like anything else, I guess its just a matter of “what we learn TO do, we learn BY doing”
in other words working the heck out of the 3-4 combo lol.
Im the opposite of the OP. it has always felt weird as heck for me to “reach up” and use 1-2-3 fingering for, say, 10,12,13 fret etc.
I think a ton of guys probably use 1-2-3 fingering because they probably played their first first years not using pinky at all
To an extent this may alleviate the issue, but the question is “by how much”? We may be fighting against too strong anatomical limitations (two fingers sharing a tendon or similar). I don’t want to work too hard for a mild improvement.
Actually I also prefer 1-3-4 for comfort, but i just don’t get enough volume/note definition with that last 3-4 hammer on. The pulloff feels a little easier to me.
u talking a specific phrase or just in general?
arent there a zillion players who use 1-3-4 just fine? (playing devils advocate, not being a know it all)
side note. you could always just use 1-2 for minor thirds lol
from other current thread.
opening phrase
of course im asking myself why id ever post a vid now lol
Not sure if it will help ya or not but
If i depend fully on the hand n finger it sounds a bit weak. With the pinky I use a bit or wrist to fling the pinky into place.
Edit now that I look closer maybe Im using forearm instead of wrist
Still the point is im not holding my hand stationary
This is very well played 
… but it is a 1-4-1-3 kind of sequence, it does not contain the 3-4 hammer on I’m talking about.
The specific phrase I’m working on is a simple circular pattern of the type
----------------10-12-13-12p10--
-13-12-10-12h13-----------------
past a certain speed, the “h13” bit tends to become barely audible when I use fingers 3 and 4.
This one instead I can rip trough no problem (fingers 1-2-4):
----------------10-11-13-11p10--
-13-11-10-11h13-----------------its gonna sound stupid and maybe it is…just brainstorming. what if you just play and improvise for about 15-20 minutes per day using JUST fingers 3 and 4?
Have you ever tried playing with a really heavy noise compressor to try and get those notes sounding even?
@JonJon hehe interesting suggestion but I don’t think I am masochistic enough to play only 3-4 for 15 mins 
@aliendough you are right, heavy compression might alleviate the issue and I may eventually use it if I find no better way. But ideally I’d like to develop techniques that work with more or less any guitar tone (within reasonable parameters of course!) - but of course I may be asking too much of the instrument 
another weird thing I noticed yesterday is that I can do the 3-4 hammer louder if I am doing a 3-4 stretch (2 frets = 1 tone). Somehow the problem seems to happen when 3 and 4 are closer together, and in fact it gets worse in the higher frets.
WARNING - My understanding is the 3-4 fingers, do not love being separated so to avoid injury you have to be careful practicing separation and trills between them. I’m not saying don’t do it, just be aware that this is exactly the kind of thing where someone might say “man my 3-4 movements are not strong at all, I’m going to spend two weeks straight drilling them!” and then have to take 6 months off of playing.
ONLY giving a warning when working on this movement to try to be as relaxed as possible, listen to warning signs of any strain, stop when you’re tired, take breaks, mix up the practice.
Mindful of the endurance component too - my understanding is it’s much better to do 15 on/15 off (or 15 other activity) 4x a day than to do 1 hr straight of 3-4 practice.
thats sort of the equivalent of saying “gee im a bit out of shape, I think ill go straight into a 6 day/week fitness routine”. Next thing u know dude has shin splints, elbow issues etc.
Slow and steady is a good way to go for this stuff. There is only so much improvement that will take place in a period of time…cant rush mother nature
Stimulate. Rest. Grow
Tommo, sorry - I meant to say use a really heavy noise gate to practice legato. It will help you strengthen weak fingers as to try to get the notes to sound.
and the alternative is? lol
The alternative is for me to admit that the 3-4 combination will always sound so-so, and for anatomical reasons, practice can only bring it to “ok-ish”. If that is the case I should train myself to use 1-2-3 instead 
I admit that makes the whole discussion I started a bit useless
thats one way to look at it. Another way is to say “is ANYONE (with similar hand size to me) showing great skill on 3-4 stuff. if they can do it, I can do it”
of the two alternatives, id say shifting over to 1-2-3 fingering is WAY more radical than just slightly and gradually increasing the workload and intensity of the 3-4 stuff
and did someone mention tone? obviously tone/distortion etc matters a huge amount. I mean with a modern high gain setup its not like u have to slam down on the note.
also, what about the guys who do the legato thing where they dont pick ANYTHING. Surely they do some pretty strong 3-4 stuff and also of course getting plenty good tone from the pinky
In a way I think you have exactly captured my dilemma - except I’m not sure which one of the two involves more work - so the topic has again a reason to exist thank you
all for one lick too lol. Is that one note THAT important? lol Can it be refingered?
reminds me of the old story of the millipede and the other insect asked him how he could control all those legs at once. The millipede said “dunno, never thought about it”. Then he starting thinking about it and got so confused he never could walk again lol
This is what I would do (and, occasionally, what I DO do, when I feel like finger strength and independence is lagging).
haha hilariously I’ve injured myself badly in the past from not taking this advice BOTH with guitar playing AND exercise!
Yup, same here! 