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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Does My Little Finger Of Picking Hand Can Stick On The Guitar?

Posted by: WillHuang Jul 31 2011, 05:17 PM

One of my friend told me that my picking hand's little finger should not stick on the guitar. You can see my right hand's little finger in the following video. Is this a bad habit?

Posted by: Adrian Figallo Jul 31 2011, 05:29 PM

Hey there, well, that could be seen as a bad habit for sure, it even has a name which i don't remember right now, but at least me, i use it to mute the strings while im playing, so i can attack them much harder and keep everything under control. The thing is, it SHOULD NOT limite the movement of your right hand, check my right hand hand here:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Zeppelin-Black-Riffing/

So, in my opinion it could be a bad habit, but it also could work for you, it depends on you

Posted by: Azzaboi Jul 31 2011, 08:07 PM

There's two ways of playing floating or archored.

Your using your little pinkie as an archor, which a lot of people do, it gives the feeling of support and more control. It's not necessary a bad habit, unless it's slowing you down or getting in the way. One trick is to have it slightly resting just under the bottom string rather than the guitar body, keeping that string muted when not playing it and floating it off when playing. Then it can serve as two purposes.

If it is an issue however, then practice curling in your index finger fully - with the thumb straight on top of the index's side (holding the pick) and stretch out the other fingers as straight as possible. You don't really need to playing the guitar like this but just get that shape down in your head and be able to hold it comfortably, after a while of practicing and holding that position, even if your doing it while walking down the road, it should stretch the hand out a bit and feel more natural. Then relax the hand when playing, the finger might curl in a bit, that's fine, just float the free fingers. Most important to stay relaxed when playing and do something which is comfortable to you.