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I did not research this topic to see if it has been broached before. But I think it is important to the development of a strong technique on guitar. I am a great believer in the value of physical exercise to maintain overall health, strength, and flexibility.
Although I work out regularly with resistance training, I recently decided to find a device to help facilitate exercising and strengthening my forearms. The reasoning is that this might improve the strength of my flexor digitorum involved in my fretting and picking hands. So I purchased a relatively inexpensive pair of spring loaded hand grip flexor devices to use to develop and maintain strength in the forearms.
I think this is especially important as we age to maintain the strength in your picking and fretting hands. I am very happy with the results even over just the past two weeks, I maintain that I feel and hear a definite positive result from using the hand grip spring-loaded devices to develop strength in the forearms and hand grip.
Anyone else have any exercises that they do devoted to improving their playing?
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06-06-2015 04:28 PM
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I use a stress ball and do some simple exercise, recommended by my physiotherapist. This builds forearm strength. On his recommendation and my guitar teachers as well, I have started swimming. It is good for the shoulder and neck muscles which we as guitarists often end up neglecting, eventually leading to pinched nerves. Swimming also strengthens my forearm without straining my wrist.
Last edited by pushkar000; 06-06-2015 at 05:43 PM.
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Imo, strength does not = dexterity.
You should be playing as lightly as possible, so your exercising is counterintuitive to what you want to be doing. You would be better off practicing just how lightly you need to press down so as not to waste any strength.
Especially in classical guitar, you spend a lot of time learning to use the weight of your arm to assist in holding down chords, not just squeezing harder. If your playing an 8 page piece, you need every bit of strength, any waste will seriously handicap your playing.
Want to get better at playing guitar? Play something you have never played on your guitar.
Again, imo, what you need to work most is the ability to send new/unique messages from your brain to your fingers. This ability is critical for pulling off a new idea as it comes your your mind. Simply practicing the same stuff you already know does not create/strengthen these new connections. The best players never stop discovering.
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I'm sorry but some of this is simply not true or not relevant.
Originally Posted by vintagelove
We should be playing as lightly as possible, and your comments on classical technique are of course true.
However this does not mean that building strength in our forearms is counter-intuitive to our purposes. If we want to be playing long hours every day, strength is absolutely a crucial component to consider. Also, we do not just want to build strength via physical exercise, we want to teach our bodies to maintain appropriate and healthy posture.
The rest of your comment - while all true in my opinion - is not relevant to this discussion.
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Originally Posted by pushkar000
Strength does not equal stamina. I just don't see how squeezing hard is applicable to playing guitar. Those hand strengtheners are neither the same motion, or same resistance as playing a guitar.
The best thing for playing guitar, is playing guitar.
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From the article you posted. Originally Posted by Arpeggio
"studies have suggested that combining physical and cognitive training might result in a mutual enhancement of both interventions"
Like I said, the best thing for improving your guitar playing..... is playing guitar.
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Not yo get too hippy dippy, but if I meditate or do a bit of tai chi before i play, I play waaaaay better.
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We use the same muscles though. I don't know what to say - having strength is crucial because it is. Originally Posted by vintagelove
It does build stamina or more appropriately resistance to pressure. If you lack strength, your muscles or tendons will just break down if you apply excess pressure.
At least in my case it is important - I have very weak hands.
It is less about improving one's playing but in improving one's ability to play more and play safely and healthily. The best thing for playing guitar, is indeed playing guitar. But I'd say the best thing for playing guitar without risking injury is to work on the body aspect.
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Originally Posted by pushkar000
So if you risk injury from playing guitar, how do you not risk injury from an exercise which takes 10x the strength required to press down a guitar string?
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Well I play the guitar for a lot longer than I do the exercises. Originally Posted by vintagelove
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Interesting comments!
To Jeff - I am an occasional practitioner of meditation and there was a period in my life where I was more consistent. I do believe in the benefits. Today lacking for time often I try to combine meditation with my resistance training in my home. Great benefits.
To Vintagelove - I agree that one must be careful in terms of training techniques. I am a classical guitarist by training since eleven or twelve years old and a physician by vocation for too many years. So I can appreciate your concern and viewpoint. As someone who fortunately has never suffered serious hand injuries or back pain, I approached the idea of using a device quite carefully. I already use dumbbells that help strengthen the forearms generally, but I wanted to see if I noted a difference with a more targeted training. I have only been using these simple resistance devices for the grip for a couple of weeks and I believe I already note a subtle but beneficial difference. But I stick to a principle of moderation in all things including not over stressing muscles to the point of inducing significant injury.
