Pinkie strength and Power Chords

[basshoundx]

Hey there.

So one of my preferred techniques when it comes to bass, part of my "Sound", is my tendency to play power chords (Diads, as I originally knew them) by finger picking. I love the way it sounds and It makes it easier to write songs with my bass. The problem I'm having is the strength in both of my pinkies.

On my fingering (Fretting) hand, It's what I use to play the fifth above the root and after a while of playing it's prone to start buckling and shaking.

The same thing happens with my pinkie on my picking hand, which acts as a sort of kick stand against the bass while I pick.

Are there any exercises that could help strengthen my pinkies up so they don't snap under their own weight?

 

[joebar]

I never understood why bassists have weak pinkies.
mine is the strongest digit on my hand, but mind you, I had a good teacher early on and he stressed the importance of using all the fingers.

 

[BazzTard]

there are musicians' finger strengthening devices, but a cheaper way is to use a squash ball and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze.
Keep using the pinkie, it gets stronger after a while. I use mine all the time. I've just started trying to pluck with my right pinkie too, still not good at it, practise practise practise.

found this, more complicated than most,but each finger piston is adjustable,pretty nifty.

http://www.amazon.com/Finger-Master-Hand-Strengthener-Instructional/dp/B00JVR21FU

 

[fearceol]

there are musicians' finger strengthening devices..

There are indeed......and as far as playing the bass is concerned.... they should be avoided like the plague. We have enough strength in our fingers to fret a string, from a very early age. No more is required. What is required is dexterity and stamina, which are completely different to strength.

OP, this video clip deals with exercises without the bass. In the first couple of minutes it deals with developing the pinkie.

 

[bramhc]

From my experience, try to play some note strictly with pinky finger. Even when you have to slide to reach some note, use pinky. Definetly sloppy at the first time.

 

[basshoundx]

There are indeed......and as far as playing the bass is concerned.... they should be avoided like the plague. We have enough strength in our fingers to fret a string, from a very early age. No more is required. What is required is dexterity and stamina, which are completely different to strength.

OP, this video clip deals with exercises without the bass. In the first couple of minutes it deals with developing the pinkie.

Thanks, I'll try this. I admit, I'm usually without a bass, as I don't technically have one. I'm originally a Double Bass player, but have begun playing Bass Guitar as of last year. I'd say 85% of the time I'm nowhere near a bass, and haven't played Double Bass in over a year. I would say my lack of bass and the ability to practice is making all the dexterity and stamina I've got fade slowly.

After watching the video and doing the exercise a bit, I realized I have more strength in my fretting hand, the pinkie can move more independent of the ring finger, but the picking hand is very dependent on the ring finger.

Although this isn't my hands, my hands look exactly like this. The left pinkie stretches a lot farther, and the Thumb turns in another direction, almost parallel with my palm.

I guess this can be chalked up to 7 years of Double Bass?

 

[Progfan44]

I found finger strength was one of those things that just came from playing a lot. If you're using your pinky (as you should be) in "regular" playing the when chords come into it there shouldn't be a problem. I found good ol' fashioned scale practice buffed my fingers up something fierce, and I can play for hours on end without getting tired.

(P.S, nice profile picture, that was the wallpaper on my laptop for the longest time)

 

[Fergie Fulton]

All great advice, but stay away from 'grip trainers' and understand that any squeezing exercise is to bring you up to a good standard of hand strength, (hand strength is many things, its not about all about power, but about stamina and dexterity in a safe repeatable technique).
By all means use a squash ball of so crazy putty, play doe etc, but remember to counter it with long wide finger stretches.

Closing the finger to the palms is muscle group flexion.....only developing this motion means your finger will close to the palm easily, but not open from the palm easily because the flexor groups are more developed than the extensor groups...this cancel them out when stamina is needed, so the hands become tight with the finger pulling towards the palms.
Relate that to playing, and yes your fingers will hold down a note, but not easily release one.
So the issue is not, "am I not putting my fingers on good enough", but rather "am I getting them out of the way of incoming fingers?"
Since extensor muscles open the hand then only exercising both muscle groups will give you a balanced use that allows you to put on and lift of fingers to the fret board.

