Thanks! I'm going to give this a try. I struggle with this. What I tend to do is plant my pinky on the edge of the pickup and sometimes I realize that I've actually hooked my pinky finger around the low E string. I think I'm going to glue something to the guitar right below the E string and see if my pinky takes to that. I really like the hand stability of having my pinky anchored. I'm not dogmatic about it but it can get pretty noisy sometimes because sometimes the pinky must be lifted (to do something funky and strummy) and if I drag it across the strings it makes noise. That being said, I'm tending to control noise mostly by keeping my picking hand flat on the strings at all times these days so its less of an issue.
@Ben Eller I just did some tests with this. I keep my finger in a modified Petrucci position. The interesting thing I realized checking it out is that I use it for strumming, not picking the high strings. I am a big man with big hands and I can easily lift the pick two inches above the low E string without lifting my pinky. I never use my elbow at all for strumming. It's actually the ease with which I can wreck the pick against the larger strings that drives me to want more hand stability. I play metal rhythm primarily. When I do play the high strings, my little finger rolls away from the E string so that the finger nail is flat against the guitar and there is space there for the string to move. Just like you said, this is a new habit that has developed since I've started to learn to play faster.
Who knew all this time 38 Special was talking about picking. I naturally hold my hand the way your explaining unless I'm muting or finger picking. Although I hold the pick on the flat side of my index with my thumb holding it in place. Helps me some times when I'm going for a good harmonic on like a ZZTOP song with little or no difference in the position my hand is in.
I own all of his albums and bootlegs (even that rare cassette that had the tape threaded backwards that no one noticed until he mentioned that fact on the Letterman's)
Dude thank you for sharing this trick of yours online! This is actually something I've been consciously trying to work on with my picking technique but changing how I hold my fingers felt so unnatural that it affected my playing (20 years of holding my pick is hard to change). This absolutely works for me, I look forward to a few weeks of using this trick. Thanks again man!
I’ve got another hint to help release tension while playing, at least during practice: holding a biscuit or similar between teeth and trying not to crunch it. It works helping to relax neck and jaw muscles.
A tip i found out myself for this was learning to hybrid pick, it really made me close my hand as a default when playing other stuff and because of that i find that my alternate picking got more consistent, more controlled and overall comfortable now. Thanks for the video uncle Ben solid information as usual!
This method is helping me a lot! I have been trying to ditch the pinky anchor technique that I had picked up but it always felt like I was 'floating' above the strings if I moved my fingers toward my palm. 10 minutes of playing using this method and for some reason my brain thinks that this is the natural way, plus I think I'm feeling less tension on fast runs. Thank you Ben, Love from the UK.
Being a lefty playing on a right hander, I've been a pinky planter for eons! Excited to try this out and see what positive changes I can make. Thanks a bazillion uncle Ben!
Loved the .38 Special reference. Etch-A-Sketched this lesson into my corpus collosum and got me chuckling with no time to watch videos or play lately because of work BUT always come back for your content and wittiness.
I started out in the 80’s and a lot of my “heroes” played with fanned fingers Lynch, DeMartini and to a lesser degree EVH. I did evolve to anchoring my pinky on the pickup ring for speed picking but I did have someone show me that strumming with my arm vs wrist really helped. That said the one technique that I have never been able to get is using my thumb to cord with my fretting hand. I’ve tried multiple times but I have big thick palms and I’d have to be playing a guitar with a broomstick for a neck to be able to pull it off lol
I had a realization that I had an issue with my picking hand maybe a year and a half ago watching your videos, and have been playing so much cleaner ever since. This too is gonna be extremely helpful!
I'm really glad this video was made! Uncle Ben, along with 2 other personal favorite guitarists, directly influenced my picking hand ever since I started my guitar journey.
I play bluegrass and everyone I've played with plays with stretched out fingers. If you're doing a lot of pluck strumming it really helps having as many anchor points as possible. Just a thought I guess. I watched a bluegrass guitar competition recently and most of them play with an open hand as well. I'd like to start playing with with a closed hand just to see what it's like though.
I’ve often shared a technique with newer guitar players that can really open their eyes and increase/improve awareness of habits. Video tape yourself playing. Make it a habit, not just a one-off performance for the camera but a regular learning tool, way to capture you and your guitar interaction. This video technique was very helpful to me while also learning some firearm manipulations and playing disc golf. Rock on Uncle Ben…”on and on and on”
This video is a HUGE help. I started to play the guitar barely a year ago and very soon afterwards, I was inclined to rest my pinky on the guitar body. A lot of people say it limits your speed later on, but in certain circumstances it can help though - depending on what you play. Even if I almost completely got rid of resting the pinky on the body, after the practice sessions I feel tension in my upper forearm, mainly when I practice tighter riffs from Metallica. Then I found this. I just finished an uninterrupted session of 90 minutes playing For Whom The Bell tolls and Muster of Puppets riffs with the second pick hidden under my fingers, and feel no tension at all in my forearm! In a few days I guess, my finger position will be fixed with this method. Another very big benefit of this is that I can play more quickly with this hand posture, when it comes to very fast down picking such as in Puppets. Thank you.
This is genius! I was a finger fanner before trying this, but this really cleaned up some noise from other strings i had when playing solos and my picking hand is more relaxed!!
I find that tucking my fingers in during tight rhythms is cool and fanning out when doing sweeps or other busy lead stuff can help me mute extra string noise by having other light points of contact that can further hamper any sympathetic harmonics or vibrations.
