Hand/Finger Cramp

[Martyn_Williams]

I play in a Covers Band, we play 2 X 1 hour sets sometimes I get hand or finger cramps anybody know a remedy or cure?

[BassmanPaul]

Questions: do you stretch and do you warm up before playing?

Like any kind of physical exercise it's vital that you do both before that activity. Remember that there are not too many muscles actually in the hand, a lot of movement is controled by the forearm. At a gig if you have allowed time to relax before the first set, sit down with your bass unplugged and strech your hands and arms. Start to play slowly for a while. Increase speed bit by bit until you are playing at normal speed. If you are a finger style player try not to dig in so hard and play with a lighter touch. Let your amplifier do the work. You will find, I think, that your cramping problems will ease.

[Martyn_Williams]

Thanks for your advice, I had this problem back 4 or 5 years ago, but recently its come back I"ve been doing exercises with hand grips which seems to help. it occurs on the 9th or 10th song in the second half although if we have a long interval between sets then I'm ok. also if I swop over to the washburn, wich is a slightly shorter scale than the Ric [copy] and much lighter.. I also rub in Olive oil, which gets "funny looks" from anyone watching me Man I would try anything . Anyway thanks for your reply