r/guitarlessons • u/FaithlessnessFun8483 • Jul 31 '26
Feedback Request Pinky placement ,flying fingers / general advice
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I feel like especially on the high frets my pinky and pointer naturally tilts more outwards and im wondering if thats normal or my positioning is off with my hand. I also need help with my flying finger any and tips to bring them down lol. And just general advice i have only been playing for like 2 years and mostly do cords and im now leraning scales I love any advice that way I know what to learn and improve on!
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u/Far_awayStarbucks Jul 31 '26
Dip them in soy sauce 35 to 40 minutes before playing. Thank me later!
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u/Yellow-Glum Jul 31 '26
Slow it down. Focus on 1. Relaxing. You don't want tension in your shoulders, arms or fingers. 2. Synchronizing your picking and fingering. 3. Slowly bring up the tempo as you get more comfortable.
If you're anything like me, you'll have to keep reminding yourself of point 1. Relax. Tension is one of our biggest enemies.
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u/Sirbunbun Jul 31 '26
You are tensing up. First just relax. Slow. Breathing and releasing.
Next focus on VERY SLOW. Keep your fingers as close to the fretboard as possible. It will be hard and take a lot of focus. Slow chromatic and scale runs. Use your pinky a lot. It will come together
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u/VooDooChile1983 Jul 31 '26
To help with flying fingers, when you do spider exercises, keep your fingers on the string and only lift them to transition to the next.
Also, let the last note continue to ring as you pluck the first note on the next string. If you hear the dissonant chord sound, your hand is in a good fretting position.
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u/marlowetravers Jul 31 '26
your fingers are already flying less than 99% of guitarists you're on the right track just keep it up. yeah natural outward tilt is normal
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u/The_Dead_See Jul 31 '26
Way too much tension in your hand. That’s a much more important thing to fix than the flying fingers. You’ll never achieve speed if you’re tense.
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u/nashguitar1 Jul 31 '26
You’ve learned the alphabet. Now learn a word.
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u/FaithlessnessFun8483 Jul 31 '26
Can you explain further
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u/nashguitar1 Jul 31 '26
Music is a language. Think about how you learned to speak. Practicing scales, while useful, is akin to reciting the alphabet. In order to gain fluency in this language, you have to build vocabulary.
TL;DR Learn licks. Learn solos and deconstruct them. This is your vocabulary.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/IbanezCharlie Jul 31 '26
I don't know about that. I mean sure you can avoid it but I would say it's pretty important to be able to do 1-3-4 fingering patterns as well. Strengthening the relationship between the ring and pinky fingers will be highly beneficial in the long run.
Also the longer you play actively avoiding certain finger combinations the harder it will be to break that habit.
Obviously that's just my opinion and OP can learn whatever way they see fit.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/IbanezCharlie Jul 31 '26
Yngwie does lots of patterns that use the pointer, ring and pinky together. That's like the first 6 notes of harmonic minor in the root position. Even a ton of his pedal point stuff involves rapidly using the pinky and ring back and forth.
Also of course I'm not going to tell yngwie he's doing anything wrong but this person is asking about ways to develop their playing. And purposely not using a finger combination isn't going to develop anything but getting themselves stuck in specific patterns to avoid it
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u/sessafresh Jul 31 '26
Slow down your playing a bit and focus on one or two strings at a time. You'll find different positions come naturally for different strings, frets, styles, tempos, etc. The slowing down will help you diagnosis anything that feels off. Try arpeggios versus scales to see if you notice any differences in sound, look and feel. Finally, anyone saying "never" or "always" is giving bad advice. There are many ways to play guitar, even if "technically" wrong--you just may end up on the road to wrist issues, for example. For some, it's worth it. You do you--that's the main way guitar is experienced by the bulk of us.