Dragging Pinky on picking hand. Thoughts?

Ben Grosskreuz · Apr 29, 2020

I'm in a beginner guitar class at college (it's a joke I know haha).

Anyways the TA sent me this in response to my video of that weeks assignment.

I'm tempted to send him a video of Syn playing and ask him to explain why Syn is being "slowed down."

EDIT: I don't actually anchor my pinkie...it kind of just drags along and is there if I need the support...exactly how Syn does it.

Anyways, whatcha guys think?

Jak Angelescu · Apr 29, 2020

I have said this numerous times that anchoring your pinky down to the face of the guitar is bad. However my guitar teacher has a tendency to do it occasionally. He informed me however that when it comes to playing faster he has no choice but to lift to the pinky off. He would agree with me that tucking your pinky is the best way to do it. Some people have a tendency to let it do different things. But ultimately if you want to play faster it's best to tuck it

idssdi · Apr 30, 2020

I think it very much depends on the technique. I don't think Syn anchors his pinky all the time tbh

Ethan Keeling · Apr 30, 2020

When i have tried to do it in the past it has always slown me down so i never do it. Guess it depends how drastically you do it. I feel Syn doesnt anchor all the time and when he does it doesn't look like it's enough to affect him.

Calvin Phillips · Apr 30, 2020

Making a fist would make you play faster. Totally could understand the ergonomics behind it. It's why I'm trying to start tucking mine in more. I have to constantly remind myself to.

Jacques · Apr 30, 2020

Better yet why do you feel so inclined to be insubordinate with your teacher??

idssdi · Apr 30, 2020

I see @Jacques is asking the real question here. For your playing I'm not sure it matters that much in general(I mean Syn does it all the time) but if your teacher gives you feedback you better just listen to him. He's the one determining the grade and I'm not sure showing him a clip of Syn playing to prove him wrong is gonna do your grade any good

Alicia Willis · Apr 30, 2020

Jak Angelescu said:
I have said this numerous times that anchoring your pinky down to the face of the guitar is bad. However my guitar teacher has a tendency to do it occasionally. He informed me however that when it comes to playing faster he has no choice but to lift to the pinky off. He would agree with me that tucking your pinky is the best way to do it. Some people have a tendency to let it do different things. But ultimately if you want to play faster it's best to tuck it

I can attest to this ! I cannot shred by any means, but since Jak got on me early on about anchoring my pinky (I did it out of comfort and not realizing it was bad) I have improved so much when I play single notes.

Ben Grosskreuz · Apr 30, 2020

Jacques said:
Better yet why do you feel so inclined to be insubordinate with your teacher??

My teacher isn't the brightest in my opinion. Based on the stuff he has said in the past he almost seems unqualified. It's not that I'm inclined to be "insubordinate with my teacher," I'm pointing out that Syn does what I do with my pinky which is NOT anchoring it but letting it drag sometimes, depending on technique and I know for a fact Syn and myself can both play faster than my teacher.

Jesse Salmons · Apr 30, 2020

Honestly as long as you explain to your teacher that you’re not anchoring it all the time i think its fine. I mean, your teacher is only there to help you, and what he might think is anchoring in a video may not be the case. I do the same thing, only my pinky hovers like a 1/4” above the body, and if i need the support i can anchor. But as Syn himself and Papa Gates say, if its comfortable to you and works for you then by all means do it.

Jak Angelescu · Apr 30, 2020

Ben Grosskreuz said:
My teacher isn't the brightest in my opinion. Based on the stuff he has said in the past he almost seems unqualified. It's not that I'm inclined to be "insubordinate with my teacher," I'm pointing out that Syn does what I do with my pinky which is NOT anchoring it but letting it drag sometimes, depending on technique and I know for a fact Syn and myself can both play faster than my teacher.

Sounds like you need a new teacher

idssdi · Apr 30, 2020

Ben Grosskreuz said:
My teacher isn't the brightest in my opinion. I know for a fact Syn and myself can both play faster than my teacher.

Sorry, but I'm gonna shoot you off right there. He teaches guitar in college so he probably knows what he's talking about. You disagreeing with him is fine but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

In what way did you see him play to say you can play faster than him? If it's only in his teaching role there's no way you can say that.

Respect your teacher. Being a teacher is one of the most honorable jobs there is.

Ben Grosskreuz · May 2, 2020

Jak Angelescu said:
Sounds like you need a new teacher

Syn is my real teacher. This guy is a teacher in name only!

idssdi · May 2, 2020

Ben Grosskreuz said:
Believe me pal I know what I know. This teacher also teaches funky finger technique for fretting and lots of other nonsense.

I'm going to stick to what I'm doing because Syn plays the same way and Syn might possibly be just like hella good and technique is flawless.

Having a floating fist for picking is unstable and puts you at risk of not having as good of a feel for where your strings and what not are.

I am not anchoring my pinky if you ever watch me play you would know.

I think I'm doing just fine....

I mean it can't be THAT bad of a technique if I can economy pick 13+ notes per second and on certain sweep picking patterns I've hit 20 before (recorded directly into my computer and slowed down...I hit every note I promise)

Ive seen you play and you play just fine. All I'm saying is you seem to be disrespectful towards your teacher and you should never think that way about your teachers. I've done so in the past and always ended up failing the course because I didn't do something the way they wanted me to do it.

In the end teachers will test you on what they taught you so if you want to pass the chord you just gotta suck it up until the course ends. If you don't care whether you pass by all means keep going the way you are doing it because you play fine.

Btw most gypsy players play with a floating wrist and they can shred just fine.

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Dragging Pinky on picking hand. Thoughts?

Is dangling your picking hand pinky bad?

Yes

No

Depends on technique

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