I've always been one to stabilise my hand by planting my little or ring finger on the guitar or hook it under the high E. I've tried on and off to play more with a closed hand, and it never felt right. Holding something in my hand though... wow instantly felt more normal to have my hand in that position! Amazing tip!
I had that issue about 8 years ago and decided to change my technique from those flayling fingers to closed hand. All in all, it took me like 8 months to just get comfortable without cramping up and tiring my forearm and another couple of months to feel confident with it and not constantly revert back to it. But damn, did it make a difference, for sure, especially when tracking.
I'll be honest, I have my fingers basically stretched out, but I've never had a problem with it while playing. But I do understand it can be a problem and it might start to get a problem for me as well, so why not practice this?! thanks for the tips!
I don't understand how it would ever get to be a "problem" for you: Are you planning on hybrid picking? If the answer is no then it won't be an issue, ever.
@@dimitriid *someone picks up a guitar for the first time* "I think I'll hybrid pick, knowing nothing of this instrument, or what it is." "Plan?! Apu, kids just happen!"
Wow. I'm still a beginner with 3 months in and recently noticed that I was resting the rest of my fingers in the body. Until now it wasn't getting in the way, and I actually felt comfortable with it, until some days ago I was having a bit of forearm pain and some said that it could be the resting fingers creating tension. Until now it was like relearning how to pick without those fingers in the body, but that simple trick of assigning them a task was so helpful! Now I feel like the pain is going away and my skill is quickly coming back to my picking hand
Wow unc just blew my mind with this simple hack... i kinda have my fingers out but relaxed i loke to hybrid pick alot so curling in isnt an option for every song ..
Love that solution. I have been trying to fix my fan recently and this looks great. What I have been doing is wrapping a hair tie around my non-pick holding fingers. As soon as my fingers started fanning there is tension in the hair tie I know I am opening my fingers. Thanks for sharing that one
BRILLIANT! I've been battling this problem for a long time. My right pinky finger would constantly bump into the volume knob on my Ibanez RG, usually turning it down. To compensate, I developed a bad habit of lifting my fingers away from the guitar so they would pass over the top of the volume knob. Problem solved, right? WRONG! Because of this new, bad habit, I'm getting a lot of sympathetic string noise from the high E and B strings. It's very frustrating. I tried to curl my fingers (after watching a BERNTH video), but it felt too awkward and my fingers wouldn't behave. After watching this video, I'm definitely going to try this trick of holding a 2nd pick in my right hand. Thanks Ben! Thanks MASSIVE_BASS_NERD!
I only anchor my pinky when I'm soloing. When I strum, I curl them all in lightly. Haven't noticed any pain, but I'll be more conscious to any tension it might be causing. It's definitely a precision thing for me. Gonna have to practice this to see if I can tell any difference.
Ben excellent idea. I am a 60 y/o player who does exactly what you are talking about/as i have gotten older my picking has actually gotten worse. So lately I have been working on improving picking/but do fan my fingers and at times rest them on the pickguard or guitar. I love the idea of the pick will start trying this today. Thanks again.
Some of us have this come naturally to them. For example, I've *always* anchored my pinky finger on the body of the guitar when picking, and naturally loosely held my fingers together when strumming. It's never caused any concern or hindered my playing in any way. It just goes to show that what is natural for some is a mountain to be conquered for others, and that we all have insight to give, whether we realize it or not. Thanks, Uncle Ben.
I am quite thankful that you got around to the "whatever works for you", it's quite a relief. I have a skin issue on top of the last three fingers on my picking hand and when they touch the strings, its very uncomfortable. But i always thought that meant i am playing wrong. My hand is relaxed, i feel comfortable and i think i just keep an eye on it but stop to worry about it.
Thank you for just going straight into the advice and not adding a bunch of unrelated things to the video. I feel like I’m a pretty intermediate rhythm player, and low intermediate in leads. My picking is the biggest factor holding me back from feeling advanced, especially trem picking (i play metalcore/deathcore). I have been trying all sorts of hand positions for trem picking and am finding that closing my fist has been helping a lot. I am 100% going to try this. Thank you
🙏Ben, this video broke my 15-year-old habit (which I never thought would be possible in my wildest dream) of resting my right hand pinky, ring finger on guitar body or pickup. 🙏 (I broke the habit without holding a pick in pinky & ring finger :-)) Now it's almost a year now, I'm very used to playing the guitar without resting right hand fingers on body or pickup, so much, that now I can't play the guitar by resting right hand fingers. Thanks so much Ben, and blessings 🙌.
Totally agree. To me anchoring my right hand with a finger is super necessary for my single note playing or very precise metal rhythm. But it does not work for me for traditional rhythm playing. I just transition from one to the other when needed. Edit: Another game changer for me was changing the angle of my guitar, the neck is kind of horizontal when playing rhythm but goes diagonal if I need to shred high notes, it just gives me a better access to to the low E-A strings, I have small fingers.
Definitely! When practicing the easy stuff while sitting, I rest the guitar on my right leg, when I need to kick it into the higher gear, switch to classical position on the left leg and the world opens up by putting the neck in that diagonal position for that easy access you mentioned.
