Hand exercises without an instrument

[14rcole]

I am a pianist and a bassist so I use my fingers quite a bit. When I am not playing however, my fingers get cold and stiff because I have poor circulation. Are there any hand exercises that I could do to either loosen my hand up, strengthen my hand, or improve my speed/dexterity without having an instrument in hand? Thanks for your help.

[carl h.]

Run scales on your leg.

Seriously, it works.

[hernameisrio]

Or on the table...or the subway pole...it makes for very constructive fidgeting!

[lburton2]

just constantly play songs in your head and on your fingers.. My fiance calls me out on it every 5 minutes because my fingers are constantly playing the song in my head lol

[KodyAudette]

There are a couple useful tricks you can use.

For fretting hand exercises, you can pull your right arm across your chest to the left side of your body to approximately the location that your (bass) neck would be and use your wrist/upper forearm as your neck. You can just imagine the location of the frets and practice scale patterns, arpeggios, etc. I first used this idea when trying to explain a guitar chord shape to a friend and I actually drew frets and strings on my arm with a Sharpie. Haha.

A useful trick for plucking hand exercises is to either use the edge of a belt buckle (I had a great one shaped like a combo amp that was just about the thickness of an "A" string) or alternatively you can use the edge of a table that you can strike your fingers across while providing resistance. If it's solid then you can choose how much resistance you want by simply digging in a little deeper. Great for speed, strength, and rhythm exercises.

[musomark]

I find Tai Chi hand exercises really useful for both circulation and relaxed movement.

I've used it with both my piano and bass students to good effect.

tai chi hands

Hope this is helpful.

Mark

[danielfnj96]

in class i practice my three finger technique on a pencil instead of a string i also some times slap my leg

[Fergie Fulton]

Gently shake both hands as they lie at your sides, this will looseen up muscle fibres and encourage circulation then give them a rub as if you are washing your hands. Then spread you fingers as far apart in a fan as you can, hold for 5-10 secs then relax and let them come back naturally....do not "force them relaxed". Then gently squeeze a fist with the thumb on the outside, hold for 5-10 sec then relax as before. With the shakes and the exercises to stretch your hands I think you will find this of great benefit......repeat as often as required. Calm and deep breathing will help with these endevers.