How often do you use your pinky? (...on the fretting hand)

[danonearth]

[color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]

Good day all,

I am wondering how often people use the pinky finger (on the fret hand)? I am experimenting with different scale patterns and it is starting to hurt using the traditional 'box' scale position...

-----------2-4-5-
-----2-3-5-------
-3-5-------------

...so I am favouring a more spread out position (which doesn't seem to hurt my pinky as much, but I have also even just begun playing it with index-middle-ring fingers and no pinky at all)

---------------4-5-
--------3-5-7-----
-3-5-7------------

Just wondering how much I should be relying on the pinky for fretting on the bass? I use it extensively on a guitar, but on bass it tends to get a bit sore, as I think I might be over-using it a bit?

Note: I have been playing for a while, so it is not a 'beginner's muscle development issue...

Thanks![/size][/font][/color]

[Beer of the Bass]

I use the pinky a lot, but I tend to use double bass style fingering lower down the neck, where the hand spans three frets and the pinky is supported by the ring finger behind it.

[Oopsdabassist]

Use mine all the time, I barely have a callus on my ring finger!

[T-Bay]

I use it all the time, but due to arthritic fingers my fretting style is hardly textbook and it often does the job of my bent ring finger, but I mix and match as feels comfortable.

[danonearth]

Thanks, Beer... I think that's what I need to do more of - never have any pain or problems on my upright, just on my elec - must need to transfer more of the 'proper' technique over

[Marc S]

I use mine all the time too. I'm actually left handed - but play the same way as right handed players. Surprisingly, this is not so unusual, there are a couple of threads where BC'ers discuss this, and I was surprised to learn how many of us lefties play this way....

Anyhow, to matters of the OP - my left handedness helped me to learn to use all of my fretting fingers, including my pinky really early on in my playing. Other learners at the time were really struggling to be able to coordinate their pinkies, and build up strength, whereas, the coordination and strength and stamina were pretty much immediate for me.

I usually play 1 finger per fret all the way up the neck, until I get fairly high, when, like Beer Of The Bass, I often skip using my ring finger. This is probably mostly to do with me also playing DB. Every now & then, I sometimes use an alternative finger to fret - but this is usually down to a bit of laziness, or just because I feel like it at the time...

[Marc S]

Me again lol
I've noticed some bass players using their ring fingers, when playing long slides - song's like "Give it away" by RHCP, or "Come Together" by the Beatles. This includes a couple of close Bass playing pals - they know they're doing it, but don't really think about it...
Again, me being a lefty, I would always use my pinky for such slides

[Woodinblack]

I use it a lot, more than the one before it. I often try to not use it to avoid strain but it seems to want to be involved.

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1496391758' post='3310965']
I've noticed some bass players using their ring fingers, when playing long slides - song's like "Give it away" by RHCP, or "Come Together" by the Beatles. This includes a couple of close Bass playing pals - they know they're doing it, but don't really think about it...
Again, me being a lefty, I would always use my pinky for such slides
[/quote]

Another lefty-playing-righty here: really? I'm not sure I'd have that much confidence in my 4th finger over such a long slide! (Though setup and chosen string gauge may also play a part in this...) But then I've always favoured my 2nd and 3rd fingers for bends and vibrato, so perhaps they're more developed by comparison.

[ezbass]

Yep, I use mine all the time too, in fact, pretty much anytime I'm playing three notes on a single string in a scalar pattern.

[chris_b]

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496371426' post='3310883'][color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]I am wondering how often people use the pinky finger [/size][/font][/color][/quote]

All the time. I don't understand your diagrams but I use 1, 2, 4 and 3 the least of all.

Guys who use 1,2,3 just look awkward to me.

IMO you can't "overuse" a finger when playing if you're doing it properly. Are you positioning your hand correctly? A bass isn't just a big guitar, you have to hold everything differently.

If you don't use all your fingers to fret notes you're wasting a resource and overusing the others, which is not good. If any fingers are hurting or uncomfortable when you're playing, either your strings are too high, you're pressing too hard or you're stretching. What ever the cause, get your bass playing technique right and the problem will go away.

[danonearth]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496395805' post='3311020']
All the time. I don't understand your diagrams but I use 1, 2, 4 and 3 the least of all.
[/quote]

Hi Chris, it was just a quick diagram of two different ways of playing a major scale across 3 strings... I am tending towards the second one, as it seems to be easier on my pinky

[paul_5]

All the time.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496371426' post='3310883']


[color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Good day all,

I am wondering how often people use the pinky finger (on the fret hand)? I am experimenting with different scale patterns and it is starting to hurt using the traditional 'box' scale position...

