Three fingers or four?

[Tony W]

not a single "thats what she said" post on this topic? You bunch of grown ups.

[Gnasty]

not a single "thats what she said" post on this topic? You bunch of grown ups.

I was going to, but i censor myself. That`s why I made the Tommy reference. But that`s fists
not fingers. 

[Tony W]

Yeah, I actually caught the Tommy reference, and figured it out, but that's pretty obscure!

I play with 4 fingers, and working on the thumb now.

[chip]

Four but three when I'm being lazy, which happens a lot.

[64Guitars]

Wow! I'm pleasantly surprised at the results of the poll so far. I thought there'd be a lot more three-finger guitarists. I've seen so many videos of respected professional guitarists who never use their pinky. And I've jammed with lots of guitarists who don't use their pinky and were astonished that I use mine all the time. So I thought we'd have more three-finger guitarists here. Glad to see I was wrong.

Here's a thread on the Harmony Central forum which mentions a lot of well-known guitarists who allegedly play with only three fingers.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2170420-how-many-famous-guitarists-don-t-use-their-pinky

I haven't verified any of the names, but here's some that are mentioned on the HC forum:

• Alex Lifeson
• Ronnie Wood
• Eric Clapton
• Leslie West
• Michael Schenker
• Jimmy Page
• Gary Moore
• Zakk Wylde
• David Gilmour

[Hook]

Never really thought of myself as a lead player and I'm a 3 finger kinda guy. Not much for scales just kinda find something that fits. I have a very small bag of tricks I've already exhausted, every now & then I do something new that might sound cool but chances are I couldn't do it again, hopefully I hit record!

[phantasm777]

when i do play guitar, i use my little finger on chords but not leads. so kind of a 3 and 4 finger style. and i am with Hook, im just a basic guitarist. lots i dont know.

[Tony W]

Speaking of pinky on chords, I use the hell out of my pinky on chords from the 5th string, especially when the root drops a half step or raises off the fretboard.

38 special - hold on loosely, that's a prime song to barre with the pinky on.

[cuthbert]

My pinky usually only gets a workout with chords. The very occasional leads are mostly done with two or three fingers...   

[Ferryman_1957]

Here's a thread on the Harmony Central forum which mentions a lot of well-known guitarists who allegedly play with only three fingers.

Interesting. As someone points out in the thread, mainly older players from the 60s/70s/80s, before we had music schools teaching technique, magazines and CDs full of techniques and the internet showing you how to do anything. I played in a covers band recently and the younger guitarist was amazed that all my chords were full barre - he said don't you use power chords, and don't your fingers get tired! Just that I come from a different era.....

Cheers,

Nigel