Fingering the five

Playing Technique
#1

Hi Gang!
I’m new here and I apologize if this has been asked before. I have a question about the left hand when performing the Eric Johnson 5s pattern both ascending and descending. My question is to roll or not to roll my fretting hand finger on the 14th fret. Let me explain:

I tend to get messed up on the A, D and G strings. Let’s say I’m playing in Em and using the “box” position. If I’m descending then I will play
G string 14, 12
D string 14, 12
A string 14
D string 14, 12 … and so on…

I’ve noticed when Troy plays through this part he will use his ring finger for the first note of the pattern and then alternate between the middle and index finger for the rest of the sequence of five down to the A string. Then he sneaks his ring finger underneath his middle finger to fret the 14th fret on the D string before returning to the first and second fingers.

I’ve been trying to do this but it feels completely unnatural to me. If I play the 14th fret on the A string and then the next note is the 14th fret on the D string I tend to use the same finger and just roll it so that it stops sounding the note on the A string and starts fretting the note on the D string. I just watched Josh Smith on the latest episode of “That Pedal Show” smashing out the 5s pattern and he seems to do the roll.

My questions are:
Did anyone else have trouble using 2 different fingers for the same fret (on two different strings)?
Is it worth persisting with this (the way Troy does it in the clips) because it will ultimately lead to more speed/useful skills in future?
Who else does the finger roll?

Thanks!

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#2

I haven’t put alot of time into this pattern, but I think it partly comes down to how good you are at ensuring your rolls are true rolls (i.e. rather than becoming “barres”) at high speed. Though unless you’re under the microscope recording, a lot of licks are probably still usable live even if your rolls are less than perfect.

That said, it’s probably worth giving the multiple finger approach a solid couple of weeks worth of work before you write it off.

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#3

I guess by now they are all adults so if they consent it should be fine… :sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

Oh sorry you were talking about pentatonics! I also prefer using rolling motions, rather than making the frets all crowded with multiple fingers (especially up the neck). My rolling motions are far from perfect, with the occasional barre-like effect @Frylock mentions (this can be mitigated a bit with palm muting - see Yngwie). On the other hand I also think that we shouldn’t go too crazy with trying to make everything sound super uniform and/or staccato, sometimes the returns don’t justify the effort IMO - and sometimes a bit of variation in sound is nice even if it is a bit accidental (we’re rockers after all! We should embrace a bit of roughness around the edges \m/).

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#4

I have spent many hours on this very same lick. At first, it did feel awkward. I do the finger switching now and it feels very natural now. I can do the lick pretty fast now. Not quite EJ or @Troy speed but I’m getting there. I have been working on the EJ Western Flyer lick for years. As of late, I’m noticing some speed and accuracy. And I don’t have to warm up as long to get there. I think my weakness for now is the picking aspect but it’s coming along. Keep at it and after a while the awkwardness will start to fade.

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#5

Thanks for the replies fellas!
I have been trying the multiple finger method, rather than the roll and it’s starting to feel more natural. I find the last 3 strings of the pattern the hardest. When I move onto the low E string I either use my pinky to fret the minor 3rd or my ring finger has to jump from being under my middle finger to above it. I also find myself doing “the roll” on these last few notes unless I concentrate on NOT doing it.

The other thing I’ve found hard about this pattern is the timing. I can play it just fine when I’m attempting to practice it. Then I tried to pull it off while playing to a backing track in 4/4 time and I just could not do it! That is something I really need to work on.

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