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Pinky Power!

Hey there my friend… Pull up a chair, let’s talk guitar chops 🙂

There’s SOOO many ways we can work on our chops.
One obvious area of chops is our picking… Another obvious area is
our left hand fretting. I want to focus on that today, and specifically
on the pinky because its often the weakest finger when it comes
to fretting.

If we can improve the weak link that’s the pinky, we
can gain a lot more control, chops, and power.

So today, I’m going to focus on an 8-note repeating lick.
Work on this one, and practice it as fast and as clean as you can.

Here’s the lick:

I’m going to demonstrate this at 160 bpm. First I’ll play it slow
a couple times with pauses, then I’ll play it slow repeating, and then fast repeating.

See if you can play it faster and cleaner than I’m playing it here! Of course,
if you can’t that’s fine, just play it clean at whatever speed you
can, and go from there.

Now, whenever I’m learning a new lick and I want to
play it as fast and as clean as possible, I often examine what
the right hand picking is doing first, and master that on its own.

We are using strict alternate picking starting with
a downstroke. If we don’t fret any of the notes and just
play open strings on the D and G strings, we get this:

JUST THE RIGHT HAND PICKING:

[audio:https://www.claudejohnson.com/blog/audio/april2011-ex1.mp3]

This isn’t too difficult… But now try adding the left hand. You’ll use the following
fingers for the eight note in the lick:

Index, Middle, Pinky, Middle, Pinky, Middle, Pinky, Middle.

So you’re using your pinky a lot and on 2 different strings. Have fun!

RIGHT AND LEFT HANDS TOGETHER:

[audio:https://www.claudejohnson.com/blog/audio/april2011-ex2.mp3]

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8 Comments

  1. Manuel Reply to Manuel
    April 29, 2011 at 3:29 am

    I would like to buy your cd classes but I don’t have a bank card how can a buy it.

    WE TAKE CHECKS AND MONEY ORDERS! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US ON GUITARCONTROLHELP.COM – CLAUDE

  2. mATTBOY Reply to mATTBOY
    April 30, 2011 at 4:39 am

    I like this cos my pinky is often a problem when I’m tryna fret strings. Good idea!

  3. Mike Peters Reply to Mike
    April 30, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Tried to view little finger power examples…tapped …clicked…..everywhere did see any live demo of lesson….any technical.assistance would be appreciated …..for. DroidX

    ARE YOU VIEWING THIS ON A DROID PHONE ? – CLAUDE

  4. foxtalis Reply to foxtalis
    May 7, 2011 at 4:41 am

    Thanks for this workout it’s a real muscle burner, just what I was looking for.

  5. harold Reply to harold
    May 10, 2011 at 9:21 am

    Thanks – still a novice. Your lessons are good. Thanks again.

  6. jstin466 Reply to jstin466
    May 10, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    Claude you and the guys that teach are so great.I try to get my speed and i have tried everything that you have told me to do but i believe it is my finger length. My little finger is 2″ long my ring finger is 2&1/2″ long my middle finger is 3″ my first finger 2&7/8″ the thumb is 2″ and the with of my palm is 3&1/2″ Claude I’m 59 years old I’ve had six lower back operation and i been playing guitar since i was seventeen and to listen to you teachers i ask myself what is it that I’m not understanding and i just can’t find it and i stay so depressed to listen to you and Jimmy and my Blues Man to be so young what is wrong with me you guys are great. I listen to every e-mail you send me.

  7. Johan Jansen Reply to Johan
    May 15, 2011 at 12:03 am

    Hi Claude is it at all possible for you to send me some info on finger picking and soulocoustic guitar secrets to the above e-mail adress one of my frends introduced me to your fabulous blog.Thank you Johan

  8. Tom Reply to Tom
    May 16, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Claude,
    Great website. I need to contact you about an order error. How do I contact you?

    PLEASE VISIT GUITARCONTROLHELP.COM FOR ANY CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES… THANKS! – CLAUDE

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