Guitar Tip #4 – All Levels

DEVELOPING FINGERS TWO AND FOUR!!!

I wasn’t sure what to write about next regarding guitar tips.  But I was watching a video of Tommy Emmanual, which led me to a older clip of Chet Atkins, which led me to an incredible video of Les Paul.  Surfing the net can have its merits:)

In this video Les Paul is performing at his 90th birthday party and it’s impressive because his timing is perfect and he is using his pinky.

Yes, you read that correctly… 90 years old and he is still using his pinky to play!  The comments below were hilarious.  One person wrote, “The last time I used my fourth finger to play a riff was in 1976”.  Another wrote, “My pinky is that limb at the end of my hand that collects dust”.

Now why is that?  Why do so many guitarists ignore developing fingers two and four?

Imagine, if every finger was of the same ability, you just might improve your playing by 50%.

Not sure if that is scientifically true, but I do know that moving from the use of two fingers to all four is moving toward getting better and opening up a whole new world of songs, techniques, tones, etc.

Perhaps the quickest way to build all your fingers is to play chromatic scales, at all speeds.  Give it a try this week.  Next week I will post a chromatic scale with more detailed info.

Please remember that the Victor Villadangos concert is next week on Friday Oct. 19.  See previous posts for more information.  Also we have a couple of spots still available for his master class the next morning, so please apply.

Stay Tuned,

Stephen Zurakowsky

Artistic Director of K/W Guitar Society

Posted in: KW GUITAR TIPS

Stephen Zurakowsky Classical Guitarist's avatar

Stephen Zurakowsky Classical Guitarist

Stephen Zurakowsky(www.anumi.ca) is a graduate from The University of Toronto. He has studied with Norbert Kraft, Eli Kasner, David Russell, Stepan Rak and Phil Nimmons. Recently he has been awarded an International CD Distribution grant from The SOCAN Foundation, which will oversee the airplay of "Four Trees In Winter" in 135 radio markets worldwide. Stephen has enjoyed substantial support from the Ukrainian arts community across Canada, having been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and radio programs. He performs chamber concerts as a soloist and has written works for electric classical guitar and choir. A Zurakowsky concert encompasses a sense of deep passion, as you feel invited to experience his love for composing and how his Ukrainian heritage has an influence on his creativity. His music has been featured on Canada's CBC and was reviewed in Toronto's The Wholenote Magazine as a favourable pick amongst classical independents.

1 thought on “Guitar Tip #4 – All Levels” Leave a comment ›

  1. I developed two related approaches, more or less targeting development of the pinky finger.

    First, all of those “riffs” or chords that used fingers 1-2-3 were practiced using fingers 2-3-4.

    Second, I consciously pushed my pinky finger next to my ring finger as much as possible when the pinky was not in use, to keep the pinky over the fingerboard. This had an interesting effect: I would “flam” notes fretted with the pinky, due to the pinky landing on the fret before I picked the note. I attributed this effect to the greater speed and strength that I developed with the pinky.

    I enjoy this website very much. Please keep up the good work.

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