Problem

[Slow Diver]

Well I have the following problem -- with my band I play alternative kind of music and most of the time I have to play simple riffs that repeat (many)^many times. As a result my fingers get kinda stiff and when I want to go into some soloing it becomes sloppy and not clear. How can I fix that?
Is it in general possible to shift from one-finger-dropped D riffs to heavy soloing?

[SLY]

It is possible to shift from anything to another, you may just need to learn heavy soloing and that shredding stuff...

But if you can shred already , you may be forget to practice those lead stuff as you practice simple rhythms.

Anyhow , the way to master anything is practice and patience ... and if others can do it , then you surely can, but you'll just need time.

[Pat M]

its definitely possible, i do it in a couple of songs that ive written. i used to have the same problem with a solo for a song i wrote called "johnny" from my freshman year of highschool. try warming up b4 u play and play the solo to yurself but at a slower tempo. once you master it speed it up a bit. if u keep your fingers in constant shape u can do anything with them.

[Alpha_Monkey]

Fill the sink with hot (HOT) water, as hot as you can stand, and give yor hands a soak for 5 minutes. Works wonders at loosening them up...

[Slow Diver]

Thnks guys. I will have these in mind.
The hot water thing works nice

[Kirk Hammett worshiper]

When I first started playing a long time ago, that kept happening to me. So I asked one of my friends that same question, and he said that it was because my hands weren't strong enough, and said that squeezing a tennis ball every day for a while would help. I never really tried it, so I don't know if it works, though.

[u10ajf]

Best excerise I can think of is wide stretch legato stuff (legato=hammering on, pulling off). On an acoustic guitar something a bit easier is perhaps advisable try hammering on the first fret with your first finger, second with the second etc.. keep previously fretted fingers in place on the string. Do this from low string to high string. If you can do the top strings with decent volume you're a better man than I. This is mega boring to do but worth the effort. I discovered a few years ago that I found these chromatic runs difficult 'cause I kept missing notes out and automatically playing diatonic scales, this I found to be very alarming but it soon sorted itself out.

Once you have fairly strong stretchy fingers try four finger per string scales, these take you further up or down the fretboard for the number of strings you cross too, very useful.

[aiwass]

I dunno about where you live, but in Norway, we get temperatures like 20 below in the winter (in the city that is, cuz in the mountains, it's like 40) and if you've just come in from the cold, the last thing you wanna do is soak your hands in hot water. You'll risk bursting blood vessels in your hands, not to mention just extreme pain anyway. So Give your hands a chance to get used to temperatures if there is alot of temperature variation.