Middle Finger Problem

[raziology]

Hey everyone !

This is my first topic over here ( hopefully it wont be my last ) well the thing is that i'm having troubles playing the guitar ( well who hasn't :P ).

the thing is when i try to play something with my index followed by my ring finger , my middle finger rises up like the american flag after world war II !

Some people told me that there are some exercices that i could practise on , and that would help me get rid of this bad habit !

Plz guys , i would be more than thanful if you provide me with those exercices

[Imyan]

Lets try this exercise. All you have to do is keep playing the whole thing without ever taking your middle finger off that 8th fret of the D string.

After you have done it for a while, trying playing just the two notes that are under the 7th and 9th fret on the G string wihout playing the 8th fret of the D string at all.

Your middle finger should now be learnig how to relax near the fretboard even if it has nothing to do around there.

I'm no expert. This is just what I did and it worked for me. I actaully had the problem with all my finger. They were all going like flags whenever they didn't have a note to fret. So I did this exercise for all the fingers.

[raziology]

Thanks alot Imyan , i will do this exercise , let's hope that it'll pay off !

[brokenstring]

The best excersise i can think of for this is one i use in my daily warm up.

in your case i would use it with the middle and ring fingers. play the first fret and the second fret consecutivly using the middle finger followed by the ring finger with an up stroke and then a down stroke on the low e then do the same thing again on the a string , the d string the g string the b string and the high e string now move it up a fret keeping the same fingers going. go backwards on the way down such that you play with the ring finger followed by the middle finger. do this all the way up and down the neck of the guitar.

In my warm up i do this with all posible finger combinations.

possible short commings of this excersise include the fact that everyone around you will think you are just making noies. but as a guitarist you should be used to that.

[raziology]

Thanks so much Brokenstring , when i get back home , i will make sure to practise on what you've just mentioned. I hope that a week would be enough for me to get rid of this absolutely annoying habit.

[smallbusrider]

Maybe you're just an obscene person!!! lol
Seriously, with practice you should be able to get rid of the habit (like anything else). I was fortunate, I taught myself to play and I never seem to have acquired any bad habits...(instead not practicing enough)