i saw this and though id post it Credit: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/the_basics/4_finger_exercise.html?no_takeover I have been playing guitar now for 6 years & having no lessons I have picked up some pretty bad habits, one of which is that I have only ever been using 3 fingers to play & not using my pinky. So I decided I wanted to ditch this bad habit and came up with a simple routine that I try to play every day to get used to using all 4 fingers. I would say just downpick at first as the main aim is to get used to using all 4 fingers, once you are accurate then try to play each pattern with alternate picking. Pattern 1. - Repeat until you can play every note comfortably. |--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8-------9-------10--------11-------||-----3-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8-------9--------10----------||---2-------3-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8--------9-------------||-1-------2-------3-------4-------5-------6-------7--------8---------------||----------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------||---------12----------13----------14----------15-----||------11----------12----------13----------14--------||---10----------11----------12----------13-----------||-9----------10----------11----------12--------------|Pattern 2. - Same as Pattern 1 but with descending parts added. |--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||-------4-1-------------5-2-------------6-3-------------7-4----------------||-----3-----2---------4-----3---------5-----4---------6-----5--------------||---2---------3-----3---------4-----4---------5-----5---------6------------||-1-------------4-2-------------5-3-------------6-4-------------7----------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||-------8-5-------------9-6-------------10-7---------------11-8------------||-----7-----6---------8-----7---------9------8----------10------9----------||---6---------7-----7---------8-----8----------9------9-----------10-------||-5-------------8-6-------------9-7--------------10-8----------------11----||------------------------||------------------------||---------12-9-----------||------11------10--------||---10------------11-----||-9------------------12--|Pattern 3. - Descending on the high strings, start with the pinky! |-12-11-10-9-----------10-9-8-7---------8-7-6-5---------6-5-4-3------------||------------11-10-9-8----------9-8-7-6---------7-6-5-4---------5-4-3-2----||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||-4-3-2-1--||----------||----------||----------||----------||----------|Pattern 4. - Descending from the high E. |-1-------2-------3-------4-------5-------6-------7--------8---------------||---2-------3-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8--------9-------------||-----3-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8-------9--------10----------||-------4-------5-------6-------7-------8-------9-------10--------11-------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||-9----------10----------11----------12------------||---10----------11----------12----------13---------||------11----------12----------13----------14------||---------12----------13----------14----------15---||--------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------|Pattern 5. - Alternating fingers, get used to the pattern then speed up. |-----------------------------------------6-8-7-9--||---------------------------------5-7-6-8----------||-------------------------4-6-5-7------------------||-----------------3-5-4-6--------------------------||---------2-4-3-5----------------------------------||-1-3-2-4------------------------------------------|And now back down again|-9-7-8-6------------------------------------------||---------8-6-7-5----------------------------------||-----------------7-5-6-4--------------------------||-------------------------6-4-5-3------------------||---------------------------------5-3-4-2----------||-----------------------------------------4-2-3-1--|That's about it for now, if you practise these simple patterns often you will get more speed & accuracy with all 4 fingers and it should also build strength in your pinky. Remember you don't want to strain yourself so if you start to cramp up take a few minutes to relax then when you are comfortable start where you left off. It will help to play with a metronome to keep a steady rhythm, if you don't have one then you can use an online metronome here. Remember to enjoy your guitar playing & this may seem boring now, but once your technique is strong you will enjoy your playing a lot more!