Another pinky issue

[Eric Platt]

This has been a recurring issue in my left hand my entire life. So it's not just mandolin. First noticed it many years ago playing bass in school. (aka 40+ years ago)

My left pinky doesn't always want to go where I want it to, when I want it to. The bottom joint (knuckle) seems to slip around sometimes. Makes it difficult to predict when it will hit the fretboard and when it will just say "gimme a sec, will be there in a minute."

Realized that for the last 20+ years of guitar playing, would either not call on it to do anything difficult while flatpicking, or just shift the hand so the 3rd finger covers it.

Tougher to do that on mandolin. Especially as some of the music I'm playing will have reaches from F to C on the E string. Could try moving things to play out of a closed position higher up, but most of the time I don't like that tone.

Any other suggestions? Again, it does work, just not necessarily with the speed and reliability I need.

[Mark Wilson]

What happens if you slow it way down and use it deliberately. If it won't cooperate at very slow speed I wouldn't know what to do.

But if you can use it at very slow speeds, I would suspect it would function at normal speeds, but like anything hard, it takes a lot of focused woodshedding to train

[UsuallyPickin]

Pinky's do require a great deal of education and exercise. I expect it is partly due to the joined musculature between the pinky and ring fingers. Getting the pinky to "follow suit" with the ring finger in a scale or chord isn't too difficult. Beyond that it is problematic. As M.W. points out slow practice is the way to get things going. Beyond that ........ IDK R/

[Mark Gunter]

Mark really hit the nail on the head here, I think. Train it slow and don't worry if you see little improvement, just stay at it, because these things take some time to develop and one day like magic it will be there if you don't worry about it and just keep practicing it slowly. The only other thing I could think of is what you've already done - shift your hand, and work from a closed position.

most of the time I don't like that tone.

In that case, ask yourself, "Is it this particular mandolin, or is it my ability to draw tone from it?" Only you can answer that one. Some mandolins sound bad. On the other hand, you can also work on getting a tone you like by practicing slowly in closed positions and paying attention to technique.

I have a buddy who is a fiddler who has three fingers on the left hand. And let's not forget Django Reinhart. People with a disability there have to learn to shift and get good tone.

Good luck with your endeavors!

[Eric Platt]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. Yeah, just need to woodshed more. It's always been strange, slow, it will usually work (although sometimes recently not as much). But try it a good lead playing speed and, nope.

As to not liking the sound up the neck, that's a personal preference. Always had it. Same on guitar. I will do it if the song requires it. But would rather avoid it if possible. Then again, I do have a tendency to own instruments that don't necessarily have a sweet tone up the neck.

As to Django, he was unique. The fact he could pull such a great tone from a 5mm thick pick has likewise always stumped me.

[JeffD]

Here is something to seriously try. It made all the difference for me.

Conceive of your pinky as not a full fledged finger. Not an independent digit. Think of your pinky as the pet animal of your ring finger. You don't have four fingers to play with, you have three and a pet.

So when you have to deploy the pet, you have to deploy the ring finger somewhere nearby. Usually one or two frets below on the same string.

I have come across only a very very few instances where the pinky has to move entirely independent of its master, the ring finger. In the great majority of cases deploying the ring finger is benign to the tune, but allows the pet pinky to be strong and not stretch its leash to reach its frets.

I know it sounds weird. But seriously give it a try, I think you will find amazing results.

[JeffD]

The hand is marvelously complicated, and a lot of our presuppositions about the similarity of the fingers are incorrect or only partially correct. Fascinating stuff really.

[Jim Garber]

Especially as some of the music I'm playing will have reaches from F to C on the E string. Could try moving things to play out of a closed position higher up, but most of the time I don't like that tone.

F is on the A string right next to the C on the E string. You just have to shift up to 2nd or possibly 3rd position. Also, it might help to lower your action if you are not getting the tone you want.