Power Chords bar the 5th and octave with pinky?

chrisoldroyd

I play power chords using my index finger on the root and pinky to bar the 5th and octave. Is this a problem as all I ever see is other people using their ring and pinky?

Whats your thoughts?

cheers
Chris

viz

I always use my little finger, or middle if I’m doing the status quo blues thing. Never ring finger. 

markblagdon

What’s the pinky one? Is that the little one? I use index and ring finger as they leave the others free for other stuff.

bbill335

I, too, use the pinky for power chords. 

John_P

Use whatever you’re comfortable with that frets the notes cleanly.   I mix it up depending whether I need to add other notes or where I’m moving to next.   

Matt_McG

What John_P said. I think I generally do index finger and barre with the ring finger. But I can and do use index, ring and pinky, too, depending on what I'm playing. I never, as far as I can remember, use index and pinky only. 

I have an ulnar nerve issue with the pinky finger so I rarely barre with it. I can, but it feels slightly uncomfortable and fatigues easily.

merlin

C'mon guys, what all this "pinky" nonsense? We have an English term for the little finger that isn't American. 

Roland

When I learned power chords I was already used to playing sevenths, eg 57x6755 and x57x7x, so using index and ring was the obvious choice. Just last year I caught myself using index and pinkie in some situations. I have no idea how or why. My fingers seem to have done it automatically without consulting me. 

Matt_McG

What makes you think that "pinky" is American? Because it's not.

viz

merlin said:

Now now ladies and gentlemen, what all this "pinky" nonsense? We have an English term for the little finger that isn't American. 

Corrected

merlin

I stand corrected. I thought that pinky was an American word because I had only ever heard it used by Americans until recently when like the word "Awesome", which is almost always used incorrectly, it has become a very commonly used word by native British English speakers. I now have learned that it came into Scotland from The Netherlands and has been in use in these islands for well over 200 years. 

On the second point, I think that using "guys" to refer to collective humans is probably an American affectation, so I should stop using it. However one non-gender specific word might work...

And yes, I use my little finger for power-chords some of the time. 

bloodandtears

Roland said:

When I learned power chords I was already used to playing sevenths, eg 57x6755 and x57x7x, so using index and ring was the obvious choice. Just last year I caught myself using index and pinkie in some situations. I have no idea how or why. My fingers seem to have done it automatically without consulting me. 

Is that a seven string fingering??

Guitar_Slinger

markblagdon said:

What’s the pinky one? Is that the little one? I use index and ring finger as they leave the others free for other stuff.

This... the other stuff being a humpty-dumpty shuffle on power chords, or the sus4 thing on A shape barre chords.

Lestratcaster

1st 3rd and 4th fingers together for me no flattening the pinky shit going on.

delorean

Index and pinky for me, started this way when I first began learning and now I can't comfortably use my ring

viz

delorean said:

and now I can't comfortably use my ring

... no, never mind ..

tone1

Index and pinky for me for straightforward E & A shape powerchords.. just feels natural that way. 
I’m fine with ring finger for 7ths or minor bar chords...

delorean

viz said:

delorean said:

and now I can't comfortably use my ring

... no, never mind ..

 D'oh!  I see what you did there!!

Snags

It varies depending on context.

Any combination of:

• index + ring
• index + pinky
• index, middle, ring
• index, ring, pinky

All really depends on what was before, what's coming after, and whether there's any 7th/sus4 business going on around the main chord.

Clarky

I use 1st and 4th fingers mainly for power chords..
the upside of this is that the underside of the 4th finger helps keep the 1st the 3rd strings quiet
the downside is that my 2nd finger tends to be straight, so in the live photos it looks like I'm giving the photographer the middle finger whilst I'm riffing.. lol..

Modellista

bloodandtears said:

Roland said:

When I learned power chords I was already used to playing sevenths, eg 57x6755 and x57x7x, so using index and ring was the obvious choice. Just last year I caught myself using index and pinkie in some situations. I have no idea how or why. My fingers seem to have done it automatically without consulting me. 

Is that a seven string fingering??

I was thinking that - is that meant to be a weird 7-string chord? And the other one is a D major without a 7th in sight.