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While exercising my pinky at playing the guitar I noticed a huge problem which I am not able to find on the internet. My pinky kind of cracks when trying to bend it from its flat state. I tested it on my friends and actually many of them have the same problem. My instructions were to straighten their pinky finger and simply bend it without moving the other fingers.

Here is a video of me exercising and about in the middle of it you can see my pinky finger cracking and bending really fast.

Is there any chance/way I can overcome this syndrome?

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  • The same thing happened to me and I resolved it by turning into a left handed. I used my left hand instead of my right in almost everything, that really helped, but it takes a while. Nov 30, 2018 at 5:03
  • @user27223 Do I understand you correctly? You used your left hand at everything except guitar and the problem with your left pinky reduced? Or did you really switch to a left-handed guitar?
    – Elgirhath
    Nov 30, 2018 at 12:50
  • no I didn't switch at the guitar Nov 30, 2018 at 17:02
  • Did this ever resolve? I am currently having the exact same issues.
    – Mark Felts
    Dec 21, 2021 at 14:31
  • @MarkFelts This question is on the edge of medical advice, which is not allowed on this SE. (It's also not really clear from OP's video what's happening.) You might look up "trigger finger" to see if it matches your experience, and then seek appropriate medical attention.
    – Theodore
    Dec 21, 2021 at 16:24

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This condition affects my middle fingers to some degree, and I've taught violin students who show it much more strongly. I've heard it described as being "double-jointed," but that's not a terribly useful term, and tends to describe unusually flexible joints rather than this "popping and locking." (The image on the Wikipedia page, though, shows an extreme example of what you're describing and what I experience, an ability to flex the first joint (nearest to the tip) independently of the other joints of a finger.) enter image description here

My (mild) version of this condition hasn't interfered with learning the violin, and I've been able to help several students around it. The key is to keep your finger arched as you press down. This is easier for violin than guitar, as our neck is narrower and finger position is more arched in general, but it can still help. In your video clip, your pinky is somewhat curved, and I find that in that "somewhat curved" position, the downward force intended to push the string down instead collapses or "locks" my second knuckle (i.e. second from the tip).

Instead, arch your finger just a bit more, so that more of your finger is "pointing to" the string rather than coming in at a "flatter" angle. Instead of pushing your whole finger generally "down," direct that downward force through the curve of your finger, the way medieval architecture used "flying buttresses" to direct the weight of a building: enter image description here

Yes, you'll probably have to re-negotiate the position of your whole hand slightly to make this possible, and yes, it's harder on low strings than high, and might be harder for certain chords. But when possible, respond to this "locking" by arching your finger more.

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