Jim Bowley

Dr. Evil knows pinky power

Odds are that when you first learned the most important chord in rock music – the righteous power chord – you learned it in the traditional way: with fingers 1 and 3, in a spread formation that follows the familiar “one finger per fret” concept. You then proceeded to turn up and rock out, the way God intended!

But for intermediate players, there are some real benefits to learning to play two-finger power chords with fingers 1 and 4, as opposed to the traditional fingers 1 and 3. Here are just a couple reasons to give the “pinky power chord” a whirl:

• The more compact hand position results in less lateral spread of the fingers, which in turn results in less tension in the hand;
• It allows the player to play across a wider fret span with relative ease;
• It allows the use of finger 3 on the next lower string as needed;
• It eases the mechanical challenges of fast lateral moves between power chords.

To summarize, it’s comfortable and it’s also practical – a win-win!  You may even find that you like this grip so much, you rarely go back to the traditional method (just like me). Continue reading “Pinky Power!” »