-----------2-4-5-
-----2-3-5-------
-3-5-------------

...so I am favouring a more spread out position (which doesn't seem to hurt my pinky as much, but I have also even just begun playing it with index-middle-ring fingers and no pinky at all)

---------------4-5-
--------3-5-7-----
-3-5-7------------

Just wondering how much I should be relying on the pinky for fretting on the bass? I use it extensively on a guitar, but on bass it tends to get a bit sore, as I think I might be over-using it a bit?

Note: I have been playing for a while, so it is not a 'beginner's muscle development issue...

Thanks![/font][/color]
[/quote]

It sounds to me as if there's something wrong with your technique and you're trying to deal with it by avoiding the issue altogether.

[TKenrick]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1496389421' post='3310933']
I use the pinky a lot, but I tend to use double bass style fingering lower down the neck, where the hand spans three frets and the pinky is supported by the ring finger behind it.
[/quote]

This. Pretty much all the time, including higher registers - it just feels more secure and allows me to keep my fretting hand more relaxed and maintain a relatively straight wrist.

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496371426' post='3310883']

[color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]...so I am favouring a more spread out position (which doesn't seem to hurt my pinky as much, but I have also even just begun playing it with index-middle-ring fingers and no pinky at all)

---------------4-5-
--------3-5-7-----
-3-5-7------------

Thanks![/size][/font][/color]
[/quote]

This makes my hand hurt just thinking about trying it. Biomechanically speaking, your hand isn't really designed to stretch too much between the middle and ring fingers.

[danonearth]

[quote name='TKenrick' timestamp='1496403156' post='3311094']This makes my hand hurt just thinking about trying it. Biomechanically speaking, your hand isn't really designed to stretch too much between the middle and ring fingers.
[/quote]

Lol! I agree I don't stretch them completely out... I do 'slide' up a bit, but it is still easier for me than using my pinky all the time

[dlloyd]

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496403436' post='3311099']
Lol! I agree I don't stretch them completely out... I do 'slide' up a bit, but it is still easier for me than using my pinky all the time
[/quote]

It sounds like a case of tendonitis waiting to happen.

If you're feeling pain in your hand playing in a standard one fret per finger way, then you're doing it wrong. Your way may seem easier for the moment but it will probably hold you back.

Are you playing with your bass neck angled upwards? The headstock should ideally be somewhere around shoulder height... body around about where it would sit on your lap. Your hand should be making a C shape with the thumb at the back of the neck around about parallel with the second finger. You should not be exerting any pressure with the thumb.

[danonearth]

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1496407277' post='3311169']
It sounds like a case of tendonitis waiting to happen.

If you're feeling pain in your hand playing in a standard one fret per finger way, then you're doing it wrong. Your way may seem easier for the moment but it will probably hold you back.

Are you playing with your bass neck angled upwards? The headstock should ideally be somewhere around shoulder height... body around about where it would sit on your lap. Your hand should be making a C shape with the thumb at the back of the neck around about parallel with the second finger. You should not be exerting any pressure with the thumb.
[/quote]

All of those things are correct... I play classical guitar the same way - it's just that my pinky cannot sustain the repeated use as much as my larger, stronger fingers on the bass (fretted bass, this is - my fretless is fine...

[Osiris]

I use mine all the time too, probably more than my ring finger. I haven't got the longest of fingers, so I find it easier to cover smaller stretches using index and pinky e.g. 2 frets at the lower end of the neck, say F to G, than by using a finger-per-fret approach. I also usually play octaves like this too, index on the lower note and the pinky on the octave.

I saw Bruce Foxton play last year (one of my heroes) and he didn't appear to use his pinky all night

Edited June 2, 2017 by Osiris

[dlloyd]

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496410233' post='3311218']
All of those things are correct... I play classical guitar the same way - it's just that my pinky cannot sustain the repeated use as much as my larger, stronger fingers on the bass (fretted bass, this is - my fretless is fine...
[/quote]

Odd. Where are you feeling pain?

[FinnDave]

I never really think about which fingers go where, I just play. My little finger does have a good hard patch, so I must be using it quite a bit.

[Twigman]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1496415482' post='3311282']
I never really think about which fingers go where, I just play. My little finger does have a good hard patch, so I must be using it quite a bit.
[/quote]
This applies to me too...

Sat in the office miles from my basses, the callouses are all i have to go by...all 4 fingers on my left hand have hard patches....never thought about which finger does what.

[mep]

Mine gets a good workout too

[Oopsdabassist]

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1496392548' post='3310973']
Another lefty-playing-righty here:
[/quote]

Actually I am a bit cack handed too, write with my left hand but pretty much everything else except play pool I do right handed.......Doncha just LURVE being different!!

[Norris]

My most pronounced callus is on my pinkie. I think that answers the question