building up finger strength

[cossie]

Hey,

I was very sick for quite a long time and it caused my body to lose a ridiculous amount of weight (and muscle as a result). I've increased the amount of playing I do on a daily basis now. I've up the time I spend playing other people's songs (and not just theory) to about an hour and recently introduced some Maiden (Wrathchild) into it.

But I was wondering if anyone has any good tips for building up finger strength that doesn't necessarily include playing very fast songs? I thought about practicing some slap songs with my fingers (e.g. Aeroplane) as those octaves should be a good exercise.

Thanks

Cos

[Fergie Fulton]

Sorry to hear your problem and hope your on the mend.

To exercise your hands properly you have to understand how they work. Stand up relax your arms and hands, give them a shake and look at the position your hands have formed. you will see that your fingers have a gentle curl towards you palms, this is the natural way your hands and in particular your fingers want to work.

When you straighten and flex your fingers you use a muscle group in your forearm and you see the result in the actions of your fingers, so it is not just your fingers that you need to build up it is certain muscle groups on your forearm as well. Think of it as like a steel hammer head on a glass shaft, the head is strong enough to do the job, but the shaft is weak enough to see it fail.

The job your right and left hand do are different in the playing of the bass guitar, one is palm down the other is palm up so to speak, so a slightly different approach to there needs is required. The one thing that is common to them both is the need contract in order to do a specific job. When you want to close your hand muscles contract to Pull it closed. When you want to open your hand muscles contract to PULL it open. So you can see you have two muscle groups that work in pairs and it is these pairs that you must exercise.

If you look at your hand again you will see that to straighten your fingers fully it must be muscle groups to the back of your hands to your forearms that do this action. If you relax this group your hand returns to its relaxed state and position. To close you hand past this relaxed position tight in to a fist another muscle group in your forearms that run to the palms of your hands must be activated and used. This relaxed position is not far from the position your fret hand would be on the neck of your guitar. Go and try it on the neck of your guitar and see for yourself. So it is important to exercise the muscle group that straightens your fingers not the group that closes them as they get regular exercise in day to day life. So you need exercises that deal with this as you do not want to develop a strong fingers for holding but rather for dexterity.

1/ Rolling and manipulating two squash bass in the tips of your fingers is great for this. Start with one and build up to two.
Holding a squash ball in the tips of your fingers and squeezing it gently will build up strength.

2/ Hold the ball with only the tips of your thumb and forefinger then squeeze, the roll it to thumb and middle finger, squeeze, then thumb and ringfinger squeeze then thumb and small finger, squeeze. If you hold the forearm of the hand your working on you will feel the muscle groups being used.

3/ Putting your fingers and thumb inside an elastic band so that it runs around your finger nails and repeat opening your fingers, then relaxing against the tension of the band is another great way to work on these muscle groups anywhere.
In the UK the Royal mail use a red elastic band to hold mail together and these bands can be found in the streets, these are perfect for this exercise.This exercise can be preformed when walking, watching TV, thinking about something, just about anywhere when you have the time.

4/ Lay your hands on a table, spread your fingers out and lift them off the table one by one. Hold the lifted position for about ten seconds between each finger. Some people when they start this exercise find it difficult to move the fingers independenty, it will become easier as you develop this exercise and you will find the height you can lift and hold then independently from the table will get higher and more stable as you become stronger.

The golden rule is when your hands and fingers get tired STOP. Lactic acid is the waste product of muscle activity and when it builds up you will get tired and feel pain..STOP. A brief rest will soon have you back exercising. Fluid intake is important as water is an important part of muscle construction and dehydration affects there ability to preform.

What i have explaned is just the tip of the iceberg in these matters and just a brief simple introduction with out getting to technical. The main action of a freting hand is to lift away from the neck, NOT TO HOLD DOWN STRINGS. By that i mean your hand and fingers are already in the correct position to hold down the strings if you remember what was said at the start of this piece, it is the lifting away of the fingers you must control
as this is the action that is in need strength, control and dextrity.
Freting notes on a bass is essentialy one controlled muscle movement and any body with a grip can do it. In the action of lifting the fingers away from the fretboard and returning them to fret is different, the fingers returns because you relax the muscle group that pulled them away, relaxed it to allow the fingers to return, then activate the next muscle group when you get back to apply the correct presure to fret the string.
It stands to reason if you lift your fingers just high enough away from the fretboard you have less distance to return to it so you will be smoother and faster as a result, use less energy, so not tire so fast, which will give you increased stamina.

Like i said this is just a brief introduction in laymans terms, there are so many other facts that affect how your muscles work, and not every one has the ability to achieve in the physical sense what is required no matter how hard they work, so have fun with it and exercise regular rather than for longer.

Find my blogs on www.myspace.com/vintageprecisionbass
and drop me a line if you have anything specific to ask.
hope all goes well for you.

