In this guitar lesson we’re going to be looking at a single string alternate picking exercise that will help you to…
- Improve the synchronisation between your fretting-hand and picking-hand.
- Develop your ability to use the pinky finger (i.e. fourth finger) of your fretting-hand.
Because the pinky is used so much in the exercise, I have affectionately called it a “pinky punisher” exercise.
Since the exercise is so demanding on your fourth finger, I thought it would be a good idea to do a little bit of preparation first. To do this, let’s now look at two exercises that’ll help you to prepare for the main exercise. (If you’re already very comfortable with using your pinky finger, and find the preparation exercises too easy, feel free to skip them).
The Preparation Exercises
Preparation Exercise 1:
This exercise uses notes from the E natural minor scale and makes use of a melodic pattern that I’ve heard guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen play. If you look at the TAB below now, you’ll notice that the melodic pattern uses the fourth finger note as a pivot. (The fourth finger is returned to after every other note).
Although Yngwie is more likely to play this sort of pattern using sixteenth note timing, I’ve stuck to using mainly eighth notes. This means you’ll only need to play two evenly-spaced notes per beat rather than four. If you’re not comfortable with reading rhythmic notation, then be sure to listen to the audios first.
When you can play this preparation exercise fluently, you’re ready for the next one…
Preparation Exercise 2:
This exercise uses a similar melodic pattern to the first exercise. The main difference to this pattern is that each group of four notes starts with the first finger, rather than the fourth finger. So it feels a little bit different to play.
Like the first exercise, this preparation exercise is played using primarily eighth note timing. Of course, if this is too easy for you, then feel free to use a more challenging subdivision such as sixteenth notes.
When you’re very comfortable with this exercise, you’re ready for the main event…
Em Pinky Punisher Exercise 1
This exercise uses the same melodic patterns used in the two preparation exercises. But, if you look at the TAB below, you’ll notice a couple of things that make this exercise much more challenging…
- There are a lot of position shifts. You’ll need to change to a different position on the fretboard every four notes.
- The timing is more advanced. Rather than using eighth notes, you’ll need to play sixteenth notes.
- The notes are relentless. While the preparation exercises had very short rests built into the exercise, this exercise is just a constant stream of sixteenth notes. This sort of constant stress on the pinky finger can be extremely fatiguing.
A Few Last Words
I hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you include these exercises as part of your weekly practice schedule, I have no doubt you’ll gain better control over your pinky finger.
Have fun!
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