Top exercise for this is playing scales. playing scales means you have to use every finger, so the use is balanced, putting on and lifting of will develop within the realms of playing as the plucking and fretting hand meld.
You will over time learn that a string has to be plucked just before it is fully fretted, it almost feels like the same time, pluck before the string is fretted and it is a dead note or an over tone, pluck too late after the note has been freted and it is fret rattle, or buzz as the string hits the fret first.
Now add movement to this and are you tripping over fingers laying on or coming off...is the reason you notes are not clean because you have not finished the note before?

Scales will develop the plucking and fretting hands, it will develop the dexterity, the stamina and the interaction of melding the two actions together by giving you constant use and reason to use all fingers regardless of the music you play.
The muscle groups can develop in two very distinctive ways, one is for stamina, the other is for dexterity. I meet a lot of player who think they are developing dexterity when in fact they are developing stamina and vica versa.
The two have very different applications of the same exercises with very different results and is called "twitch response"...I will post about it later and lay out some exercises of what they do as I am out of time and have to get to the studio.

 

[Lobster11]

Hopefully this isn't the case, but.... Soreness or weakness in the pinky can be the sign of a potentially serious injury, often caused by playing with the wrist(s) severely bent. This often comes about with the right (plucking) hand as a result of resting the forearm on the top of the body, and bending the wrist sharply downward to reach the strings -- especially if you often play sitting down in a not-high-enough chair (so the bass is practically under your chin). Using the pinky as a "kickstand" could exacerbate this further. With the left hand, the problem is usually holding the neck of the bass too low and horizontal, so that the wrist has to break sharply to reach up to fret the strings. If either or both of these is true, you need to adjust the height and/or angle at which you hold the bass, to keep both wrists as straight as possible.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Here is a basic fast twitch response exercise, first off warm your hands up by rubbing them and gently stretching them for a few minutes.
No the object of this exercise is to increase the repetition...not go for longer.
The video below will give you some exercises for stretches and will show the some of the basic movements of the hands.



Turn your hand palm up, and support the forearm with the other hand.
Now open your fingers fully and stretch them as far apart and as straight as you can.
Now starting with the joints closest to the finger tips, curl all the fingers into the palm in a rolling motion, keep the thumb out of it, and then un-roll them from the palm to be back to being straight and spread out again, (see the video at 2.20 for the movement) that is one repetition.

Now time yourself and see how many of those repetitions you can do within 15 seconds, the faster you do the motion the more you will do.
Be honest with yourself and write down the number you done.
Rest the hands for a few minutes, rub them and stretch them out, then repeat and see if you can beat your original score.
You can repeat this every 5-10 mins or so for about 6 times and each time your score should get higher.
Now over a few weeks you hands, depending on how well, or now well developed they are, will easily double what you started with.
This is partly because our motion was faster, but also because it was sustainable.
You will as a rule start to slow down after 7-10 seconds so the last five seconds will be tired repetitions, as you develop not only do you get faster but you fatigue less and less into the 15 seconds and eventual are as fast at the end of 15 seconds as you were at the start.

Your hands recover quicker and are ready to go again, so rather than building stamina through power, you build stamina through faster recovery.
Playing bass, as a rule, is about moving your fingers, so the better the quality of movement the better the response and the better the recovery.
So you will seldom be asking your fingers to move at such speeds over a short period of time when playing, so the recover faster as the movement they are doing is not a full extension, opening the fingers, or a full flexion, closing the fingers...it is just a small part of that movement so uses less energy.

You can look at each song as like an exercise and each break between songs as recover time, so the set you play is in fact lots of short twitch responses with recoveries. Now you can take this exercise up to 20 seconds and no more...after this you are not developing fast twitch, you start to develop slow twitch...you start to develop stamina to sustain the movement....not the speed. Everything you need is in that first 15-20 seconds, when doing the exercise swap hands, alternate between plucking and fretting hand and develop both.