@@nickpage8350 You know, when I started doing that I realized that is why lots of guitar heroes from the past would make a pose and put the guitar vertical not just to look good but also to be able to play the higher notes, Slash comes to my mind for this now. I think Petrucci puts his left leg on a monitor for the classical position as you described too, for easy access to higher frets. Ain't that crazy? Posing and functionality in perfect harmony :)
Been playing guitar for 10 years now. Been holding the pick wrong the whole time. I tend to rest my pinky and ring fingers on the body. I’ve tried to fix it multiple times but haven’t had the discipline to work through the uncomfortableness. I’m excited to hopefully fix it now with this trick!
Malmsteen's picking hand is the picture of rrelaxation and what I patterned mine after. It's like a loose, but controlled, finger placement that barely glances the pickguard. It lets you quickly use the fingers to tap, or volume swells, etc.
Brilliant. This has 100% helped me. I always anchored my pinky and ring finger to the body or had my fingers splayed out. Two weeks later, big difference.
Good technique. When I'm playing rhythm I have my hand open. When I switch to leads, I fold my fingers in. Thanks for the tips. Very appreciated. I will teach this to my stepson tonight. :)
Oh my god this has been a peeve of mine for so many years! I’ve taught myself to tuck them when I have to do a speed run but can never maintain it. I’m going to practice this all the time now! Thanks dude!
THERE IS NO WAY! No one talks about this stuff, thank you so much ben for this information. I have to change my pick hand finger position because I always found for DSX picking that the low E and A strings were really awkward with my hand position so I had to slow down a bit
Uncle Ben…when I was a wee lad learning the electric twanger…my idols were, Lynch, DeMartini and of course Eddie…they all had their fingers splayed out and I thought that was how you picked fast…as a result, I cannot play Strats to this day because I crash into that pesky volume knob!!!
I used to put my fingers on the body of the guitar all the time till I got into hybrid picking, now I keep my fingers in a sort of relaxed claw (like holding a small ball real lightly while having your hand on the table) when playing leads so I can quickly go from shredding to arpeggiating a chord with my fingers. Hell, I've even worn a small tear in the wrapping of my bridge pickup from anchoring that pickup during a certain part I play a lot. 😂
What agreat tip! I am going to try this out when I get home. If I'm soloing up at the neck pickup, I tend to rest my pinky finger on the side of the pickup. The hardest right hand thing for me to learn was palm muting while keeping my wrist loose enough to hit those down strokes at speed.
Thank you for this video! I usually make a fist with my right hand but sometimes that cramps up, was wondering what I'm doing wrong. Nice to know that wasn't necessarily 'wrong'!
Thanks for the reminder! I saw a player many years ago who kept his fingers close. I tried it and thought to myself this is very good but I never kept going with it. I went right back to my fingers fanning out. After watching this, I’ve tried it again and I’m enjoying the results more than when I first tried it. Having the pic between the other fingers really helps. Kind of like “training wheels” if you will. I’m going to keep it up. It’s beginning to get easier!
I’ve played (sometimes dedicated/other times barely any calluses left) with 3 fingers planted for 30 years. Since lockdown … and discovering my non-biological Uncle … I’m back into a daily practice routine and have really noticed a pain in my index knuckle. For the last couple of months I’ve been trying to bring ‘reinforcements’ to take the strain by lining up all 4 fingers - it’s helping with the pain but hasn’t felt natural keeping all four of those soldiers in rank. Looking forward to introducing a drill sergeant! Thank you UB and M_B_N
I stopped resting my fingers on the guitar by realizing it was impeding my playing. I was using my thumb and finger instead of my wrist (very uncomfortable and very slow). I just lifted my fingers off the guitar, and before I started any picking, I laid my hand across the strings in a comfortable position several times. Then I did tremolo picking sprints on the D string. Then slow scales (very slow). Now my fingers are relaxed and my picking accuracy is getting better again.
I find that fanning my fingers out is the most relaxed position for my playing, but the problem I have is that my fingers flail in such a way that they can slight pluck the strings beneath where I mute during rhythm playing. I can’t stand playing any other way, since I think it puts a bit too much tension in my picking hand.
After nearly 40 years I'm trying to adopt the closed fist. I notice it definitely requires less energy for fast riffing but it's much harder to control the mutes
Depending on how you pick, this may also help speed up your picking as when your fingers are tucked there is less inertia from 'flailing fingers' which makes it easier to reverse the direction of your pickstroke. The one single thing that sped up my picking exponentially was changing to pointy jazz picks. I use the Dava red ones but the clear Dunlop ones are ok but not my preference. They make you re-learn how to strum a little as they are so pointy there is very little contact and it's easy to stick the point when you're learning the new strumming technique, but well worth it in my opinion.
I'm an intermediate beginner and I always played close fist like you do but I find it hard to do palm muting if I don't open my hands, a video on palm mute would be nice!
I used to rest a finger on the body when I started learning as it helped me locate individual strings with the pick, but as I developed muscle memory, I found I didn't need the anchor and I dropped it. I don't ball my picking hand up however. I keep my fingers straight-ish, totally relaxed but not splayed. The thumb and first finger hold the pick and everything else stays totally relaxed. This was the outcome of another revelation when I was learning, that tension is the enemy of speed.
Brilliant! My fingers are finally freed from their anchor. Immediate improvement on the WW327 “One String to Rule” exercise. And yeah, John Petrucci can do whatever he wants whenever he wants because, well … he IS John Petrucci.
