Crazy ring finger when hamering

[OuterBody]

if i place my index and middle finger on the 1st and 2nd Fret and hammer the 4th with my pinky my ring finger goes crazy (up and down) and sometimes touches the string at the 3rd fret.

I know the biology behing this, the pinky and ring finger share the same tendon but I was wondering if you guys know of ways to counteract this, or is it just a fact of life.

I'm pretty much a beginner at this, so any advice is helpfull

[Andelusion]

Hi there, this is quite hard to explain without pictures/video but i'll have a go: If you try and keep your fingers straight whilst playing legato then you should be able to avoid any occurances like you have described. If you watch some classical guitarists you'll see them playing like this.

Try and keep your fingers parallel with the fret wire and try not to bend your fingers too much, keep them straight enough to ensure your third finger is well away from the string.

Getting into the habit of this will not only (after time) strengthen your fingers, you'll have more stamina too. I started guitar lessons after about 7 years of playing and in my first lesson my teacher pointed this out, i struggled with it at first but now there's a definate improvement in my playing.

[OuterBody]

Thanks

That sounds really promising, now I just want to go home and practise.
still another hour and 10 mins of work...... slow day

[rgr]

Practice, yep, that's the best way. Take it slow and do it as clean as possible, you are training the muscles, when they figure out what you want them to do, they will do it repeatedly and at faster tempos.

Hope this helps, doncha hate it when someone says all it takes it work...

Roger

[OuterBody]

yeah, not afraid of a bit of work but when your new to it all its hard to know where to start.

I would really like a copy of the coverted 10 hour workout as I hear thats got some good technique starting points but I'm a blank canvas at the moment.

I can play a few metallica songs, but I'm already advanced enough to know that chugging an e chord along to a widdly solo isnt very challenging. So I'm working on my pentatonic scales and learning the theroy.

Any advise on the beginings of learning good technique would be appreciated

[moro]

I posted about this a few months ago, except my problem was with the pinky flailing around needlessly.

The thing that helped me was to think of it not in terms of holding the finger still, but moving it in the direction opposite the way it's trying to move. For example, if you find that your ring finger moves up when you hammer with your pinky, imagine hammering with the ring finger simultaneously with the pinky.

Also, the ring finger is the least independant of all the fingers. I've found that it helps to stretch it out. During the day, when you find yourself away from the guitar, put your fretting hand on a flat surface and pull up on the ring finger with your right hand. Not so much that it hurts, of course.

Finally, practice unbelievably, mindnumbingly, slowly. I started at about 1 note per second, with the standard 1-2-3-4 chromatic legato runs. The idea is to get your hand to learn to fret with minimal motion. Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar" has some great excercises for this sort of thing.

Good luck.

[rgr]

People are probably getting sick of me posting a link to www.ibreathemusic.com, but there is so much info that's readily available there. It's easier to point you there than try to type out some long, hard to read explanation of something. And no, I have no "vested" interest in the site other than it's really cool.

I'll look at home tonight, I may have jpgs of the 10 hour workout but I can't guarantee it.

Roger

[OuterBody]

Originally Posted by rgr

I'll look at home tonight, I may have jpgs of the 10 hour workout but I can't guarantee it.

That would be really cool, thanks

[Minsc]

I had this problem when I was younger. My teacher at the time showed me a pickiing exercise that helped. It's a little hard to explain but I'll try.

Using alternate picking, pick 1, 4, 3, 4 starting by just using your index, ring, and pinky finger, then switch to 2, 4, 3, 4 starting the pattern with your 2nd finger instead of you first. You just move to each string doing that or up each fret a half step. It's awkward at first, but it helps when you do it slow and concentrate on it. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Kevin

[Ibateur]

I believe I have the 10hour workout in a pdf. OuterBody PM me or post your PM and I'll send it to you tomorrow.

[tone_connoisseur]

You can go to Powertabs.net and download just about anything. I downloaded Steve Vai's 10 hour workout into powertab. Great exercises there for just the thing you're talking about. It strengthens all of the fingers together, especially the 3rd and 4th fingers. Practice a lot, but don't hurt yourself.