My pinky is weak...

[dontblink182]

Well, I'm trying to do scales right now(just got a bass a couple days ago), but my pinky is so weak. It's incredibly hard for me to press down hard enough not to get fret buzz...and also another problem. There seems to be a weird noise coming from the 4th string near the bottom...kinda hard to explain. I tried to adjust the truss rod and the noise started happening then. It's hard to play my bass without getting fret buzz, you really have to press hard. Should I just call up my music store and see if they can get rid of my fret buzz?

[funkyhoney]

umm if your new to bass and done know what your doing DO NOT go messing with your truss rod, that will almost certainly make it worse. If your not sure go and get it set up professionly. Sounds to me like your action may be to high if you ave to fret really stongly to get rid of the buzz, take it to the shop and ask.
As for you pinky strength its just something you'll have to work on, keep trying it will get strong soon. :thumb:

[Orange Fog]

How old are you? I remember starting guitar, and I thought I had to press down too hard... After awhile, once your fingers are nice and calloused, you won't even notice. Your pinky will take a couple months (depending how much you play) to be fully calloused and easy to use.

[dontblink182]

Yeah, I'm thinking about taking it into a music shop sometime. Most music shops that sell bass will set it up for free if I buy strings, right?
I'm 15. Will practicing scales slowly and going up in speed help me?

[Orange Fog]

Scales are pretty much only to warm up and to just know for later on purposes.

If you ever have to use your pinky, just use it, and put up with the pain, it'll pay off in the long run.

[darrell]

Yeah, I'm thinking about taking it into a music shop sometime. Most music shops that sell bass will set it up for free if I buy strings, right?
I'm 15. Will practicing scales slowly and going up in speed help me?

No, I doubt they would setup your bass for the price of strings. Practice your scales cleanly, not fast.

[Phalanx]

if you're finding your pinky is weak then it could be down to your left hand technique, make sure your thumb is on the back of the neck for better reach and flexibility, then just force yourself to use your pinky in the appropriate places, most scales are 3,4 or 5 frets wide (well, the way I play them they are) so force yourself to use each finger in the individual places, if you make a mistake and use a finger twice on a string then restart the scale

[basgitarist]

When I started I also found the pinky the weakest finger. A friend of mine who had classical guitar lessons showed me an exercise like this


G|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
D|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
A|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E|-1-2-3-4-|-2-3-4-5-|-3-4-5-6-|-4-5-6-7-|-5-6-7-8-| etc..


just walk up to the 12th fret or so, using 1 finger per fret. So you would play every first note of a measure with your index and every last with your pinky. When your up at the 12th fret walk back like this:


G|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
D|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
A|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E|-8-7-6-5-|-7-6-5-4-|-6-5-4-3-|-5-4-3-2-|-4-3-2-1-| etc.


do this on every string while keeping a steady beat. Try to only take take your finger from the fretbard when you need it to fret a note or when it's in your way on the way back. Also don't take your fingers off from the fretboard too far. It decreases speed. Practise with a metronome

http://www.metronomeonline.com

and try to make good clean notes. When you are able to walk on every string increase your speed. When you are confident about this aswell try scales and think of patterns where you skip strings to put extra strain on your pinky like:


G|---------|-----3-4-|---------|
D|---------|-1-2-----|---8---7-|
A|-----3-4-|---------|---------|
E|-1-2-----|---------|-6---5---|


grab the 4's the 8's and 7's with your pinky. When you notice kramp or pain take a break for a while. Also watch out for pinkyblisters.

Good luck! :thumb:

[tomtom]

i just got callouses and finger strength from playing. the more you play, the tougher the callouses get, and the stronger your pinky becomes.
to be completely honest, i don't worry about callouses or pinky strength. just be persistent, and they will come.

[mullet0909]

i had the same problem at first. now my pinky finger is one of my strongest and i use it more often then i should. because i have small hands i have to use it a lot. make sure ur thumb is perpendicular to the neck. tihs helped me tremendously. it makes it easier to use ur pinky. maybe even moving ur thumb to the bottom of the neck also...it gives u a wider playing field.

[Akira]

Scales are pretty much only to warm up and to just know for later on purposes.

If you ever have to use your pinky, just use it, and put up with the pain, it'll pay off in the long run.
Scales are amazingly useful. Besides using them for writing and soloing, they are great for building speed, finger dexterity, endurance, etc.

[gaslight]

Scales are amazingly useful. Besides using them for writing and soloing, they are great for building speed, finger dexterity, endurance, etc.

And especially familiarity with the fretboard. When/if people practice their scales in two octaves using as many different fingerings as they can, that's when they get the most out of it.

As for pinky strength, it is normal for the pinky to be weak when starting bass or guitar because your pinky has most likely not done a whole lot before this. There are exercises you can do for it, some examples of which were posted above, but you will also strengthen your pinky simply by including it in your playing.

