Playing Pinky on 1st String

[guitararmy]

Ah, the famous F chord! I like the non-barred B7 chord for a challenge!!

[rmp]

It's the "process"...

Muscle Memory will be your friend. Although this does take time, if you stick with it, and you should... you'll reach a point when you'll even forget this was ever a problem.

[ctvolfan]

Try forming the G with four fingers! Pinky on the G string at the 3rd fret and ring finger just above it on the A string on the 3rd fret. It will give you a much better and cleaner sounding G chord as well as help strengthen the pressure of the pinky when have both of those last two digits on your hand pressing down at the same time. Otherwise you ring finger is just hanging up there into space playing it with the traditional 3 finger configuration.

Trust me, this is a much better way to get pressure with your pinky and the added benefit is that the G chord sounds much better. James Taylor only plays a G chord this way too. I even use this same exact configuration for most of my C chords. heck, drop the 2nd and 3rd finger down to form a D chord and keep that 4th and 5th finger on those same two strings and it also makes a beautiful version of the D chord. I know these chords have names but honestly, I never cared what chord was called. I just play by ear.

[nightflight]

Originally Posted by DAS_70

Thanks, guys

I can play it fairly cleanly if i press REALLY hard, but it's not consistent. It either ends up muted a tad, or buzzes a bit. In isolation it's no problem. So it's down to technique with all fingers involved.

You should use some pressure, but you shouldn't have to press so hard that your hand cramps up. Placement on the fret using your fingertip (not having your finger flat) should help. And of course, as everyone here says, practice.

Keep it up! Cheers.

[jschmitz54]

I’m a bit over one year into learning guitar. One of the best practice techniques I’ve come across for learning chords you’re having difficulty with is:
One Minute Chord Changes.
Set a timer for one minute and switch between the chords you’re having difficulty with and strum once on each change. Count how many changes you can do in the one minute.
Make the changes the highest quality you can, in other words take your time and make the changes so the chord sounds clean.
If you do this daily you’ll be able to see your improvement in quality and speed.
It has shortened my learning curve with difficult chord changes.
Good Luck and have fun.

[Matt G]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

You obviously hadn’t encountered the F chord by that point, then!


whm

That's true. I'm pretty sure I learned D, A, and then G. Once I had those three down solid, I felt pretty much unstoppable. Until I tried the F barre.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by DAS_70

First off, apologies if this has been discussed... I did a quick search but couldn't find anything.

Beginner learning to use pinky on the first string when finger-picking the G chord. So using fingers 2, 3 and 4. I can't for the life of me get a good tone when using all 3 fingers to play the chord (i.e. buzzing only with this string, unless i play string on it's own, without fretting other strings).

Are there any tips/vids on HOW to do this successfully? Even if it's an hour tutorial, i don't mind.... it's bloody hard! lol

I know there's an alternative fingering I could use, but I'd like to try and persevere with this one.

Cheers

Hi DAS
This is a huge group (thousands or people) and every question in the world gets asked…sometimes daily. No need to apologize…it's not a problem.

We are a discussion group not a Guitar-a-pedia.

Yes there are ways to learn to control your finger-pressure/volume-balance on the strings.

I'd suggest just simple plucking of chords as quarter notes (with fingers 2-3-4 or 1-2-3-4) without bass notes to begin with. Start soft and then build the pressure/volume while maintaining the balance you desire. Once you begin to hear balance of individual notes, then practice arpeggiating them as chords.

Do this a few thousand times, and things will become 'automatic' or 'controllable' over time.

I also suggest you don't exclusively focus on it for long periods, but add it to your practice regimen. Techniques need to grow 'together' not in isolation (music is a matter of combining techniques).



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[guitargabor]

Originally Posted by DAS_70

First off, apologies if this has been discussed... I did a quick search but couldn't find anything.

Beginner learning to use pinky on the first string when finger-picking the G chord. So using fingers 2, 3 and 4. I can't for the life of me get a good tone when using all 3 fingers to play the chord (i.e. buzzing only with this string, unless i play string on it's own, without fretting other strings).

Are there any tips/vids on HOW to do this successfully? Even if it's an hour tutorial, i don't mind.... it's bloody hard! lol

I know there's an alternative fingering I could use, but I'd like to try and persevere with this one.

Cheers

Agree with all that has been described above.

So, a couple of technical points.Does your guitar have a wide neck?A narrower neck may make it a bit easier when starting out.And verify that your guitar has a fairly low action too.

Gabe

[Revy]

While you are practicing your pinky on the high e string also work on playing a D minor with your pinky on the b string, index on the high e string, and middle finger on the g string. It will help you with a similar placement and free up your ring finger to hammer on and off the d string to alternate the bass line on a D minor chord. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2dKzkwlEE

[jaymarsch]

Another thing that impacts the independence of the pinky (according to a hand therapist that I worked with) is that the index and middle fingers have their own tendon, whereas the pinky shares a tendon with the ring finger. That means that the flexibility and ability to move independently is different and can feel awkward. so, yes, it takes more time to develop the skills for the pinky. Keep at it and it will feel more natural in no time.

Best,
Jayne

Be determined to crack it and set aside some time each day to focus on the chord.

I once had some classical lessons with Denis Azabagic and he essentially told me that there is always a way to finger and ultimately play tough passages. This applies to any level of guitar. He taught me to literally talk my fingers into position (and even talk wrist positions etc into accurate shifts etc). It was an epiphany for me because here was a world class player demonstrating what he does to achieve mastery.

One of the shapes I struggled with was the barred C Shape (which was required in a Sor study) but using his approach I got it down securely in a week with about 5 - 10 minutes a day extreme focus.

The pinky will develop strength and accuracy over time — chip away at it.

[archerscreek]

I started off playing the 4 finger version.

1st string third fret with pinky.
2nd string third fret with ring finger.
3rd string open.
4th string open.
5th string second fret with index finger.
6th string third fret with middle finger.

When it came time to switch to the pinky, ring, middle finger shaped G chord, the pinky was already trained and strengthened, and the change took a day or so. Perhaps try that.

[rick-slo]

For the G chord fretting just the 1st string and the 6th string works fine most of the time for fingerstyle pieces and even
strumming (in fact it is cleaner sounding than adding in the fretted 5th string).

Also important, when fretting the the 1st and 6th strings it is usually a good idea for the fingertips to be places about half
off the fretboard (no reason to be limited to the fretboard width). That gives you more space for cleaner and non adjacent
string muting playing.

[Pitar]

There's nothing but practice that will develop it to become natural for you. I play as-needed whether it's 1-2-3, 2-3-4 or barre; no visual guide will assist you in your development. You know the fingering so commit to practicing it until you don't need to anymore.

[DAS_70]

Thanks for all the help, guys. Really appreciate it.

I've made notes and will be sure to focus on each suggestions until mastered, taking into account all that's been said, as well as focus/practice routines.


The action is good, and the neck is narrow. Just new movement to me.

Originally Posted by Mojo21

I once had some classical lessons with Denis Azabagic and he essentially told me that there is always a way to finger and ultimately play tough passages. This applies to any level of guitar. He taught me to literally talk my fingers into position (and even talk wrist positions etc into accurate shifts etc). It was an epiphany for me because here was a world class player demonstrating what he does to achieve mastery.

One of the shapes I struggled with was the barred C Shape (which was required in a Sor study) but using his approach I got it down securely in a week with about 5 - 10 minutes a day extreme focus.

Hi, Mojo, thanks for this, but I wanted to ask you to clarify. Can you give an example of how you "talk fingers/wrist into position"? Like, how detailed do you have to be?

Again - thanks all! Overwhelmed by your help. Great forum!