Hand strength advice

amyjhill

Hi

Im just over a year in my guitar learning journey and I wanted some advice, the strength / stretch of my fingers is quite weak! Can anybody recommend any way to improve?! I’ve seen some physio hand strength things not sure it that’d help. 

Thanks

mrkb

Best way is to play more guitar. Work on the chords, riffs you are struggling to play slowly and cleanly and then look to speed them up.

Wazmeister

Hiya, I ordered some of these from Amazon, after medical advice.

I was amazed how much they helped. I mainly used the lowest strength (yellow).

Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squeezable-Non-Toxic-Exercise-Strengths-Children/dp/B07R8ZTPG4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3G2QPLN3L2YHP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6O6L7DbfMYOlBG0mxezwH58yfvlC5ttYHmqdhR-xj1Ijgm6wUgt4nr_TiX3IWnTIzea1a1GFzFwNjAOpNWlvST0-NIf4vkdzu1Yc0K04xkf5FeLlDC2R5kCrgAglnPezshJHi-WkQIuDrjh91KxAT6MIHFxbtng9Jt16fG9lPb9JgvxNgck4nk1UmzGcw7ITKlBqnSE5rSqahPlbuTBhKt-z3sSylg5tIVFNuyfZOqzvnYSEXLk3TsJD0oSr5vNyQfVBHOu5RsF6jfhaA0WNvo-BB5D-NbA3sMlpTMPdbLQ.JbuYYHJJnk2HR0JhmgW3bePrTMA8R4ew4asRHjQla2E&dib_tag=se&keywords=JFA+Medical+Therapy+Exercise+Putty&qid=1709457914&s=drugstore&sprefix=jfa+medical+therapy+exercise+putty%2Cdrugstore%2C80&sr=1-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

munckee

Making sure my hand is in the right position has helped my stretch more than concentrating on strength. 

BenSirAmos

Just a word of caution here - I've found that the death grip on the neck of the guitar isn't the best approach to fluidity. Some of those players I've met who are relatively new to guitar seem to think that squeezing and crushing the life out of the neck is the way to go. My party trick used to be to play a tune by fretting strings with my nose to show how little pressure is actually required on the string. Once you find how little pressure is needed, you can relax more and you find your stretch improves. 

FastEddie

https://www.physioroom.com/physioroom-latex-resistance-band ;   This stuff is great. I use it at work all the time. You can create your own movements similar to those you use when playing guitar. 

You only need a few feet. No need to buy loads. 

https://www.physioroom.com/physioroom-hand-grip-exerciser
I've had one of these, fairly low tension for 15 years or so! They last. Mine now has badminton grip tape on it. Very worn.

Red meat, and lots of it is the last tip.

Bigsby

amyjhill said:

Hi

Im just over a year in my guitar learning journey and I wanted some advice, the strength / stretch of my fingers is quite weak! Can anybody recommend any way to improve?! I’ve seen some physio hand strength things not sure it that’d help. 

Thanks

Advice from a professional will help, stuff some bloke on the internet said might not. I've been seeing a hand physiotherapist to cover from trigger finger in my left hand, working with the exercises every day has made a big difference; first with recuperation  and then with building strength. 

mrkb said:

Best way is to play more guitar. Work on the chords, riffs you are struggling to play slowly and cleanly and then look to speed them up.

It's certainly the way to get better at playing guitar, however it's not necessarily the best way to develop strength and resilience in your hand. You'll tend to be doing a small range of movements at a high intensity; the kind of thing that can cause problems like RSI. IMO, more generalised strength exercises and warm up routines are likely to be better, followed by playing more...  

snowblind

As alluded to above a lighter touch that doesn't require brute strength is often characteristic of some of the more fluid players.

However if you do want to beef things up a bit then any of the compression exerciser widgets will do the job as will things like pull-ups/chin-ups etc.  Rowing is another good all-round exercise has the added benefit of improving grip strength and stamina.

If you want to go the full Popeye forearms might I suggest buying an old Laverda Jota 1000cc triple? The clutch and brakes on those things were best operated with bionic arms. Quite the workout shuffling one through town. A bit of time on a Jota and you could fold spoons. I am remind of the lyrics from "Pros and Cons of hitch-hiking" when our protagonist meets the Hell's Angel:

" then he takes your hand in some strange Californian handshake and breaks the bone."

Old Harley riders will know what we're talking about here.

BillDL

Baoding Balls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baoding_balls

https://insighttimer.com/blog/baoding-balls/

Hold both balls in one hand and manipulate them around.  It helps to improve general dexterity and also finger strength in the process, and can help with relaxation / meditation if that's your thing.

