stretching your hands for more reach

[cord]

ive seen a few comments posted of people actually buying smaller basses to fit their hands....

in my opinion, this is ridiculous.

as a martial artist and gymnast i adapt my body to work for me in certain situations, and i have found you can also do this with bass.

anyone whos tried ''portrait of tracy'' will know about that huge stretch, from the 2nd fret to the 6th, to get that weird harmonic. Sorry i dunno what its called....

now, when i began learning this song, i couldnt get this note with my index and little finger. Over a few months of stretching my hands i can now get this note with my index and middle finger. So thats a stretch between your first finger and middle finger from the 2nd fret to the 6th fret....

all im saying is dont take the easy way.

all it took was a few months of maybe 3hours a week practise.

dont waste your money on small scale basses, you can stretch your hands!!

seriously, stretch your hands.

its 3 am now, but tommorrow (today?) i will upload a pic.

peace

[g00eY]

that's sick. 2-6?

i should start doing ridiculous stretches. yesterday i was playing with my band and i was doing 2-5 and i could barely reach index-pinky. i was playing my Carvin fretless and actually had to do a little sliding with the index so my finger could reach the proper intonation point.

[cord]

yeah man 2-6.

damn i should really go to bed its nearly 4 am now but im enjoying this new forum

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by g00eY

that's sick. 2-6?

That isn't sick at all:



THIS is sick:

[morfine]

I just stretch my pinky until it hurts and then I go farther.
I am always practicing for a Cminor9th chord

[joeyl]

Originally Posted by morfine

I just stretch my pinky until it hurts and then I go farther.
I am always practicing for a Cminor9th chord

pain is usually no good
believe me my left hand was damaged this way

[Your Noose]

Originally Posted by cord

ive seen a few comments posted of people actually buying smaller basses to fit their hands....

in my opinion, this is ridiculous.

as a martial artist and gymnast i adapt my body to work for me in certain situations, and i have found you can also do this with bass.

anyone whos tried ''portrait of tracy'' will know about that huge stretch, from the 2nd fret to the 6th, to get that weird harmonic. Sorry i dunno what its called....

now, when i began learning this song, i couldnt get this note with my index and little finger. Over a few months of stretching my hands i can now get this note with my index and middle finger. So thats a stretch between your first finger and middle finger from the 2nd fret to the 6th fret....

all im saying is dont take the easy way.

all it took was a few months of maybe 3hours a week practise.

dont waste your money on small scale basses, you can stretch your hands!!

seriously, stretch your hands.

its 3 am now, but tommorrow (today?) i will upload a pic.

peace

I can do it as well, also a martial artist

[cord]

heres a pic, alvaro martin, read properly next time

i said index finger and middle finger:



its not the best ive done, i took that pic as soon as i woke up haha

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by cord

heres a pic, alvaro martin, read properly next time

Oops! My bad. What a stretch, man!

[Precious]

Have you tried employing some of your toes?

[iplaybassguitar]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

That isn't sick at all:



THIS is sick:

he was talking about between his middle finger and index finger 2-6...which would be sick, but i dont really believe that...i mean i can stretch that far but i dont believe anyone can stretch that far in a song, meaning doing it quickly and smoothly

[iplaybassguitar]

Originally Posted by cord

heres a pic, alvaro martin, read properly next time

i said index finger and middle finger:



its not the best ive done, i took that pic as soon as i woke up haha

thats just not practical...look at the funny angle your at and how contorded your arm is to reach that...

why dont you just use your pinky instead of middle...when you stretch the gap between your index and middle too far, like over 2 frets, the rest of your fingers are useless...so it really has no point, and actually hinders your playing more than helping it

[Slurm]

iplaybassguitar: he started off saying that he could not reach from the 2nd to 6th fret with his index and pinky, then he started practising stretching , and to prove how succesful he was he can now stretch from 2 to 6 with his index and middle. its not about being able to play "portrait of tracy" a new flashy way. your correct, this is an unneccesary movement for this particular song. but that was not the point of this post, he has made an excellent example and lesson for finger stretching, what can be achieved with this dicipline.

[BassChuck]

I can play a F chord: E string 1st Fret, A string 12th fret, and G string 17th fret. I use my nose, first finger of left hand and .... well, I can't show the rest on TB, so no pic.

[lomer]

dude

[steveb98]

Be aware that musicians throughout time have ruined their hands overdoing stretching. Be careful if you try it a little stretch at a time and if pain STOP. Persistent pain see a doctor.

Yes you can increase stretch some, but results vary from person to person. Sometime you need to say I can't stretch that much and look for other ways to get the same or similar sound. Just be careful.

[mkettner]

I have a lot of work to do in order to strech my hands like that. I still have trouble with the first four frets, especially over mulitple strings, but like the last poster said, be careful to not over do, but to build up to it.

[cord]

at first it wasnt smooth to even do that in ''portrait of tracy'' with my index and little finger.

i just kept practising.

to be honest, i use this move just for show.

i tweaked portrait of tracy a little bit too....

i will record a video and upload it of you want.

you CAN use this stretch efficiently

[Jim Carr]

"A man has got to know his limitations." -C. Eastwood


LADS, LADS, LADS!

Please take some humble advice from a Geezer in the form of a
story....wait, don't run...it's short, really!

I had a music theory student 4 years ago who had been a rock
guitarist, but could no longer play.

He had destroyed the integrity of the ligaments and some
other connective tissues in the palm his left hand between his
second and third fingers. His hand is kind of "floppy" in a narrow area
extending from the middle of his palm up to his fingers.

I asked him how it happened, and he merely said, "I put too much
stress on it by too much playing and too much stretching, now my
hand is no longer rigid when I need it to be, so I am studying
voice and theory."

I have another friend who is a harpsichord professor. She also has a
serious permanent hand injury. Her whole right hand between the 3rd
and 4th finger has a sort of stretched and weakened quality, similar to
that guitarist's.

I am not a MEDICAL Doctor (mine is in music ).
However, I can assure you that it is very possible to hurt yourself
permanently, in such a way that surgery and physical therapy can
never bring it back. Really Really.

These injuries don't usually occur all at once.
Be Gentle. You will go further.

[cord]

thats scary stuff!!!!!!!

but it doesnt hurt, its actually pretty easy now....

i do a fair few finger pushups at my mixed martial arts