Make sure to focus on practising scales cleanly and evenly to a metronome, and only then increase the tempo. There is no point in playing something fast if it is uneven and messy sounding, that's just bad playing. If you can play it fast, clean and tight, however, then that is a sign you are improving. It is worth nothing that from a technique point of view it is difficult to play at the extremely high BPM speeds, but from a time keeping point of view the real difficulty will arise at the extremely slow BPM speeds.

For a bonus metronome & time keeping exercise, try setting your metronome (if it has the function) to be on for X bars and then off for X bars in a loop. Clap along to the rhythm, or the subdivisions, and practice till you come back in accurately when the metronome returns.

[Caleb3221]

Scales are definatley important, and will help you a ton. Keep practicing them. They seem a bit useless at first somtimes, but they will do wonders for you(like ruidments on drums(I think I remember you from D&P))

[XxI Stealth IxX]

Yea its wierd because my friend is a guitar player and right off the bat he is amazing and fast with that pinky, but lacks thumb use (We both play guitar and bass) compared to me (Slap) and I lack the pinky use compared to him, I Suggest learning some guitar licks on bass and use a lot of hammer ons and such to work out that pink, Thats what Iam currently doing and it helps :chug:

[Liebensaft]

You do know that "I am" is two words, separated by a strike of the space bar, yes?

[Mushrooms]

i have a couple of off topic quesions since i cant make new threads

1.my 6th fret for my e string buzzes and no other fret buzzes
2.i cant move my fingers fast at all
3.in the following post i dont know what the i-m-r--m pattern means... can you clarify


for finger plucking speed i do smthg that might sound crazy for u but when am watching tv or doing anything that doesn't need 100% focus i have my pass in my hand, i mute the strings and start picking with my 3 fingers in i-m-r--m-i pattern, u could do that with 2 fingers as well...just don't go as fast as u can, nice and slow and keep the rythm constant, after an hour or so u'll be able to feel ur muscles working....now i'm doing this with all my 4 fingers hoping i can start using all 4 within a couple of months :D ......aynyway, that's how i was able to start using my 3 fingers in a realtively short period compared to the time ppl mentioned of at least 3 months to get initial speed

[Your Tourniquet]

I'd say practice your scales nice and slowly- make sure you can hear every note clearly. Once you can play thrpugh the scale several times without making a single mistake, play it a bit faster- I'd suggest a metronome for this. I barely use my pinky, but that's because it's kinda deformed. The top bit bends towards the ring finger at an angle, and it's considerably shorter than the other fingers... gets a lot of attention when I do the horns though :p

So yeah, get a metronome and play those scales! :thumb:

[[LP213]]

I've been playing for just over a week and have already developed a little bit of strength in my pinky. Just keep giving it a work out, the pain is only temporary.

[ZMM]

There's also this option, they work alright. I use it when I'm away, and can't bring my bass.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=bass/search/detail/base_pid/429070/

[maco]

It's hard on beginners. You always have to press kinda hard, I guess, but it seems harder when you're starting, then you get used to it. You can get the action lowered to make it easier to press, but then it'll probably buzz anyway from the strings being too close, which would be bad. Just keep practicing. Your pinky is your weakest finger. I still have to concentrate a bit extra when I use my pinky even after a year and half of playing. Just keep doing your scales. Do chromatics with alternate picking to strengthen your fingers and get dexterity going. It gets easier.

i have a couple of off topic quesions since i cant make new threads

1.my 6th fret for my e string buzzes and no other fret buzzes
2.i cant move my fingers fast at all
3.in the following post i dont know what the i-m-r--m pattern means... can you clarify


for finger plucking speed i do smthg that might sound crazy for u but when am watching tv or doing anything that doesn't need 100% focus i have my pass in my hand, i mute the strings and start picking with my 3 fingers in i-m-r--m-i pattern, u could do that with 2 fingers as well...just don't go as fast as u can, nice and slow and keep the rythm constant, after an hour or so u'll be able to feel ur muscles working....now i'm doing this with all my 4 fingers hoping i can start using all 4 within a couple of months :D ......aynyway, that's how i was able to start using my 3 fingers in a realtively short period compared to the time ppl mentioned of at least 3 months to get initial speed
1. Take it to a guitar store, tell them what's up, and get them to set it up
2. SCALES!
3. index-middle-ring--middle-index

[king of suede]

i have the same problem with my pinky... when i play scales and arrpegio's things that are hard on the pinky, the pinky side of my hand just starts burning and makes it almost impossible to play (i know i know... it could lead up to tedonitis and other crap... i'm being careful), and i've been playing bass for a little over a year now, and my pinky hasn't really gotten that much stronger, you may just have to live with using your pinky for little stuff, thats what cliff did (he snap some tendons in his pinky as a kid, he only used it for hammer ons and stuff, he just couldn't hold a note with it)

[BassVirtuoso]

You should adjust your action before you mess with your truss rod.

Just do this all the time and your pinky will be strong in no time.

5h8p5h8p5