But without putting it on the bass the exercises are pointless, you brain need to work out what is doing what, and how is doing it to develop the co-ordination and dexterity to control it. I usually recommend exercise one hand, then the other, then back, and then back again, so 2 sets of repetitions on each hand then get playing. By all means use them as warm up, include them in your practice, because you need to "remind your hands" that it has this range of motion....think when was the last time your fingers were using in a task that required them to be fully open and stretched?
Modern life is about holding and griping...so you get plenty of grip exercise during the day...what you do not get it is the opposite motion..this exercise will address that..... because the fatigue that is slowing you down in the exercise is extensor fatigue (opening your hand, because if you cannot open your hand fully and fast enough to close it fully and fast.....your flexors are resisting extensors the need to open.
So maybe are you tiring because you cannot lift your fingers off the fret board.....not on to it.........so what use is a grip trainer going to do?

Remember all exercise should be pain free, you will get some burn, but not pain, the burn will subside fast as the hand recovers. if you get pain stop and consult a medical professional. Any questions this post raises, post them and i will try and answer them.

 

[basshoundx]

Hopefully this isn't the case, but.... Soreness or weakness in the pinky can be the sign of a potentially serious injury, often caused by playing with the wrist(s) severely bent. This often comes about with the right (plucking) hand as a result of resting the forearm on the top of the body, and bending the wrist sharply downward to reach the strings -- especially if you often play sitting down in a not-high-enough chair (so the bass is practically under your chin). Using the pinky as a "kickstand" could exacerbate this further. With the left hand, the problem is usually holding the neck of the bass too low and horizontal, so that the wrist has to break sharply to reach up to fret the strings. If either or both of these is true, you need to adjust the height and/or angle at which you hold the bass, to keep both wrists as straight as possible.

I've come to the conclusion that it's due to my switch from upright to guitar.

I'm playing with correct technique, for the upright....

Usually the only pain I had was more fatigue than anything, but since switching to guitar, I've had a lot of problems.

The thing is, I joined my new school's jazz band in hopes that I would only be on guitar for a short while. While I love playing guitar, I don't have the correct training for it, and thus have been trying to use Double bass Techniques and hand positions, which have caused me serious pain. However, seeing as I'm the only bassist who can read music (again, thank you classical training) I play a majority of our songs since the other bassist refuses to learn. This does not boast well for my hands nor my shoulders.

So I think most of this problem comes from me using improper technique for the bass guitar.

 

[basshoundx]

Here is a basic fast twitch response exercise, first off warm your hands up by rubbing them and gently stretching them for a few minutes.
No the object of this exercise is to increase the repetition...not go for longer.
The video below will give you some exercises for stretches and will show the some of the basic movements of the hands.



Turn your hand palm up, and support the forearm with the other hand.
Now open your fingers fully and stretch them as far apart and as straight as you can.
Now starting with the joints closest to the finger tips, curl all the fingers into the palm in a rolling motion, keep the thumb out of it, and then un-roll them from the palm to be back to being straight and spread out again, (see the video at 2.20 for the movement) that is one repetition.

Now time yourself and see how many of those repetitions you can do within 15 seconds, the faster you do the motion the more you will do.
Be honest with yourself and write down the number you done.
Rest the hands for a few minutes, rub them and stretch them out, then repeat and see if you can beat your original score.
You can repeat this every 5-10 mins or so for about 6 times and each time your score should get higher.
Now over a few weeks you hands, depending on how well, or now well developed they are, will easily double what you started with.
This is partly because our motion was faster, but also because it was sustainable.
You will as a rule start to slow down after 7-10 seconds so the last five seconds will be tired repetitions, as you develop not only do you get faster but you fatigue less and less into the 15 seconds and eventual are as fast at the end of 15 seconds as you were at the start.

Your hands recover quicker and are ready to go again, so rather than building stamina through power, you build stamina through faster recovery.
Playing bass, as a rule, is about moving your fingers, so the better the quality of movement the better the response and the better the recovery.
So you will seldom be asking your fingers to move at such speeds over a short period of time when playing, so the recover faster as the movement they are doing is not a full extension, opening the fingers, or a full flexion, closing the fingers...it is just a small part of that movement so uses less energy.

You can look at each song as like an exercise and each break between songs as recover time, so the set you play is in fact lots of short twitch responses with recoveries. Now you can take this exercise up to 20 seconds and no more...after this you are not developing fast twitch, you start to develop slow twitch...you start to develop stamina to sustain the movement....not the speed. Everything you need is in that first 15-20 seconds, when doing the exercise swap hands, alternate between plucking and fretting hand and develop both.