I used to play with my fingers fanned out, but encountered certain issues, then i look at how Mark Tremonti played and i re-learned to hold my hand better. He often plays holding his pick like in this lesson, but holding the pick with his middle finger instead, that helped me a lot
Sho' got that right. My right hand is all over the place, usually flopping relaxedly while strumming but sometimes anchored to the body or pickup when doing delicate work that needs accurate targeting of different strings. The other night playing a two-string ostinato on a hardtail I realized I had my pinky wrapped around the bottom of the bridge... which is probably why that part's chrome has started to corrode.
This came at the perfect time. I've been working on pickslanting for playing joe bonamassa/eric johnson style pentatonic runs and it got me looking at different ways to hold the pick. Playing at those speeds really starts to expose the tension points in the hand. I started noticing that my results were way more consistent when i tucked all of the fingers into the palm, but even that was tense. For some reason, holding the pick in the hand just takes the tension away. It's almost like my body is saying "hey, i know how to hold something in the hand" and can do it naturally. This has been a great tip
love that guitar! but I found a good used Prophecy LP which plays and sounds great. Dude have you ever discussed the width of the necks. Just that little extra makes it far easier to play (esp for old men with "trigger finger") Rock on!
IDEA FOR YOUR NEXT VIDEO: This video made me think of something else. How many different ways do guitarists hold a pick? I hold it between my thumb and fingertip of my first finger, more dexterity that way for me. But other players (watch Rick Beato asan example) hold it between thumb and between the 1st & 2nd knuckle of the first finger, which I now cannot unsee. And don't get me started on Marty Friedman!😀 Love the channel.
After only a day, this is an amazingly effective, effortless and relaxed way of keeping my fingers from rubbing across the strings. Fastest technique shift ever. Thanks Ben & MBN !!
Wow What an incredible gift this video was. I’ve been working on a picking style of flamenco for the past year along the lines of Al Di Meola’s technique. And I have been trying to break the resting finger habit and in 30 seconds you did that for me. A deep our gratitude, my friend
Crazy! this video randomly popped up on my feed and ironically this is actually something I've been working on. Lately I've been taking my playing very seriously and trying to closely analyze my technique. I find how I hold my other fingers to affect the balance of my picking hand and attack (not quite fanned but out like I'm signaling 3 with my fingers but abit relaxed). I've been playing like this for so long that trying to keep my fingers closer together feels AWKWARD and really affects my accuracy. I seem to have to constantly focus on keeping my fingers close to the center of my hand. I find keeping my fingers tucked in feels more balanced allowing faster more accurate picking but so unnatural feeling that I usually give up on it temporarily. I tried this trick and WOW! I instantly said "Holy sht! This actually works!" as I found the pick makes my hand instinctually stay close and I no longer have to think/focus on it. Now this is something I'd genuinely call a "hack". Thank you so much for sharing this! I am still blown away how this video found me!
Thanks again to Massive_Bass_Nerd for inspiring this amazing trick to fix your picking hand position! Did you try it yet? Did it work?
my life just changed.......not the way it changed from my other biological step uncle
Thanks! I'm going to give this a try. I struggle with this. What I tend to do is plant my pinky on the edge of the pickup and sometimes I realize that I've actually hooked my pinky finger around the low E string. I think I'm going to glue something to the guitar right below the E string and see if my pinky takes to that. I really like the hand stability of having my pinky anchored. I'm not dogmatic about it but it can get pretty noisy sometimes because sometimes the pinky must be lifted (to do something funky and strummy) and if I drag it across the strings it makes noise. That being said, I'm tending to control noise mostly by keeping my picking hand flat on the strings at all times these days so its less of an issue.
Uncle ben, dude is also on YT @Justyn Delbridge 🤘😎🎸🐙
@Ben Eller I just did some tests with this. I keep my finger in a modified Petrucci position. The interesting thing I realized checking it out is that I use it for strumming, not picking the high strings. I am a big man with big hands and I can easily lift the pick two inches above the low E string without lifting my pinky. I never use my elbow at all for strumming. It's actually the ease with which I can wreck the pick against the larger strings that drives me to want more hand stability. I play metal rhythm primarily. When I do play the high strings, my little finger rolls away from the E string so that the finger nail is flat against the guitar and there is space there for the string to move.
Just like you said, this is a new habit that has developed since I've started to learn to play faster.
Who knew all this time 38 Special was talking about picking. I naturally hold my hand the way your explaining unless I'm muting or finger picking. Although I hold the pick on the flat side of my index with my thumb holding it in place. Helps me some times when I'm going for a good harmonic on like a ZZTOP song with little or no difference in the position my hand is in.
Thank you for bringing more attention to Francis Bubbletrousers. He is an amazing guitarist who rarely gets the credit he deserves.
Legendary
I thought he was the Scorpions bassist (?) 🤣
Criminally underrated player!!
@@d.nakamura9579 Nope, that's Klaus Bubbletrousers.
I own all of his albums and bootlegs (even that rare cassette that had the tape threaded backwards that no one noticed until he mentioned that fact on the Letterman's)
Dude, thank you SO much for posting/sharing this! Massive_bass_nerd here. So happy that you found this useful. You rock dude 🤘😻
The man, the myth, the legend 🤘😎🎸🐙
Thanks for saving lives out there!
Massive_bass_genius *FTFY thank you for sharing something so obvious that nobody noticed until now!
Thank you both!
Dude thank you for sharing this trick of yours online! This is actually something I've been consciously trying to work on with my picking technique but changing how I hold my fingers felt so unnatural that it affected my playing (20 years of holding my pick is hard to change).
