equal finger strength

[C.C. Devil]

my pinky is decently strong and i can use it fine. i use it all the time and sometimes i do pinky-specific exercises.
my question is is it possible to get your index-pinky, middle-pinky, and ring-pinky strength and speed as good as your index-ring relation?

although my pinky is pretty good, what ultimately slows me down is still my pinky. i know that the easiest finger relation is index-middle or index-ring. i wonder if its possible to get that same feeling of ease with the pinky relations.

ive been trying to get all my fingers equally strong and coordinated, but i find it very difficult for the weaker ones to catch up.

[jessmanca]

Don't worry about individual fingers so much. It's important at first but from what you've said about your current level, Just play music and eventually you'll come across a piece that requires more pinky speed/dexterity (not strength) and you'll find a way to make it happen. Necessity breeds invention.

Well a good piece for building pinky strength would have to be the tapping section of van halen's eruption. It's doable by anyone who's been playing for 6 months to a year or so. (just the tapping section don't drive yourself nuts trying to match the rest of the solo :)

[C.C. Devil]

thanks for the reply
i have no problems with my pinky, its pretty strong and coordinated, but im not sure if i should keep on working on it. i was wondering if its possible to get the connection between the middle finger and pinky as coordinated as the index-ring connection. the index-ring relation is so coordinated. if its possible to get it like that, then i would keep working on it, but if its impossible or extremely hard to get, then i would be satisfied with my pinky and would rather work on something else.

anybody here have a pinky that is just as good as the ring finger and no worse?

[stratus]

Do your legato exercises only using your middle, ring and little finger..
Thats the way to develop your finger coordination..

[charlieboy]

some of my students have this problem, or develop this problem, using only them as an example, i find that it usually is related not so much to the lack of coordinaton with those 2 fingers, but a sort of comfortable strength they aquire quickly as begginers and carry on throughout their playing.
after learning things like basic pentatonic scales and power chords theyre most comfortable with those fingers and given their technical improvement is at a relatively equal level: those fingers started in front and (sometimes) remain there.
maybe this is a completely different scenario to yourself. but i try to do these things with them to help overcome it.
1st. tech. exercises up and back to the 12th fret with a metronome, a target tempo, and 20minutes: forwards notes (on E string) F then G (on A) Bflat then C, so on and so on, then start the same one you've reached the high e string going backwards starting 2nd fret (G# then F#) then on Bstring (D# then C#) etc etc.. all the way up then all the way back. then again, then again.

that's the most basic of exercises so you have to go nuts and mutate it into anything you need it to be (that's the most fun i think!)
2nd. i find that arps really really really increase the coordination between not only the L and R hands, but the fingers (with or without each other), especially due to the neccesity of controlling so many different things at once particularly string noise (though of course some like to recruit the use of a slight palm mute to aid this). you probably know all if this, i just think if your not a sweeper or a guy who likes to expand on basic tech. exercises then doing those two things daily will help sort out your finger thing in no time flat.

i hope.. good luck man.

[C.C. Devil]

thanks for the replies, but my question actually was simply if its possible to be able to control your middle-pinky relation so well that it doesnt make a difference if i use my index-ring or middle-pinky in any given time at any speed. i guess from your replies that the answer is yes.

i have been doing my legato exercises for quite some time so i can control my fingers well. i just dont know if i should keep on working on them because if the middle-pinky strength and coordination is impossible or very hard to get to the same level as index-ring, then i would rather start working on something else.

so again, i guess the answer is yes.
i wasnt really looking for exercises or anything but thanks.

[superlocrian]

Anybody have some cool pinky exercises, please post them.

[charlieboy]

in that case then, the answer is as you say, most definately yes.

[C.C. Devil]

yea thanks, the question i was asking might have been too obvious for people to answer directly. i just wasnt sure. ill just have to keep working on it then.