How high should fingers be from fretboard during scale practice/soloing ?

I can't seem to go low enough i think.

Highest is 1 inches away from the fretboard if the finger is not anytime needed soon.

How low if you want to play fast ?

as low as possible as high as necessary. But that's secondary.

The key really is to think ahead. While you're playing a note you're already placing your finger above the next one. Another tip is to relax. The more you tense up, the more your fingers will freeze and tend to stiffen.

i once read this book call "ROCK SECRETS"
there's a way to train tis fingering height thingy

the usual spider exercise ex1
--------------------1-2-3-4-
-----------1-2-3-4----------
--1-2-3-4-------------------
and so on, up down , string skipping, etc


u cud minimise movement by actuali practise moving ur fingers unless needed
after finish a climb from 1 string, u keep all ur fingers down
so wen ur moving to the other, ur other fingers are stil on the previous string
let say u did 1-2-3-4 on E string, wen u continue to the A string 1st fret
ur 2-3-4 fingers are stil on the E string

gud luck man
hope tat helps

It's all about practice man. Up till today, my pinky finger is nowhere NEAR the fret board, but if you keep doing chromatic scales and practicing hard, you should be there.
Problem is, nowadays, I don't have as much time as I want to practice guitar so my playing definitely suffers because of that.

Thanks, will try to work on the chromatic scales thing.

I could alternate pick really fast on some scales but need to warm up a lot first before brain muscle kicks in.


Looks like a helluva practice is always good, and im doing it on an acoustic, not electric, to build even more callous and finger strength at the same time.

Hehe.. I suffer from that as well. I've been using my index, middle and ring fingers for runs for so long that my pinky tends to float damn high off the fret board.

The trick I think is to practice scale runs very very slowly and consciously try to keep the other fingers as close to the fretboard as possible. If you do it fast, your fingers will automatically revert to the most used position which may be like 1/2 inch to 1 inch off the fretboard - and you'll end up reinforcing the habit!

After a while though, you should be able to "re-program" your fingers to hover very closely to the fretboard. It's bloody mind-numbing practice, but oh well...

My most common problem is muscle memory, the wrong kind
Everytime I practice, it's like repeating the same mistakes over and over because the muscle is so used to those positions already.
Yes, you can be conscious in the beginning, but once you get into the zone and just start soloing..... muscle memory usually takes over.

Haha, which is true mou...

Which is also why it's important to practise the most efficient/effective/clean way of doing things. I've got Heimdall knows how many years of bad muscle memory to erase!

wait...you actually use the pinky....?
lol jk I'm guilty of letting my pinky float too, but im somewhat trying to use it more nowadays, but pentatonic box runs are so easy and convenient i tend to forget about my pinky

that's true... but practising the different scale of soloing per day may reduce this problem I think...
Speed... my fingers spinning.. spinning...

IMHO MAB (Micheal Angelo Batio) has a very good lefthand finger technique. He USUALLY keeps his pinky close to the fretboard. (He preaches fingers closeness to fretboard in his instructional video the Speed Kills series ie. the closer the fingers to the fretboard, the less time it takes for the finger to press onto the strings. That's logical

Can search youtube for his videos (for those interested) eg MAB Speed Kills series - YouTube videos or YouTube search result for Batio

This post has been edited by Banzai_san: Dec 6 2007, 10:12 PM

I am a beginner but I forced myself to use the pinky right from the start.

I couldn't even fret at all with the pinky when I started out.

Then in a 4 fret scale sequence I always use the pinky for the last fret.

And also I own a gripmaster.

My pinky is stronger than before, but it could still improve.

Now I have no problem using my pinky but I want it to be even stronger and more accurate instead of taking short cuts by avoiding it completely.

another good exercise which i picked up from burbridge is like the chromatic 4 note per string thing except instead of chromatic he does whole tones. This is to practice hand movement instead of training finger strength and stretching. Moving left hand positions is also something you need to practice and not just finger speed

hmm.. strange thing for me is, i can practice with pinky easily, but during the real thing, my pinky somehow float around doing nothing and my ring finger roam...
-.-"

there's a bad habit u need to work on