View the full lesson at Minimum Movement Exercise | JustinGuitar
WOW, this is really hard. Every time I take my little finger off it naturally springs up at least a centimetre. Even concentrationg on preventing that is very difficult.
Welcome @Eristdoof !
We have a lot of answers and support here, but not for the little pinky. It sure has a mind of its own!
Mine flails and jerks. I can’t seem to bend it in a smooth motion, so it jumps and kinks. This is on my left fretting hand and I am left handed!
I do think Justin’s exercise and others and the adage “practice” will hold true here. Mine is slowly improving the more I use it. I have a few things I practice that are not specific to the pinky, but use the pinky a lot. Even just practicing cords and scales that use the pinky helps a lot.
I am trying a riff that has pinky hammer ons and they are…awkward to say the least.
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Welcome to the forum Tim.
Keep at it your fingers will figure it out. Slow and steady.
It’s the best exercise to get that pesky pinky under control.
@Jamolay the Minimum Movement Exercice would help you
as well.
I have been doing it for a while. It does help, absolutely. It just takes time when you have more than half a century of incorrect pinky experience…
For me, this is the most challenging exercise so far. My little finger is all the time “flying” and I didn’t noticed that until now. I have to invest seriously on this matter.
Keep at it mate. This exercise really works, and, over time, will tame that pinky, as well as get your other fingers closer to the fretboard.
Cheers, Shane
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I quit practicing my scales at speed and started doing this for 5 minutes every practice instead. The 1st 2 weeks were brutal!
Now, ~3 months in, even my pinky is under control ~90% of the time. It definitely works, but you MUST focus on controlling your fingers and completely forget about speed.
YMMV
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I decided it was time to tackle this issue. I’ve been doing this exercise daily for about two weeks and I’ve already seen enormous improvement - with this exercise. I can’t say I’ve seen it translate to anything else that I do, but I trust the process and that it will infiltrate everything else in time.
I do have a question, though. I fully understand that this exercise is about precision, not speed, but… Wouldn’t it make sense to increase your speed gradually, as long as you’re able to maintain that 1-2 mm distance? I’d think that trying to nudge things toward “real” playing speeds while employing minimum movement would be analogous to bumping up your chord-change speeds as long as they’re landing perfectly.
Hey Bob,
I understand what you’re saying, and its always good form to question things.
Like many others, I’ve done these exercises more than a few times.
Slow precise movements I found was the fastest way to retrain the muscles etc to operate in this minimalist way.
Speed up, and I guarantee your fingers won’t be 1-2 mm from the strings. Plus, speeding up, you wont be able see if they are close anyway, and the benefit of the exercise is lost. I will guarantee however, that if you do it as Justin prescribes, it will work for you, and translate at higher tempos
What I found is that after my initial experience with this for a few months, I’d revisit it fairly regularly over the first couple of years to keep focusing on and refining the small motions. Certainly can’t say I’m perfect, but considerably better at all tempos.
All the best.
Cheers, Shane
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Have to agree with Shane on this one, Slow and steady wins the day but it will take time and practice and even when you think you’ve cracked it, those flyers will creep back in. So its worth returning every month to keep things in check.
Expect a long haul on this one.
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@grabhorn
The idea of this exercise is to train your hand to play with the least amout of movement as possible when playing at speed. I used it when practicing scales, focusing on keep the fingers close to the strings and it has become the natural way I play now. No more flying fingers. Can’t remember how long it took because it was atleast 10 years ago but it will become ingrained into your playing.
As for your question about speeding up the exercise, I’d say yes if you keep your finger under control. If you notice you’re lifting them off the strings to much go back to focused practice until it becomes the natural way you play.
I should add, it’s one of those exercises that you may have to revisit every few months if you notice your fingers are lifting again.
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Thanks, @sclay, @TheMadman_tobyjenner, @stitch. I wouldn’t go any faster than where I could still maintain the 1-2mm distance. I’d think the eventual goal is to be able to play the scale (or anything else) “at speed” while still minimizing the movement. I’m not sure how you get there if you never try. Eventually, somehow, you have to put the pieces together.
I’ll keep doing this for at least a couple of months, and I’ll also be mindful of employing it elsewhere - trying not to let it disrupt those activities. I’d also think that if my fingers are particularly hyperactive while playing something, I’d want to try to implement minimum movement on that activity in addition to on the G major scale.
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Here’s an update for anyone who follows and wonders…
I’ve been doing this 10 minutes (overkill, I know) daily for close to 4 weeks. I’ve definitely gotten much better at doing this specific thing, but I’ve also begun to see it creeping in elsewhere. Nowhere near to the same degree as during the exercise, but it is happening. Sometimes, while playing some riff and watching my fingers, I’ll stop and use that riff as the canvas for the exercise. I suspect that’s going to be helpful, too.
I do find that it’s much easier on the higher strings than the low ones, likely because of the stretch required. On the G major scale, I very specifically have difficulty keeping finger 3 (ring) close to the string when fretting the B on the second fret of the A (5th) string with finger 2 (index). I think the reach with the index finger causes a rotation of the hand that pulls that finger away more. In general, finger 3 is the one I have to watch most closely.
I’ll report back after another month or so.
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