They aren't expensive:

https://www.baodingballs.com/

I would suggest not using very heavy balls to start off with.  There are quite a few tutorials like THIS video.

Yorkie

I got one of those D’Addario hand exercisers early on, but didn’t notice any improvement and even hurt my left pinky, as the device used the same springs for all fingers. They’re adjustable, but it was too much for me even on the lowest setting. 

Fast forward a couple of years and I can now do three string bends no problem, and all I’ve done is… practice for >30’ every day. 

amyjhill

Thank you everyone for all the hints and tips! It really is appreciated! 

Lewy

Do this exercise…hold down and play any note on the guitar. Then lighten the pressure gradually until the note stops sounding cleanly/starts buzzing. Then only reapply enough pressure to make it sound clearly again. That’s how much hand strength you actually need. Most of the time people already have more than enough and need to focus on proper hand positioning and technique.

amyjhill

Yeah I’m going to do some research today. Ive been trying to learn to play Snow by RHCP and my hand is angled rather than straight so it’s something I do need to work on 

Airmiles

I've started weightlifting again in the past year, and have been doing farmer's carries to build grip strength - that's where you carry a fairly heavy (25kg and up) dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand for (say) 30s x 4 reps .

To begin with the forearm fatigue was definitely affecting my guitar playing, but now I'm through the initial part, the set of 11s I'd bought for my acoustic have stayed in the drawer - it's a noticeable improvement in ease of fretting 12s.

I've also recently discovered this exercise and... bloody hell it works! I wish I'd known this years ago.

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Thumb in the centre of the back of the neck pointing straight toward the headstock to ensure the fingers are well placed and required finger pressure is not much because it is braced against the thumb, shortened strap or footstool to place the guitar neck in the best position to assist with hand placement, low action to allow easy fretting, and practice. Here's a video of me demonstrating how to place your hand to make correct fretting easier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po_88r7FiUA&t=1s

rockmonster

BenSirAmos said:

Just a word of caution here - I've found that the death grip on the neck of the guitar isn't the best approach to fluidity. Some of those players I've met who are relatively new to guitar seem to think that squeezing and crushing the life out of the neck is the way to go. My party trick used to be to play a tune by fretting strings with my nose to show how little pressure is actually required on the string. Once you find how little pressure is needed, you can relax more and you find your stretch improves. 

Lol! I want to see this nose business! Come on let’s see it!

darthed1981

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

shortened strap or footstool to place the guitar neck in the best position to assist with hand placement, low action to allow easy fretting, and practice.

This is the most difficult one for me - get the hand in the right place and it becomes so much easier - but if you have the strap wrong or are sitting in the wrong position - you struggle to get your hands right and you can easily strain or hurt yourself.

It's one of the reasons transitioning from sitting to standing playing can be quite hard - people have their straps too long because their heroes do.

I was trying to practice the other night and the strap kept slipping round my neck while trying to play Paranoid - normally not too hard but it just doesn't work if you can't finger the E power chord properly up at the 12th fret.

digitalkettle

I think it's been covered: best approach for guitar playing strength/stretch/stamina...is more guitar playing...maybe some exercises if they're enjoyable. 'Snow' could be fun although quite intense.

Go steady, take rests, don't do too much of one thing.

I recommend this for off-instrument general conditioning:

BenSirAmos

rockmonster said:

BenSirAmos said:

Just a word of caution here - I've found that the death grip on the neck of the guitar isn't the best approach to fluidity. Some of those players I've met who are relatively new to guitar seem to think that squeezing and crushing the life out of the neck is the way to go. My party trick used to be to play a tune by fretting strings with my nose to show how little pressure is actually required on the string. Once you find how little pressure is needed, you can relax more and you find your stretch improves. 

Lol! I want to see this nose business! Come on let’s see it!

I'm setting up a pay per view channel

Musical_Mystery_Tour

BenSirAmos said:

I'm setting up a pay per view channel

You evidently have a nose for business.

guitars4you

I'm sure there are many who can help better than me - But just a pointer - A local teacher and very nice player started early signs of arthritis - He went to see the doctor who refereed him to a physio - The first thing she asked him is what is your warm up exercise routine - Bottom line is he has never had one - Played for over 40 years and as I said a very good player - She then asked him why not - All athletes will warm up and your hands are now going to do 'athletic work' - Bottom line is he know does warm up work all the time - I don't know what book, format. procedure he does, but I know it has changed his thought process - I bet some will do warm up work but I bet most don't