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Clapton solos mostly with 3 finger (using his pinky sparingly). Is there a benefit to

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bluesroom

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Jul 17, 2001
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443
for the life of me, I never knew this until now. I started studying Clapton’s early work, and my teacher is a master at this approach. I always was taught to use the pinky, and that it was a disadvantage not to. But now that I’m studying the bluesbreakers, I’ve been playing very high up on the neck and at times my fingers are crammed, and I can’t get the speed that I need for some of those licks to play fluently. Maybe that’s why some of the licks are hard to disassemble visually, and might make more sense mechanically. As far as clapton, I know people do what’s more comfortable, but maybe at somepoint he dicided it was a valuable approach for specific reasons? It’s going to be difficult to try and re-train myself, but I’m going to give it a go. Any thoughts on this?
 
1242

1242

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Feb 22, 2016
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106
I find that the little finger is at best superfluous and at worst a hinderance for Clapton-esque phrasing. I think for this style you get more control with just the three.

bluesroom said:
for the life of me, I never knew this until now. I started studying Clapton’s early work, and my teacher is a master at this approach. I always was taught to use the pinky, and that it was a disadvantage not to. But now that I’m studying the bluesbreakers, I’ve been playing very high up on the neck and at times my fingers are crammed, and I can’t get the speed that I need for some of those licks to play fluently. Maybe that’s why some of the licks are hard to disassemble visually, and might make more sense mechanically. As far as clapton, I know people do what’s more comfortable, but maybe at somepoint he dicided it was a valuable approach for specific reasons? It’s going to be difficult to try and re-train myself, but I’m going to give it a go. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
 
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bluesroom

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Jul 17, 2001
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443
Thank you. I was hoping more people that play like this would reply. I’m sure there’s a lot of bluesbreaker fans out there, especially on this site lol.
 
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Foggy72

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Jun 7, 2010
Messages
442
I faced this dilemma decades ago when I first started learning guitar. The classic technique at the time was - you have 4 fingers, why wouldn't you use them all? So I started that way. Using the ring finger to hit a note 3 higher than your index finger was considered lazy and poor technique. I did that, but had no strength in my pinky finger to bend up that string 2 notes higher. So I would bunch my ring finger alongside it. Awkward but it worked. Flash forward a few years and I'm noticing most rock/blues guitarists are just using 3 fingers. Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Stevie Ray, Jeff Beck, Santana and many, many more. They were all fast, fluid and sounded great. Check out Alvin Lee's (TYA) left hand on the live Woodstock "I'm Going Home". All 3 fingers using the extended position. The only Rock guy that used the pinky back then I think was Jimmy Page.

With the extended position, if they got to a point on the fretboard where the next area to get to required the pinky, they would just shift their hand up or down, very quickly, to avoid that. Nothing wrong with 3 finger technique in an extended position.
 
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bildo

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May 18, 2010
Messages
93
You are doing it right. Cultivate that pinky and use it when you can. Blues/rock bends and things favor the ring finger for bends. You cannot lose to have both techniques. Now cultivate the new approach too.
 
Andrew

Andrew

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Aug 10, 2015
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YES! Im a huge Clapton fan and find that the solo's in the Beano record are kept v simple in the pentatonic box positions with really strong index finger bends to take the minor 3rd to the major/four or vibrato on the flat 7.

 
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lespaul1970

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Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
195
In my opinion there's not really a "right" or a "wrong" way. It's what works best for you to get the notes/tone that you want. I know what you mean about feeling "crammed" in the higher frets. My approach for many years now has been to use all 4 fingers up to about the 7th position (1st finger is in the 7th fret) - anything higher than that it's just the first 3 fingers being used, except for bending a note with 3 fingers and then grabbing a note underneath on a different string- then I still use the pinky. But I see a lot of players, higher up, bend with 2 fingers and use the 3rd (ring) finger to grab notes on different strings. Again- I don't think anyone can say there's a "right" or "wrong" way. Clapton and most Blues and/or Rock players aren't going for a "judge my technique/Classical competition" thing- it's all what feels and works best.
 
Boz

Boz

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Jan 13, 2018
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bluesroom said:
for the life of me, I never knew this until now. I started studying Clapton’s early work, and my teacher is a master at this approach. I always was taught to use the pinky, and that it was a disadvantage not to. But now that I’m studying the bluesbreakers, I’ve been playing very high up on the neck and at times my fingers are crammed, and I can’t get the speed that I need for some of those licks to play fluently. Maybe that’s why some of the licks are hard to disassemble visually, and might make more sense mechanically. As far as clapton, I know people do what’s more comfortable, but maybe at somepoint he dicided it was a valuable approach for specific reasons? It’s going to be difficult to try and re-train myself, but I’m going to give it a go. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Interesting discussion. I've always tried to use the 4-finger method, but I've never been able to develop much speed (I've played guitar for more than 40 years, and I've always been more of a rhythm than a lead player.) Maybe I should forget the pinky for awhile and see if the 3-finger approach leads to more speed.
 
Budman2k

Budman2k

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May 23, 2002
Messages
898
I've been using my pinky since day one. I have what I think are short fingers so i really can't make some of the stretches Clapton makes with 3 fingers. The first time I saw Clapton live I was just sitting thinking....if he's this good with 3 fingers I don't stand a chance! :peace2

Budman
 
mdubya

mdubya

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Mar 31, 2010
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My middle and ring fingers are fairly long, relative to my pinky. The pinky gets used for embellishment, the other three for the heavy lifting. If you really want to see a 3 finger player killing it, watch Gary Moore's brutal style. :wow Gary isn't my favorite, but he certainly can demonstrate what is possible.

ETA:

 
mdubya

mdubya

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Great Andy Aledort demo/lesson on GM and EC and PG style.

The lesson starts around 4:45.

 
AA00475Bassman

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
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Andrew said:
YES! Im a huge Clapton fan and find that the solo's in the Beano record are kept v simple in the pentatonic box positions with really strong index finger bends to take the minor 3rd to the major/four or vibrato on the flat 7.

Click to expand...

Great playing Andrew, I live 180 north of Minneapolis might see you at Lavonnes!
 
Wilko

Wilko

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Django did pretty good with two fingers. :hmm
 
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