This absolutely works for me, I look forward to a few weeks of using this trick.
Thanks again man!
I’ve got another hint to help release tension while playing, at least during practice: holding a biscuit or similar between teeth and trying not to crunch it. It works helping to relax neck and jaw muscles.
Good idea thanks I'll try it
Especially if it's a disco biscuit!
For me, a self-taught guitarist, this worked as magic. Improved and took away tension instantatly. I'm blown away! 🤯
A tip i found out myself for this was learning to hybrid pick, it really made me close my hand as a default when playing other stuff and because of that i find that my alternate picking got more consistent, more controlled and overall comfortable now. Thanks for the video uncle Ben solid information as usual!
This method is helping me a lot! I have been trying to ditch the pinky anchor technique that I had picked up but it always felt like I was 'floating' above the strings if I moved my fingers toward my palm. 10 minutes of playing using this method and for some reason my brain thinks that this is the natural way, plus I think I'm feeling less tension on fast runs. Thank you Ben, Love from the UK.
Being a lefty playing on a right hander, I've been a pinky planter for eons! Excited to try this out and see what positive changes I can make. Thanks a bazillion uncle Ben!
Thanks Uncle Ben. Next would you please teach me how to uncurl my left pinky when I'm not using it?
Loved the .38 Special reference. Etch-A-Sketched this lesson into my corpus collosum and got me chuckling with no time to watch videos or play lately because of work BUT always come back for your content and wittiness.
I started out in the 80’s and a lot of my “heroes” played with fanned fingers Lynch, DeMartini and to a lesser degree EVH. I did evolve to anchoring my pinky on the pickup ring for speed picking but I did have someone show me that strumming with my arm vs wrist really helped. That said the one technique that I have never been able to get is using my thumb to cord with my fretting hand. I’ve tried multiple times but I have big thick palms and I’d have to be playing a guitar with a broomstick for a neck to be able to pull it off lol
I’ve been in a rut for a while. This helped me increase my speed and helped my technique a lot
I had a realization that I had an issue with my picking hand maybe a year and a half ago watching your videos, and have been playing so much cleaner ever since. This too is gonna be extremely helpful!
I'm really glad this video was made! Uncle Ben, along with 2 other personal favorite guitarists, directly influenced my picking hand ever since I started my guitar journey.
❤️❤️❤️
I play bluegrass and everyone I've played with plays with stretched out fingers. If you're doing a lot of pluck strumming it really helps having as many anchor points as possible. Just a thought I guess. I watched a bluegrass guitar competition recently and most of them play with an open hand as well. I'd like to start playing with with a closed hand just to see what it's like though.
@@NubsWithGuns What do you mean?
Sierra Hull plays Mando with a closed hand ;)
I’ve often shared a technique with newer guitar players that can really open their eyes and increase/improve awareness of habits.
Video tape yourself playing. Make it a habit, not just a one-off performance for the camera but a regular learning tool, way to capture you and your guitar interaction.
This video technique was very helpful to me while also learning some firearm manipulations and playing disc golf.
Rock on Uncle Ben…”on and on and on”
This video is a HUGE help. I started to play the guitar barely a year ago and very soon afterwards, I was inclined to rest my pinky on the guitar body. A lot of people say it limits your speed later on, but in certain circumstances it can help though - depending on what you play.
Even if I almost completely got rid of resting the pinky on the body, after the practice sessions I feel tension in my upper forearm, mainly when I practice tighter riffs from Metallica.
Then I found this.
I just finished an uninterrupted session of 90 minutes playing For Whom The Bell tolls and Muster of Puppets riffs with the second pick hidden under my fingers, and feel no tension at all in my forearm!
In a few days I guess, my finger position will be fixed with this method.
Another very big benefit of this is that I can play more quickly with this hand posture, when it comes to very fast down picking such as in Puppets.
Thank you.
exactly I just watched it and thought wtf and what a difference it makes great tip
This is genius! I was a finger fanner before trying this, but this really cleaned up some noise from other strings i had when playing solos and my picking hand is more relaxed!!
I tried this for 15 minutes and my picking was so much cleaner!i struggled with hangin fingers a long time,thanks
I find that tucking my fingers in during tight rhythms is cool and fanning out when doing sweeps or other busy lead stuff can help me mute extra string noise by having other light points of contact that can further hamper any sympathetic harmonics or vibrations.
I've always been one to stabilise my hand by planting my little or ring finger on the guitar or hook it under the high E. I've tried on and off to play more with a closed hand, and it never felt right. Holding something in my hand though... wow instantly felt more normal to have my hand in that position! Amazing tip!
I had that issue about 8 years ago and decided to change my technique from those flayling fingers to closed hand. All in all, it took me like 8 months to just get comfortable without cramping up and tiring my forearm and another couple of months to feel confident with it and not constantly revert back to it. But damn, did it make a difference, for sure, especially when tracking.
I'll be honest, I have my fingers basically stretched out, but I've never had a problem with it while playing. But I do understand it can be a problem and it might start to get a problem for me as well, so why not practice this?! thanks for the tips!
It's not a problem.
I don't understand how it would ever get to be a "problem" for you: Are you planning on hybrid picking? If the answer is no then it won't be an issue, ever.
