves inward and with stubborn insistence.
My pinky looks normal enough with the hand open and flat.
But when fretting it looks nothing like any guitarist that I see online.
I can only use it on a few fingerings and then only on the high e string.
For instance, on a Em7 I have to drop my ring finger on 3rd fret B string.
The pinky can not physically go there.
I am becoming more adventurous with the other remaining fingers.

I have the same problem - the pinky curls under the other fingers (in fact sometimes it gets stuck there and I can't get it out). Many fingerings are almost impossible, even if I place the fingers of my left hand using my right hand - the pinky curls under as soon as it is let go.
I can stretch it out fine when my hand is open (e.g. when playing big stretches on the piano), but with my hand curled around the guitar neck, it becomes a problem. Classical position helps a bit, but for some things I found the only solution was to capo up the neck a bit to reduce the stretch needed.

Unfortunately people who don't suffer from this problem seem to be baffled by it.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by SteveBurt

Unfortunately people who don't suffer from this problem seem to be baffled by it.

True. And anything in life that is less than perfect can become a bummer if we let it.
Once I determined that barre chords and a lot of other chord positions were going to be impossible for me, then I began to really look at other movable chord shapes and adding interesting fills, runs, etc.
It's all good, it's all music.

[ac]

I also have a pinky that simply curves in an extreme way unlike that of my friends. For those that do not have this type of hand design or haven't seen it, it's hard for them to understand. Five fingers are five fingers, right? Not in my family.

Long ago, I watched people with missing fingers, or other injuries or disabilities, play far, far beyond my abilities. Their problems were so much more severe than my hand problems (I also have short fingers and NONE of my first joints will bend backwards enough to fret several strings at once).

It made me realize that I will, from time to time, need to adapt my playing style and methods from what others do. I've stretched the range of motion in my hands to a great extent over the years and can do things I thought was impossible in the beginning. There is a lot that can be done by repetition and stretching alone, and that may be enough depending on your situation. But for some, there finally comes a limit and you might have to find an alternative way to get the sound you want.

Phil Keaggy has no middle finger on his right hand, so he found another way. When I'm frustrated trying to play something I want to play because I can't get that note I want because it's "just" out of my reach--I try to remember to look for that alternative route, chords, tuning, capos, etc.

For example, I think there are a lot of very good alternative tuning players today that use alternate tuning as way of making a song "playable" or more easily playable by that method, moreso than just to hear the different sound quality it gives the piece.

Changing string tuning to make each song more playable must complicate things some, but if the end result is reached and an unplayable song is playable, I think it's worth it.