But without putting it on the bass the exercises are pointless, you brain need to work out what is doing what, and how is doing it to develop the co-ordination and dexterity to control it. I usually recommend exercise one hand, then the other, then back, and then back again, so 2 sets of repetitions on each hand then get playing. By all means use them as warm up, include them in your practice, because you need to "remind your hands" that it has this range of motion....think when was the last time your fingers were using in a task that required them to be fully open and stretched?
Modern life is about holding and griping...so you get plenty of grip exercise during the day...what you do not get it is the opposite motion..this exercise will address that..... because the fatigue that is slowing you down in the exercise is extensor fatigue (opening your hand, because if you cannot open your hand fully and fast enough to close it fully and fast.....your flexors are resisting extensors the need to open.
So maybe are you tiring because you cannot lift your fingers off the fret board.....not on to it.........so what use is a grip trainer going to do?

Remember all exercise should be pain free, you will get some burn, but not pain, the burn will subside fast as the hand recovers. if you get pain stop and consult a medical professional. Any questions this post raises, post them and i will try and answer them.

Thank you for your very detailed response! I'll be sure to try these exercises. I had a question though, on hand posture.

Below is a photo of my hand in the position I use and have been taught to use when playing bass (Upright Bass, mind you)

http://imgur.com/4WGPRY8

Now, not knowing any better, I've been applying this position to my guitar playing as well, and have noticed a lot of pain from doing so. Any advice you can give me? sorry for such a vague question.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Thank you for your very detailed response! I'll be sure to try these exercises. I had a question though, on hand posture.

Below is a photo of my hand in the position I use and have been taught to use when playing bass (Upright Bass, mind you)

http://imgur.com/4WGPRY8

Now, not knowing any better, I've been applying this position to my guitar playing as well, and have noticed a lot of pain from doing so. Any advice you can give me? sorry for such a vague question.

No probs. Up-right bass/double bass set up technique has no place on bass guitar.....the word to look at is guitar not bass.
Double bass is played in an near vertical plane, with the instrument sitting on the ground. So you bend over you will get more access to the finger board, you bend your knees and you get lower on the Double bass, you stand on your toes you get higher on the Double bass.

Because a bass guitar is fixed to you by either a strap or sitting on your lap in a more horizontal plane....none of the above matters because what ever you do the bass guitar will stay at the set height. The compromise is an angled plane one that lets you have better use of your shoulder, elbow and wrist joints.

Simple fact is on a vertical plane your joints can hold that line...you can extend that line flexing our knees to be lower or on your toes to be taller.....you move on that vertical plane. Because a guitar hangs on you, you now have a fixed axis the shoulder blade. As you extend along the horizontal plane the angle pulls away from it because the shoulder fixed point at the shoulder blade. The design of the elbow and wrist means it cannot maintain this plane because the little finger side drops and starts to face the palm towards your body.
Try this...with your elbow at your side, face your palm up....now move it to the side and see how far you get before it turns of plane.....I bet your elbow tilted your palm after a few inchs or so?
Yet on a vertical plane you can extend the plane up or down with ease and hold our palms plane.

My advice is find a teacher and get set up for bass guitar technique and understand the demands of the two...they share a name and a clef, but that's about all the have in common...focus on the guitar part of bass guitar...not the bass part in developing your set up. Any reputable teacher will give you a set up lesson, or review your set up. I regularly deal with players for that single issue only, the lesson is about posture, not about any theory or song learning, the lesson is about setting up to play, so posture, your physical condition and the design of the instrument so you have a correct set up to play your instrument.

 

[BazzTard]

Use the pinky instead of your index finger when playing for a while too, just use it more.

 

[sg101]

I've noticed that exercising your pinky and making it more independent over time will increase the size of the muscles of hypothenar eminence; the muscles that control the motion of your pinky.

Put your hands side to side with your pinky fingers on the inside, close together. Ball them tightly into fists to flex the pinky muscles, and look closely at that side of your hand. Which side is bigger?

In that case, my left hand pinky muscles are visibly bigger, because I've increased the strength of that finger and have much more independence with it, more so than my right hand