The specific benefit I note is an increase in muscular contraction speed or so it seems to me. Not so much an increase in force as an increase in agility and speed. And while not a "speed Queen" when it comes to jazz guitar (in fact I favor a more languid pace often from a musical statement pov), so far I am pleased with the results. At least I have not noted anything deleterious.
To Pushkarr - I tend to agree with your view on building stamina and strength especially to compensate for the effects of aging and to prevent disability. Battling Father Time is a losing Game in the end, but I want to be as strong as possible until that End comes.
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endurance exercises also improve your strength.
strength exercises also improve your endurance.
thank God the body isn't as simple minded as we are.Last edited by fumblefingers; 06-07-2015 at 04:46 PM.
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There is this gadget that uses springs to strengthen the hand and fingers.
I'll try and describe it: It is a metal circle with 5 springs attached. The springs have 5 rings attached to them. You insert your 5 fingers into the rings(making a wide claw with your fingers). You then squeeze you fingers, this strengthens your fingers and back of the hand.
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This is actually kind of legit ... I went to a physical therapist for bad wrist tendonitis and she was not a huge fan of the grippers and stress balls and things like that. Basically it was more exertion when my wrists were already in bad shape because of over/improper exertion. She gave me some weird putty stuff with some specific exercise but actually said the best thing for me was to do a few very slow push-ups. Stretches your wrists and stuff ... builds forearm strength back up and doesn't make you do weird tense motions with your fingers. Originally Posted by vintagelove
That said ... she was pretty big on the whole body-as-a-system sort of thing ... tension in your shoulders means tension everywhere else ... weak muscles one place means overcompensation somewhere else. Keeping your physical self strong is always very smart.
I'd just be wary of anything that involves specific finger movements ... if you do them with tension you might be "practicing" that tension in and running counter to your guitar practice.
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Originally Posted by pamosmusic
My point exactly.
Its like practicing sprints to prepare for a marathon.
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There's a hand thingy called "cat's paw", developed by a Doctor. I have found it to be very helpful.
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Ed - what benefit do you feel you derive from doing this exercise with this device?
I am very careful not to overdo things with my hands that could cause tendinitis or strains, though I do use resistance training machines and free weights regularly but with moderation. I am trying to maintain the strength that aging will begin to sap as you age over thirty each decade. Unfortunately, that was quite a few sunsets ago....
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Hi there,
One of the biggest things I've found that has helped me physically with playing is to have the fretting hand 'hanging' off the strings, as opposed to being 'held up.' It's kind of difficult to describe, but this is something that cellists are taught for example, to allow the hand to hang off the string and as such be completely relaxed.
In my experience this allows for a very relaxed but strong connection for the left hand with the notes being played, and allows completely for the intention of the left hand, wrist and arm of the player to be completely transferred to the strings. This really helps with tone! Notes are shaped much easier.
I hope this is helpful, though I admit it is hard to articulate clearly.
All the best
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Originally Posted by targuit
Ed - what benefit do you feel you derive from doing this exercise with this device?
I am very careful not to overdo things with my hands that could cause tendinitis or strains, though I do use resistance training machines and free weights regularly but with moderation. I am trying to maintain the strength that aging will begin to sap as you age over thirty each decade. Unfortunately, that was quite a few sunsets ago....
in know that i'm not Ed but,
1. in general, it strengthens the fingers and hand in terms of grip strength, and more specifically,
2. it helps you in your quest to crush an opponent's wind pipe, pop out their eye ball, perform an impromptu tracheotomy, or in general, rearrange their face
now, how could we argue with that?
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Working at the granite quarry was all the exercise I ever needed.
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Sadly, these skills are often neglected in jazz education. I bet there's nothing on this in the Berklee curriculum. Originally Posted by fumblefingers
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I've always maintained that if you want to develop guitar technique, practice on a guitar.
While the instrument isn't likely to help you much with the martial arts component of a jazz education, it does improve your bludgeon, parry, thrust, and expertise with blunt objects.
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Everyone should run like a pack of wild and ravenous cannibals are after their hinds every so often; it's good for the mind, body and soul.
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"Everyone should run like a pack of wild and ravenous cannibals are after their hinds every so often; it's good for the mind, body and soul."
That's so funny.
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