Will playing with high action make your hands stronger

[bagnonbass]

I had a bass that was buzzing . I thought I would have to take it to the shop . I put flatwound strings on it now there is zero buzzing on any frets . The action is very high though . Since I'm fairly new and still building my hand strength , I was wondering if playing it like it is would build my hand strength or will it cause injuries ?

[kr0n]

There is no quick way to gain hand strength, you get it by playing more and developing the right technique. Fret buzz can be caused by fretting incorrectly, too low action or too little bow for your neck. Seems like the strings you put on are of higher tension, bowing the neck a bit more. If you know how you could try adjusting truss rod but in that case you would've done it already so I suggest take it a luthier who knows his stuff. Playing correctly setup bass is a must. Crappy tools make for crappy results altho masters can muster up nice stuff with a trash can.

[Chris K]

+1 - go see a luthier...

IMHO strength isn't something you need to improve by special practice. Especially if you are new or if you intensify your playing, your first objective is control, your second objective is speed. Strenght will come by itself.

When I made a new start on BG after many years, I noticed that I had no hand strength problem, although 1. I was 56 2. I'm not particularly strong 3. I almost never work with my hands 4. I play fretless. Yet, within a couple of months, I felt the strenght in my hands had grown considerably.

Special practice for strength may hamper the agility of your hands. Hand and finger stretching exercises are the way to go.

[tZer]

Chris K said what I was going to say. The idea that strength = value is misguided unless you are in some sort of "who's got the strongest grip" contest.

The amount of strength required to properly play a fretted or fretless bass is very minimal - especially if it's set up properly. It's far more important to have your instrument properly set up, make sure you stretch out your fingers, wrist and arms before you play and play with proper technique.

As a matter of fact, if you've been playing 'hard' with the idea that it's going to help you, you may actually be courting a repetitive stress injury.

If you are pursuing hand strength as a means to improve your bass playing, you might as well be doing squats and core exercises too. None will improve your bass playing, but you'll have gluts and abs of steel!

[jnuts1]

yeah what these guys said. but i would worry more about fretting notes with as little pressure as needed. you don't want to give your neck a death grip, you will just end up cramping up & really feeling the burn.

[PBass101]

Hand strength isn't nearly as important as flexibility and dexterity. If your bass has too much fret buzz, you either have bad technique or bad frets/setup. Take it to a pro technician to get looked over if you want to lower your action. IMO there is no reason to ever play with "very high" action, and if you're doing it to avoid fret buzz, you probably have really bad frets.

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by Chris K

Especially if you are new or if you intensify your playing, your first objective is control, your second objective is speed. Strength will come by itself.

this.

[bagnonbass]

Thanks to everybody . I really appreciate all the advice . I have 2 basses but I only get buzzing on one . I guess that does make sense to play with the least effort . I'm going to take it to a luthier .

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by bagnonbass

I was wondering if playing it like it is would build my hand strength or will it cause injuries ?

The answer is yes on both counts so don't do it. Get the bass set up for complete ease of playing and all will develop in time in the correct way. If further down the line you need some help with hand exercising there are plenty of stress free ways to do this safely.
Never believe that putting obsticals or handicaps to your playing is a good thing..the opposite normaly results.

[tZer]

A good exercise for 'calibrating' your fretting hand is to fret a note and pluck. Then lighten your grip to the point that the note buzzes on the fret - then apply just enough pressure to make the note stop buzzing. That's all the pressure you need to apply. Anything more is overkill and probably impacting your dexterity.

A teacher I had recently had me playing 'buzzing' scales where I purposefully was to make every note buzz by pressing just less than firm enough to make the note ring. After running a few scales like that, adding just the right amount to make the notes clean was very easy.

Another way to calibrate your fretting hand is to play with the thumb entirely off the back of the neck in order to not rely on 'gripping' the neck.

But that sort of exercise should be done after you have your bass set up properly.

[Jojabeau]

You dont have fret buzz because the higher tension (I AM guessing) of the flatwounds is bowing your neck. A truss rod adjustment will correct this can be DYI or a professional can do it for you. Look for Gary Willis comments on hand strength - he is adament that most of us play too hard.

[NickInMesa]

No. I wasted 2 years as a teenager playing with poorly setup basses and I could not find a luthier in my area (I lived in the boonies).

95% of the time when I buy a bass from someone, it's very badly setup and I can tell you that's why the kid stopped playing.

I don't understand why GC and others don't setup their instruments right. They'd get less returns.