Guitar Etiquette - Pinky-IN or Pinky-OUT

[Hoya]

Hey All -

This is more of a "technique" question . . . I had a lesson on the same day that I bought my first guitar years ago. One of the first things my instructor told me was "Always use your pinky". And yet I see excellent guitarists that can wail and shred with their pinky tucked away. I am curious about why this occurs. Is it a bad habit that just happened or is it a conscious decision. What do you guys think?

[spitball]

In most cases, I'd say bad habit. It's just like wrapping your thumb around the neck. It's considered incorrect, but nearly all rock guitarists do it. And it doesn't mean you'll play poorly, obviously.

[Gibson CS]

I use my pinky. It took some getting used to over the years, but I let

it play with the others.

[Mark]

I have thought the same thing, But if you practice your scales etc. you will have to use that little feller. I think if you get use to using

him you will open up a whole new tone for yourself and be able to play smoother and faster. I must admit mine is a little shy

 

Great question! Mark

[flyingarmadillo]

Couldn't play my 12 string or my SG without my pinky. And I agree that scales really help train all the fingers to do their job better! It really helped me 'cuz my pinky and index fingers are double jointed!

[Raptor]

It is hard to say really. Traditional training would say use your pinky and never your thumb. I don't use my thumb at all, and do use my pinky. For some people it is very hard to use the pinky and they give up on it, but it can be a very valuable tool. In the end using your pinky is best, but whatever works for you is fine. Django Reinhardt was one of the best jazz players ever and he only had the use of 2 fingers for fretting.

[El Dragyn]

Learn your scales and your pinky will learn to play.

[rjay777]

killeraxe is right about the scales. Learning the scales on the fretboard pretty much forces all your fingers to access the notes, and it falls into place naturally. But it's not life or death. Everyone has their own styles, and whatever feels naturally to you is cool too.

[Oyster]

Everyone has their own styles' date=' and whatever feels naturally to you is cool too. [/quote']

 

That's exactly what I was going to say. Jeff Healey comes to my mind... talk about 'making it work.'

 

There's a million ways to play a guitar. If you get the sound you're looking for, who cares!!

[Zaphod B]

I went for years without using my pinky except on certain chord configurations, and at some point I realized that I was losing a lot of reach by not using it. My hands are really small so I need all the reach I can get.

 

Once I made my mind up to start using it I realized that I had been avoiding it because it's not naturally a very strong finger. It gained strength very quickly and now I use it constantly, transparently. It gives me a lot of movement options that I didn't have before.

 

I highly recommend incorporating that pinky into your playing style.