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.