[ForestThump]

All good advice from Fergie.
I had shingles and it affected my left hand. I did many of the above mentioned excercises and also filled a small sock with dry lentils and would keep that and squeeze it.
I also squeezed a small soft pink rubber ball.

[Binnie]

i spent a while squeezing a tennis ball with my left hand to strengthen out my left pinky finger, just when ever you find yourself in a position to squeeze it, like watching tv or walking a dog etc.

[otis_thick]

Raising the action of your strings while trying to maintain the same tone and speed will help improve strength and stamina. With your stumming hand,
practice plucking with one finger at a time ie only with your thumb for the entire song. Then the forefinger only and so on including the ring and pinky. Good luck!

[cossie]

Thanks for all your replies, especially such a detailed one from Fergie Fulton - much appreciated

4/ Lay your hands on a table, spread your fingers out and lift them off the table one by one. Hold the lifted position for about ten seconds between each finger. Some people when they start this exercise find it difficult to move the fingers independenty, it will become easier as you develop this exercise and you will find the height you can lift and hold then independently from the table will get higher and more stable as you become stronger.

That really showed me the weakness in a few of my fingers!

[mothmonsterman]

There are a few things I used a while back and they really helped

one when I was first starting out was
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.c...ool?sku=429070
Works really well especially when you air guitar with music


I've also found good progress with the old rolled up toilet paper tube and putting it under the first fret which raises the string height and tention and practicing as normal.

[Binnie]

is there any exercises that can help with usign a plectrum, arm seems to get tired after a short while ?

[greenboy]

Originally Posted by Binnie

is there any exercises that can help with usign a plectrum, arm seems to get tired after a short while ?

Yeah - playing with a plectrum for longer periods and more often will build up the strength. Likewise with fingerstyle issues and fretting issues. Just playing a lot is all it takes and has the best return on investment.

[steamgirl]

Wow, what a great thread and thoughtful advice. I'm trying to develop more LH finger strength and agility, and Fergie's description of how our muscle groups work was very interesting. It's also interesting to read about different people's experiences.

In the end it's all about continuing to exercise the muscles that will be used for the motion. My piano teacher used to say "practice, practice practice!" (only being a nun, she wasn't quite so nice about it).

Thanks, people!

[daffy]

Great advice and great ideas!

I spent a lot of time looking at the same thing and came to the same conclusion independently - wish I had this thread before!!!

The other thing I realised was that not only do you need exercises that open your fingers and build strength (I like the red elastic band myself - that's a fantastic one. Try doing one finger at a time too), you also need ones that give you explosive opening ability. That's where really fast fingers come from.

I found that simply opening my fingers as quickly and explosively as I could worked really well. You can do this anywhere too - while waiting for a bus etc.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by daffy

I found that simply opening my fingers as quickly and explosively as I could worked really well. You can do this anywhere too - while waiting for a bus etc.

This is a bad move as the muscle is asked to respond suddenly. Slow gentle movement is what is required in hand exercise if not most exercise.
Building strength and power in your hands will give you just that, the by product of this type of action is and a grip not dexterity and freedom of movement. Exercices that use dexterity and control will give you as a by product motion in all hand planes, great finger control, supplness, ease of joint movement, manipulation and of course stamina rather than strength.

When people say they want more strength they usually mean more stamina.

We can all do things once or twice but to make it repeatable without breaking down or causing us injury requires stamina, not strength.
Stamina can be down to may things not related to exercise, diet, oxygen blood levels, stress, tension etc. Exercise for the sake of exercise is hit and miss, be target specific in any exercise you under take.
Get profesional advice from a GP or physio. Most common statistical reasons for injury...misuse and overuse.... avoid being be a statistic

[Phil Smith]

Take double bass lessons.

[Alduroth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3OXxa9CFGQ
has some finger speed and finger strength excerscise or w/e it's spelled.

[daffy]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

This is a bad move as the muscle is asked to respond suddenly. Slow gentle movement is what is required in hand exercise if not most exercise.
Building strength and power in your hands will give you just that, the by product of this type of action is and a grip not dexterity and freedom of movement. Exercices that use dexterity and control will give you as a by product motion in all hand planes, great finger control, supplness, ease of joint movement, manipulation and of course stamina rather than strength.

Thanks for the response. I did get information from a physio and they said that there were two kinds of responses, and you needed both. You had a strength response, but you also had a twitch response and that the twitch response was the one that improved dexterity. They said that you needed zero load explosive exercises to work on the twitch response and suggested the fast finger opening exercises. It really worked well for me, so I thought they were correct.

Is what they said not right?

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by daffy

Thanks for the response. I did get information from a physio and they said that there were two kinds of responses, and you needed both. You had a strength response, but you also had a twitch response and that the twitch response was the one that improved dexterity. They said that you needed zero load explosive exercises to work on the twitch response and suggested the fast finger opening exercises. It really worked well for me, so I thought they were correct.

