Need help with a few technical questions

[Diabolus]

Hi guys,

New guy here, here's the situation: I've been playing for some time now, going back and forth between guitar and drums. I've reached a certain level of technical ability, but I still have some very fundamental questions. I learned a lot from my teacher back when I still got one, like keeping your pinky close to the fretboard and staying relaxed, but now as I progress, I've started asking other questions about technique:

1. My teacher always told me to put my fingers with the very tip of the finger on the string, but I'm having serious trouble doing this with my pinky. Is it imperative that I keep trying to do this all the time?

2. I've recently started training my legato skills, and I was wondering if you guys trained to keep your pinky close to the fretboard when playing legato aswell? I find it extremely hard to get good hammer-on's when my pinky is too close, but on the other hand, I have always learnt to keep my pinky close...

3. When doing big stretches, I'm having trouble keeping my fingers in that relaxed state that I practice when for example playing chromatic (1 half step between each finger). Is that normal, and any advice to keep those fingers relaxed while bridging longer distances?

4. As a drummer, I have always learned to keep my back straight, and when I play the drums it's easy to keep at it, but when I play guitar, I always tend to bend forward alot so I can see my fretboard better. I don't know if this is good or bad, and I really need some advice on this one.

Any help is very much appreciated!

Simon

[hairballxavier]

Well as a drummer you should know about economy of motion just as much as a guitar player. You just got to make sure your fingers are close to where they need to be when you need them there. Different terchniques will suit different players better depending of their physiology.



As far as stretches go, well just start them out on higher registers where the frets are closer together and work your way down to the lower registers once you have it down. It's a gradual process.

[joeyd929]

Most guitar teachers will tell you to use the KFD approach. "Keep Fingers Down". However, guitarists like Pat Metheny break all the rules and flail fingers.

My advice is try using your fingers (pinky included) in a way that feels comfortable for now and work your way towards keeping it close to the strings.

It's all relative. The important thing is to get the fingers moving...good luck

If your pinky is a little bit further from the strings it's not like the pinky police will bust you. Find what works for you. I also have trouble with my pinky, just can't get it strong enough. keep practicing..

[newamerikangosp]

Well, especially with legato, you should be using your pinky constantly. So it should naturally "fall in line". And as stated, the less distance you have to travel the quicker you will be when doing something. Your teacher was strict about it so that it became a mindset early on, instead of trying to correct something after years of playing.