@@dimitriid its not a insurmountable problem per se but, it could make things more difficult to execute that involve the wrist
@@denafitzgerald2554 what about guys like martin miller? john petrucci? both of them anchor their fingers and can play literally everything
@@dimitriid *someone picks up a guitar for the first time* "I think I'll hybrid pick, knowing nothing of this instrument, or what it is."
"Plan?! Apu, kids just happen!"
Wow. I'm still a beginner with 3 months in and recently noticed that I was resting the rest of my fingers in the body. Until now it wasn't getting in the way, and I actually felt comfortable with it, until some days ago I was having a bit of forearm pain and some said that it could be the resting fingers creating tension. Until now it was like relearning how to pick without those fingers in the body, but that simple trick of assigning them a task was so helpful! Now I feel like the pain is going away and my skill is quickly coming back to my picking hand
Wow unc just blew my mind with this simple hack... i kinda have my fingers out but relaxed i loke to hybrid pick alot so curling in isnt an option for every song ..
Thi internet loves you to Ben!
My pinky has a different opinion.
But it’s holding a pick right now.
OMG the music in the background is from the NES Duck Tales game!!!! I played it so much as a kid!
nobody is more well spoken or can explain something better than my uncle ben
Love that solution. I have been trying to fix my fan recently and this looks great. What I have been doing is wrapping a hair tie around my non-pick holding fingers. As soon as my fingers started fanning there is tension in the hair tie I know I am opening my fingers. Thanks for sharing that one
Thanks Ben!
BRILLIANT! I've been battling this problem for a long time. My right pinky finger would constantly bump into the volume knob on my Ibanez RG, usually turning it down. To compensate, I developed a bad habit of lifting my fingers away from the guitar so they would pass over the top of the volume knob. Problem solved, right? WRONG! Because of this new, bad habit, I'm getting a lot of sympathetic string noise from the high E and B strings. It's very frustrating. I tried to curl my fingers (after watching a BERNTH video), but it felt too awkward and my fingers wouldn't behave. After watching this video, I'm definitely going to try this trick of holding a 2nd pick in my right hand. Thanks Ben! Thanks MASSIVE_BASS_NERD!
Hey man that custom looks good on you! 😎👍✨
I only anchor my pinky when I'm soloing. When I strum, I curl them all in lightly. Haven't noticed any pain, but I'll be more conscious to any tension it might be causing. It's definitely a precision thing for me. Gonna have to practice this to see if I can tell any difference.
Ben excellent idea. I am a 60 y/o player who does exactly what you are talking about/as i have gotten older my picking has actually gotten worse. So lately I have been working on improving picking/but do fan my fingers and at times rest them on the pickguard or guitar. I love the idea of the pick will start trying this today. Thanks again.
Where can you buy some of bubblepant's music. I need to learn the ludicrous speed techniques. Is that a spaceballs lesson.
3:20 Simple solution to squeezing too hard: replace the pick with a traditional razor blade. You'll stop squeezing in no time!
Great tip. I have been struggling with keeping my hands under control and this simple trick helped a lot
Some of us have this come naturally to them. For example, I've *always* anchored my pinky finger on the body of the guitar when picking, and naturally loosely held my fingers together when strumming. It's never caused any concern or hindered my playing in any way.
It just goes to show that what is natural for some is a mountain to be conquered for others, and that we all have insight to give, whether we realize it or not.
Thanks, Uncle Ben.
oh man, thanks for this. Was really looking for a solution for this headache of a problem while playing.
I am quite thankful that you got around to the "whatever works for you", it's quite a relief. I have a skin issue on top of the last three fingers on my picking hand and when they touch the strings, its very uncomfortable. But i always thought that meant i am playing wrong. My hand is relaxed, i feel comfortable and i think i just keep an eye on it but stop to worry about it.
just tried it and already my sound is cleaner. I had a bad case of the flailing fingers for years. Thanks to you and Massive Bass Nerd!
Best video in months. I just replaced the pick in my palm with a shard of glass. My hand is chill as hell after a bit of getting used to 🤘
You're the best RUclips guitar instructor I've come across. Funny. Great editing. Kikker
The great uncle Ben once again sharing our wisdom with us. Thanks a lot!
Halfway I stopped the video to grab my custom, so infectious to watch. I'll finish the video later haha 👍 great lesson 🎸 thanks!
Real cool video. I hate when teachers or guitar RUclipsrs say you should only pick “this way” and other ways are “wrong and won’t work”.
Great tip. However, what is good enough for Francis Bubbletrousers is good enough for me.
Love the Moon Theme in the background!
Thank you for just going straight into the advice and not adding a bunch of unrelated things to the video. I feel like I’m a pretty intermediate rhythm player, and low intermediate in leads. My picking is the biggest factor holding me back from feeling advanced, especially trem picking (i play metalcore/deathcore). I have been trying all sorts of hand positions for trem picking and am finding that closing my fist has been helping a lot. I am 100% going to try this.
Thank you
As i continued to watch, I’m also the person that tends to anchor on the bottom string/pickup 😂 this video was made for me
very cool idea. I'll give it a try. not sure I'll like it, but worth trying. Thanks for the video Ben !
🙏Ben, this video broke my 15-year-old habit (which I never thought would be possible in my wildest dream) of resting my right hand pinky, ring finger on guitar body or pickup. 🙏 (I broke the habit without holding a pick in pinky & ring finger :-)) Now it's almost a year now, I'm very used to playing the guitar without resting right hand fingers on body or pickup, so much, that now I can't play the guitar by resting right hand fingers. Thanks so much Ben, and blessings 🙌.