Is what they said not right?

No what you have been told is correct as far as twitch response is concerned, its just that your as hands as such are ligiments and tendons, not muscles. The muscles that control your fingers and hands are in your forearms. This is the big bitch between the medical and the physical side as it is mainy used for focus specific exercising, but it does work.

For the record i have used fast and slow twitch response exercises for target specific areas with good results, but it is case specific in its use. As you have had proper advice i would assume they know your situation so it is for you.

Here's some more points to consider.

The exercies you describe is a short burst activity and should be preformed after warming up properly as if the muscle gives you a pull response, that is a cramp or contraction to stop you doing it you must stop, not try and get through it. The best way to do it is on a pillow in front of you on a table.
Sit down and place your arm on the pillow, palm up or palm down depending on whether its your plucking or fretting hand you wish do exercise, normaly fretting hand palm up and plucking hand palm down. Now with your arm comfortably supported and the hand relaxed do the rapid open and close of the fingers and the fingers only then stop, relax an finish. It is important you do not move or activate any other muscles groups than the fingers. This will take some practise but you will get the idea. You have to isolate the forearm as such, so that it is relaxed and only the fingers do any movement. Move to the next hand if need be. Remember that you want to do them and stop way before the fingeres fatigue, set out a comfortable time say one minute and count how many you acheive in that time. If you are getting any benifit you should see the number rise in the set time period, rather then going for longer, this is not about stamina, you would use a slow twitch exercise for that.
Finger ripples are another good one when you have the pillow there. From the position of having palm up on the pillow with everthing that has been said in place. As fast as you can from the little finger side bring in each finger one at a time straight after each other for about 30 seconds. Think of a wave rolling over and crashing on the beach it looks a bit like that.
now try it the other way same thing but start from the forefinger, not so easy as your dexterity is still working from the previous movements and that is a good safe twitch response exercise. As before set a time and count the responses in the alloted time. Try some slow response twitch exercises for your forearms as well for that stamina. This will help support the hand exercises since the muscles are mainly in the forearm.

Fast twitch response is considered short term exercise and should not be to long in its use, remember overuse and missuse is bad.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and views on twitch exercises as i have limited data on its effectiveness, good and bad points in my information files. Like i said i found it good..for me LOL.

[bonzo4880]

gripmaster - i have used one practically the whole time i've been playing. still haven't worn out those darn springs. if you go to their website they show you a ton of different ways to use it.

run chromatic scales from low to high and back, playing 1/2/3/4 notes on each fret each time through. i set the click to a reasonable speed so that one note per fret isn't totally boring but so that 4 notes doesn't burn me.

[debassr]

Personally, I don't think finger strength has much to do with playing a bass well - I think that finger dexterity and the action of the bass has far more to do with it. You just don't need to press very hard to clearly sound notes on a well adjusted bass.

My advice would be to set the action as low as possible and work on any piece that keeps your hand in a stationary position yet requires your fingers to stretch across 4 frets. There are plenty of songs in this category - a lot of blues songs and scales are like that.

Just keep at it and before you know it you'll have good finger dexterity and you won't be pressing very hard on the frets or feeling like you don't have the strength.

Hope this helps.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by debassr

Personally, I don't think finger strength has much to do with playing a bass well - I think that finger dexterity and the action of the bass has far more to do with it.

This is what i find and this is in sense a true statement.
Playing your bass with good exercises fitted around your needs and taking into account your instrument, its set up and what you can physically do, the size, strength, condition, of our hands. Also the job you do if not playing bass, how does it impact on your hands.
Would your job for example give you hand problems even if you never played a bass in your life?
In other words is playing bass just showing the symptoms of it because it is so demanding, rather than being the cause.

As usual always see a medical profesional because your playing may not be the problem, just the indicator.

[daffy]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

Fast twitch response is considered short term exercise and should not be to long in its use, remember overuse and missuse is bad.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and views on twitch exercises as i have limited data on its effectiveness, good and bad points in my information files. Like i said i found it good..for me LOL.

Thanks again for another good response.

Yes, you are right - these are not long term exercises and in fact you can feel them after only about 10 reps. Also you are right about warming up beforehand.

I found that my playing speed and fingering ability improved noticeably in a VERY short period doing this exercise in the morning and evening - I did 2-3 x 10reps of explosive opening of fingers with a 1-2 minutes break between, while waiting for a train (hands hanging down and no pillow, sorry ).

What fascinated me was that it was counter intuitive - I became faster and more accurate at getting my fingers ONTO the strings by practicing getting them OFF as fast as I could. Makes sense when you think about which muscles get the most use in daily life.

The one other thing I have done religiously while practicing is to constantly work on economy of movement - minimum lift of left hand fingers from the strings, and minimum movement of right hand fingers too.