any have any suggested exercises to not only stregnthen 4th and pinky fingers but also to help build the habit of using them more in your playing.

video links are welcome.

currently i just do a few hannon ex. and whatever else i can create that seems to place emphasis on them.
There are 2 comments, leave a comment.
i found pischna exercises to be challenging strength builders.  lots of "hold these down while trilling with these" types of exercises.  but be careful, because i found doing too much of it was damaging.

as for using those fingers  more, try some bach inventions, preludes and fugues, etc...or some chopin etudes....or like you said, whatever else you can create that seems to place emphasis on them...maybe quit using the other fingers for a while:)
a basic exercise that should help is simply 4-note seventh chord arpeggios up and down 2 octaves. in the rh use the 4th finger on the 7th and the fifth finger on the root at the top. this fingering works best if you're playing a chord that starts on a white note.

try this on a different note every day, running through the 5 basic chord types on each note, eg: gmaj7, g7, gm7, gm7b5 and gdim7. do it with a metronome and notch the speed up gradually over a period of time. try it in swing as well as straight 8s. also vary it by starting with the little finger on the top note, playing the arpeggio downwards.

when you are fluent with the 2-octaves format, try 3 octaves in triplets. the accents will fall on different fingers now, but there will still be a strong accent on the top note.
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