Totally agree. To me anchoring my right hand with a finger is super necessary for my single note playing or very precise metal rhythm. But it does not work for me for traditional rhythm playing. I just transition from one to the other when needed. Edit: Another game changer for me was changing the angle of my guitar, the neck is kind of horizontal when playing rhythm but goes diagonal if I need to shred high notes, it just gives me a better access to to the low E-A strings, I have small fingers.
Definitely! When practicing the easy stuff while sitting, I rest the guitar on my right leg, when I need to kick it into the higher gear, switch to classical position on the left leg and the world opens up by putting the neck in that diagonal position for that easy access you mentioned.
@@nickpage8350 You know, when I started doing that I realized that is why lots of guitar heroes from the past would make a pose and put the guitar vertical not just to look good but also to be able to play the higher notes, Slash comes to my mind for this now. I think Petrucci puts his left leg on a monitor for the classical position as you described too, for easy access to higher frets. Ain't that crazy? Posing and functionality in perfect harmony :)
Man, I’ve decided to give this a go and now my picking is much more accurate ! Thanks a million!!
Been playing guitar for 10 years now. Been holding the pick wrong the whole time. I tend to rest my pinky and ring fingers on the body. I’ve tried to fix it multiple times but haven’t had the discipline to work through the uncomfortableness. I’m excited to hopefully fix it now with this trick!
Malmsteen's picking hand is the picture of rrelaxation and what I patterned mine after. It's like a loose, but controlled, finger placement that barely glances the pickguard. It lets you quickly use the fingers to tap, or volume swells, etc.
Brilliant. This has 100% helped me. I always anchored my pinky and ring finger to the body or had my fingers splayed out. Two weeks later, big difference.
Good technique.
When I'm playing rhythm I have my hand open. When I switch to leads, I fold my fingers in.
Thanks for the tips. Very appreciated. I will teach this to my stepson tonight.
:)
Looks like the underside of the wrist is still a stable anchor point?
Oh my god this has been a peeve of mine for so many years! I’ve taught myself to tuck them when I have to do a speed run but can never maintain it. I’m going to practice this all the time now! Thanks dude!
THERE IS NO WAY! No one talks about this stuff, thank you so much ben for this information. I have to change my pick hand finger position because I always found for DSX picking that the low E and A strings were really awkward with my hand position so I had to slow down a bit
Jesus I think I need this video. You're the best uncle Ben
Ahhh Good Ole Francis Bubble Trousers, what a legendary player
"...and there are dog and kitty videos, really important stuff too". Totally dude. You took the words right out of my mouth. 😊
You rock! I should get back on your patreon. I've been playing for three years and always come back to your videos for refreshers.
So helpful! My guitar lesson is coming up and this trick came just in time! 🙏🎸
Uncle Ben…when I was a wee lad learning the electric twanger…my idols were, Lynch, DeMartini and of course Eddie…they all had their fingers splayed out and I thought that was how you picked fast…as a result, I cannot play Strats to this day because I crash into that pesky volume knob!!!
I used to put my fingers on the body of the guitar all the time till I got into hybrid picking, now I keep my fingers in a sort of relaxed claw (like holding a small ball real lightly while having your hand on the table) when playing leads so I can quickly go from shredding to arpeggiating a chord with my fingers. Hell, I've even worn a small tear in the wrapping of my bridge pickup from anchoring that pickup during a certain part I play a lot. 😂
Thanks,
I have been waiting for someone to do this.
Genius! I am a shifter right now from open to closed, will def try this.
What agreat tip! I am going to try this out when I get home. If I'm soloing up at the neck pickup, I tend to rest my pinky finger on the side of the pickup. The hardest right hand thing for me to learn was palm muting while keeping my wrist loose enough to hit those down strokes at speed.
Thank you for this video! I usually make a fist with my right hand but sometimes that cramps up, was wondering what I'm doing wrong. Nice to know that wasn't necessarily 'wrong'!
Thanks for the reminder! I saw a player many years ago who kept his fingers close. I tried it and thought to myself this is very good but I never kept going with it. I went right back to my fingers fanning out.
After watching this, I’ve tried it again and I’m enjoying the results more than when I first tried it.
Having the pic between the other fingers really helps. Kind of like “training wheels” if you will.
I’m going to keep it up. It’s beginning to get easier!
Holy crusty crap! I just tried it. That's absolutely wild. Using a dunlop Jazz pick and it's totally working.
I’ve played (sometimes dedicated/other times barely any calluses left) with 3 fingers planted for 30 years. Since lockdown … and discovering my non-biological Uncle … I’m back into a daily practice routine and have really noticed a pain in my index knuckle.
For the last couple of months I’ve been trying to bring ‘reinforcements’ to take the strain by lining up all 4 fingers - it’s helping with the pain but hasn’t felt natural keeping all four of those soldiers in rank. Looking forward to introducing a drill sergeant!
Thank you UB and M_B_N
I stopped resting my fingers on the guitar by realizing it was impeding my playing. I was using my thumb and finger instead of my wrist (very uncomfortable and very slow). I just lifted my fingers off the guitar, and before I started any picking, I laid my hand across the strings in a comfortable position several times. Then I did tremolo picking sprints on the D string. Then slow scales (very slow). Now my fingers are relaxed and my picking accuracy is getting better again.
