I have a problem with my pinky that I haven’t heard about from anyone.
My pinky is happy to participate, but whenever it goes down on the fretboard, my middle finger reaches out to the ISS.
So… when I play a major triad arpeggio, and the pinky lets go, the middle finger has to come down fast… and it comes down hard! as in “don’t bother plucking that string” – it’s the hammer-on from hell, waking the hood up!
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I have it the other way around.
Pinky goes down, middle goes up.
Yours sound more annoying to deal with. For me it’s just effectiveness that’s lost I think.
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No, it’s exactly the same!
Have you also tried, and failed, to control it?
Another tip I found helpful is when you play the higher shift of the bassline (bars 5 & 6 in the notation), the first time you end the loop (bar 5) hold the F# with your ring finger; however the second time you end the loop (bar 6) hold the F# with your pinky, so its easier to transition back to the lower shift of the bass line (bar 7).
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Ahh, yea I have a big problem with fret buzz. I’m sure a bunch of it is my fault, however I am playing on a super old beat up (free) bass so I think I need to get the action adjusted and frets aligned. Been trying to tweak the action myself, not sure how successful I am, lol!
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This video here helped me a lot with my setup: First String Purchase Ibanez SR300E - #34 by juli0r
Although the clerk in the shop told me he usually sets the action up so the strings are a little bit curved like the fretboard. I’m not sure I like it that way yet. I am still experimenting a little. Even with me experimenting - the video helped me a lot.
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Still not sure it’s the same but I gotta say I’m not at arpeggios yet so the different shape might make a difference. I can mainly speak for how I play billy jean and the finger exercise with my current skill and there I observe:
If the pinky is up already and I lift the ring finger the pinky wants to keep the distance to the ring finger and goes further away from the fretboard. Really hard to control for me and what I am currently bite-sizing.
I can keep my middle easily on the fret doing the finger exercise. However if I play billy jean and literally don’t fret anything with the middle finger then I am constantly flipping the bird - the middle finger is almost completely straight. That I find very hard/currently next to impossible to control.
I never had a problem with my middle hammering or even going down on the fretboard when I lift my pinky so I don’t know why it should be the same!?
I don’t even use my ring finger for the most part, play it with 2 fingers, index and pinky most of the time. Once in a while I add the ring finger to help prevent fatigue, but only here and there just for a quick break
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Are you rolling over or refretting with the pinky?
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Rolling
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@peterhuppertz I have something similar, I think. My middle finger 
either does this or becomes this “spring loaded” digit that nearly dents the fretboard, then follows into line. If I lift it off to high then it locks into the , does sometimes make practice interesting 
Jamie
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Oh come now…now you’re just show boating lol.
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While I am by no means a proficient player yet, that is exactly how I play the Wretched Hench.
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No show boating, I beleive that’s how @JoshFossgreen plays it too.
Rest assured, your pinky is your friend, and it will love you back in time, even if you hate it right now.
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So it has been over a week… let’s see my progress!
I feel like I got way more effective due to the finger exercises and forcing myself to keep the fingers as close as I can. Although I forgot in the first bar, see it on camera and quickly fix it 
What I think I have to work on/is still not good is consistency in timing/rythm and dynamics. I guess/hope that this comes automatically with playing and I still do the groove workout. The last week my daily practice routine, using my practice website, was:
- 1 drum track playthrough finger exercise level 2
- 1 drum track playthrough finger exercise level 3
- 1 drum track groove workout 1 silent bar with premeditated notes
- 1 drum track groove workout 1 silent bar slap alternating notes - empty string/3rd or 5th fret
- playing what I want. I sometimes practiced Billy Jean but max 4-5 reps and not daily
This is also recorded with my new DAI (Behringer U-Phoria UMC 404HD)
Tips and constructive feedback always very welcome! I make these videos mainly to see myself playing to have an external eye I can use but why not use other real pairs of eyes, too? 
Also this is the premiere of the caped bassist and I contacted my friend with the cosplaying sister. In general she is open for costume orders! So… since I don’t take myself seriously, have too much time on my hands and had a weirdly huge amount of fun shooting that intro take I think I’ll pursue this further 
I still have to contact her but she said I should already have a picture or idea in mind so I’m thinking about something specific before contacting her.
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@juli0r brilliant very well done, I don’t do critiques I just listened and enjoyed. Your going great with your bass, looking forward to seeing more of your adventures
Jamie
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So as promised to @juli0r my 1 month progress on Billy Jean.
This was a skype message to a friend to have him comment on. No effects or anything.
And this is just now. I got the inspiration while working on ‘My Shronna’ and gave it a go (never tried full speed before even). Again no effect other than a little upgrade on the bass… No practice nothing. Put on the fast work out, hit the record button and go!
In this 1 month period I have never put more than 10 minutes on Billy Jean particularly. I have already got the notes memorized so I was fooling around with it every time I needed a warm up or something. There you go!
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Congratulations on your progress!
Clear difference between both recordings.
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Finally a hero for the people!
Awesome
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