Left hand strength

kaciesaurus · #1 04-22-2007, 09:18 PM

Are there any exercises that I could do to help build my left hand/finger strength?

I would like to be able to work on this both with and without a bass.

I just started playing, and everything above f above middle c is killing me (and my instructor, I'm sure.)

kontrabass · #2 04-22-2007, 09:44 PM

Scales. Max's Magic. More scales. Repeat.

ClassicalBass · #3 04-22-2007, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kontrabass

Scales. Max's Magic. More scales. Repeat.

That's what I would have said: vomit exercises. If you want to strengthen your thumb, I suggest doing the 1st exercize using thumb-thumb shifting, only in the key of D major, rather than A. Start on the D one note above middle C and work your way up one octave. No harmonics allowed, either! Make sure your intonation is good, and your tone strong as well (this goes for all exercises.)

One last point: the vomit practices are also used for bow control, so make sure to keep your bow speed even as you do them, and try to make sure both notes in each slur are well balanced (which is a very easy thing to overlook.) I believe Gary Karr does them in the key of Ab major, by the way, but that hardly matters.

jsbarber · #4 04-23-2007, 08:02 AM

Trills, with a bow of course, are a good one.

I do 4 sets of trills (2-4, 1-2, 1-4, 1-2) for 90 seconds with 45 second rest between. You will probably need to start with shorter trills and more rests and then build up.

I also find that playing Bille's first exercise (from the 18 exercises book) over a couple of times in succession at increasing tempo is a great workout for my left hand.

Jim

kaciesaurus · #5 04-23-2007, 12:44 PM

thanks, this stuff should help a lot. I think the strength in my hand is the biggest problem I have right now.

Anyone have anything they do without a bass?

ClassicalBass · #6 04-23-2007, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaciesaurus

Anyone have anything they do without a bass?

I don't know how much help it will be, but at some point I decided to keep my fingers curved at all times, and strengthening them became a fairly big obstacle for me. I simply held the shape of my hand in a similar way as I would on a bass, and pressed it on whatever hard surface was near me (usually a school desk in English class or something.) Essentially I just practiced the fingering for whatever solo came to mind on my desk. I don't know if that helps strengthen fingers, but it will at least help in reinforcing fingering techniques in your solos.

It's always best to practice on a bass.

jallenbass · #7 04-23-2007, 05:13 PM

In your profile you state that you have a "crappy double bass". Could you tell us more about the instrument. It could be that all you need is a proper setup. With a good setup left hand strength should not be an issue.

jsbarber · #8 04-23-2007, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jallenbass

In your profile you state that you have a "crappy double bass". Could you tell us more about the instrument. It could be that all you need is a proper setup. With a good setup left hand strength should not be an issue.

This is a good observation. You should try sliding a business card between the strings and the fingerboard at the nut. If it is not snug, or there is a gap above the card, then your nut should be adjusted. This is a killer, and would make playing in 1/2, 1st postions really tough.

Jim

kontrabass · #9 04-23-2007, 08:51 PM

An addendum to my previous post: It will take months and months for your hand strength to increase (long enough for you to not notice any significant difference). Just be patient.

Steve Killingsworth · #10 04-24-2007, 11:31 AM

Are you working on using more back and shoulder muscles and well as arm weight to press the strings?

koricancowboy · #11 05-06-2007, 11:59 PM

Exercise 7 in Petracchi's Simplified Higher Technique.

Cheers,
OZ

damonsmith · #12 05-07-2007, 12:39 AM

That is a good one, Oz, The old Simandl "30 etudes" are good for strength and endurance, also the early Petracchi exercises transposed across all four strings.

lloccmttocs · #13 05-07-2007, 08:05 PM

One thing that I really do enjoy doing is called "Melody making" its combines scales and improv and alot of things. BUT don't do this unless you have your scales down and have a general understanding of what to do with your hands and bows because if you practice one of your basic techniques incorectly it will take twice as long to unlearn them.

But basicly what I do is I run through my scales in several different patterns. Then I start usually on the root and start making phrases and really try and get creative using all the intervals and try and put everything I've learned into a little fun. The cons of this, is that it's easy to spend a long time doing this if you really get into it and forget about the other things you have to accomplish. The pros is it can be very fun and if you're creative enough you can do it with friends and it's tons of fun and a break from the endless scales rutine.

eadg52 · #14 05-08-2007, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaciesaurus

thanks, this stuff should help a lot. I think the strength in my hand is the biggest problem I have right now.

Anyone have anything they do without a bass?

I have one of these ( it came free with a music magazine IIRC) and have found it to help a lot when getting back to DB after a break. Works for the right hand too.
http://tinyurl.com/2n43p3

Steve

sibass89 · #15 05-08-2007, 05:38 PM

While they have revived this thread. I highly suggest staying away from the word strength and moving towards to word endurance. With most bassists, especially young ones, strength implies a squeezing in the left hand but you do not want to squeeze at all. You want to hang your weight, and have the natural weight of your arm supply the "strength" necessary to hold the string down. All these are great exercises to work on your endurance - throw some arpeggios and a lot of etude work in there and you'll be good in no time.

RHayton · #16 05-10-2007, 10:02 AM

When I have to travel and cannot practice (or sometimes when I'm just going about the community) I use a tennis ball to work the muscles in my hands and forearms--if you palm the ball with your left hand generally in the same position as you would on the bass, it helps reinforce your brain wiring about good hand postion. Same for right hand, your bow grip roughly mirrors your left hand position on the fingerboard.

theshadow2001 · #17 05-10-2007, 04:24 PM

I'm just after starting and my teacher told me to play scales to a metronome set at 60 bpm with each note lasting a bar. This will build up your strength. Holding notes momenterily does not require as much strength.

Also apparently to avoid injury its important to keep your muscles balanced so if you work on closing your hand with the bass its important to do something to balance the muscles out like putting a rubber band or two on your fingers and open them outwards against the pull of the rubber band(s)

Also its good to do it in bursts. Ten minutes then a break then ten minutes then break and so on.