Finally, an Uncle Ben video that fixes my worst issue. Based Ben coming through once again
wow, this does work, within three days i got rid of the habit of keeping my fingers on the pickguard . Thanks for sharing this trick!
I find that fanning my fingers out is the most relaxed position for my playing, but the problem I have is that my fingers flail in such a way that they can slight pluck the strings beneath where I mute during rhythm playing. I can’t stand playing any other way, since I think it puts a bit too much tension in my picking hand.
This is absolutely brilliant. I am going to try this when I get home tonight.
After nearly 40 years I'm trying to adopt the closed fist. I notice it definitely requires less energy for fast riffing but it's much harder to control the mutes
Depending on how you pick, this may also help speed up your picking as when your fingers are tucked there is less inertia from 'flailing fingers' which makes it easier to reverse the direction of your pickstroke.
The one single thing that sped up my picking exponentially was changing to pointy jazz picks. I use the Dava red ones but the clear Dunlop ones are ok but not my preference. They make you re-learn how to strum a little as they are so pointy there is very little contact and it's easy to stick the point when you're learning the new strumming technique, but well worth it in my opinion.
Did you sell the custom? Haven’t seen it in your videos in quite some time.
Absolutely not!!! I adore it. I’ve got it in D standard right now, doing a lot of writing and recording on it for my album.
I'm an intermediate beginner and I always played close fist like you do but I find it hard to do palm muting if I don't open my hands, a video on palm mute would be nice!
I used to rest a finger on the body when I started learning as it helped me locate individual strings with the pick, but as I developed muscle memory, I found I didn't need the anchor and I dropped it.
I don't ball my picking hand up however. I keep my fingers straight-ish, totally relaxed but not splayed. The thumb and first finger hold the pick and everything else stays totally relaxed. This was the outcome of another revelation when I was learning, that tension is the enemy of speed.
Using strat type guitar where the volume knob is so close to the strings this really helps , thanks a lot ✌
Brilliant! My fingers are finally freed from their anchor. Immediate improvement on the WW327 “One String to Rule” exercise. And yeah, John Petrucci can do whatever he wants whenever he wants because, well … he IS John Petrucci.
I used to play with my fingers fanned out, but encountered certain issues, then i look at how Mark Tremonti played and i re-learned to hold my hand better. He often plays holding his pick like in this lesson, but holding the pick with his middle finger instead, that helped me a lot
Great tips!
Uncle Ben saving lives once again...thank you
That guitar is gorgeous! I’m saving for a new guitar right now which is a bit hard with four kiddos but I’m gonna get there and I can’t wait!
Absolutely brilliant Ben, I've been struggling with the sprayed out fingers syndrome. Gonna give your tip a try 👍🏻👍🏻
Sho' got that right. My right hand is all over the place, usually flopping relaxedly while strumming but sometimes anchored to the body or pickup when doing delicate work that needs accurate targeting of different strings. The other night playing a two-string ostinato on a hardtail I realized I had my pinky wrapped around the bottom of the bridge... which is probably why that part's chrome has started to corrode.
This came at the perfect time. I've been working on pickslanting for playing joe bonamassa/eric johnson style pentatonic runs and it got me looking at different ways to hold the pick. Playing at those speeds really starts to expose the tension points in the hand. I started noticing that my results were way more consistent when i tucked all of the fingers into the palm, but even that was tense.
For some reason, holding the pick in the hand just takes the tension away. It's almost like my body is saying "hey, i know how to hold something in the hand" and can do it naturally. This has been a great tip
love that guitar!
but I found a good used Prophecy LP which plays and sounds great.
Dude have you ever discussed the width of the necks. Just that little extra makes it far easier to play (esp for old men with "trigger finger")
Rock on!
I love your new LP, Ben.
IDEA FOR YOUR NEXT VIDEO: This video made me think of something else. How many different ways do guitarists hold a pick? I hold it between my thumb and fingertip of my first finger, more dexterity that way for me. But other players (watch Rick Beato asan example) hold it between thumb and between the 1st & 2nd knuckle of the first finger, which I now cannot unsee. And don't get me started on Marty Friedman!😀 Love the channel.
Great tips and a much-needed conversation, thanks Uncle Ben & Massive_bass_nerd!
After only a day, this is an amazingly effective, effortless and relaxed way of keeping my fingers from rubbing across the strings. Fastest technique shift ever. Thanks Ben & MBN !!
Wow What an incredible gift this video was. I’ve been working on a picking style of flamenco for the past year along the lines of Al Di Meola’s technique. And I have been trying to break the resting finger habit and in 30 seconds you did that for me. A deep our gratitude, my friend
Crazy! this video randomly popped up on my feed and ironically this is actually something I've been working on. Lately I've been taking my playing very seriously and trying to closely analyze my technique. I find how I hold my other fingers to affect the balance of my picking hand and attack (not quite fanned but out like I'm signaling 3 with my fingers but abit relaxed). I've been playing like this for so long that trying to keep my fingers closer together feels AWKWARD and really affects my accuracy. I seem to have to constantly focus on keeping my fingers close to the center of my hand. I find keeping my fingers tucked in feels more balanced allowing faster more accurate picking but so unnatural feeling that I usually give up on it temporarily. I tried this trick and WOW! I instantly said "Holy sht! This actually works!" as I found the pick makes my hand instinctually stay close and I no longer have to think/focus on it.
Now this is something I'd genuinely call a "hack".
Thank you so much for sharing this! I am still blown away how this video found me!