How to make hands stronger

I am wondernig something that would help make your hands stronger and more flexible. My good friend uses putty to help stretch and strengthen his hands over time. He got it from exerflexputty.com and has been pleased with his increase in skill. He says he can play longer and get around the notes a little bit faster after using it. It's an interesting idea and I'm wondering if I should try it out.

I don't think it would hurt to try..
Maybe a childrens rubber ball would be cheaper..
or roll up a piece of foam rubber wrapped with duct tape..

I wouldn't personally spend any money on something like that. You can improve your strength by simply practicing on acoustic, and increase your stretch by playing difficult chords or arpeggios.

But if you're okay spending the money, I don't see how it could do any harm.

Yeah, practicing on an acoustic is great. I usually spend 5-15 minutes warming up on my acoustic before an electric practice session.

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Nate Savage

I think this idea works well with swinging heavier baseball bats, but it doesn't translate as well to guitar, for one reason.

You need a lot of fine-motor control and nuance to play guitar. You're not just looking for power and strength. If you just build muscle and make your hands "strong" you're getting away from the guitar strings being a delicate instrument.

As a parallel example, one of the things that makes a drummer like Vinnie Colaiuta play with such finesse is that he is playing a wide-range of quiet and loud notes simultaneously. Listen to all of his ghost notes and accents. He wouldn't learn that from swinging a sledge-hammer at his snare drum over and over.

My point is, it's not all about being able to press the strings harder. Your fingers are all naturally strong enough to push a guitar string down. What they might not be ready for is pushing a string down at the required angle, or holding one weird chord position for a long time. Think of how many variations there are. It's not just one single muscle motion like doing pushups. Playing guitar is subtle twisting and turning from multiple angles and varying degrees of pressure on a grid of strings. Each note on each string from each position has its own combination of strength and dexterity. You can't play the low E string with the same feel that you apply to the high E. And on the higher frets, the angles are all different. The fret distances all change sizes.

Very few instruments have all of the notes crammed so close together like the guitar does. From the 12th to 14th fret, you've got 18 notes in a 2" x 1.5" area. That's crazy. To be able to equally play all of those (especially in weird combinations in jazz chords) takes a lot of specialized practice.

A lot of it has to do with training your mind / nerves to be able to plant your fingers in any position instantly. The raw muscle strength comes in handy, too, but I think the best way to develop all of this combined nuance is to keep playing your guitar in as many unusual ways as you can, play all over the neck with different tempos and levels of dynamics, get your mind and hands conditioned, and don't hurt yourself.

If these putties and balls help, then that's great. But none of these will truly condition your hands for playing guitar like playing guitar will.

-Carl.

Originally Posted by: Carl KingI think this idea works well with swinging heavier baseball bats, but it doesn't translate as well to guitar, for one reason.

You need a lot of fine-motor control and nuance to play guitar. You're not just looking for power and strength. If you just build muscle and make your hands "strong" you're getting away from the guitar strings being a delicate instrument.

As a parallel example, one of the things that makes a drummer like Vinnie Colaiuta play with such finesse is that he is playing a wide-range of quiet and loud notes simultaneously. Listen to all of his ghost notes and accents. He wouldn't learn that from swinging a sledge-hammer at his snare drum over and over.

My point is, it's not all about being able to press the strings harder. Your fingers are all naturally strong enough to push a guitar string down. What they might not be ready for is pushing a string down at the required angle, or holding one weird chord position for a long time. Think of how many variations there are. It's not just one single muscle motion like doing pushups. Playing guitar is subtle twisting and turning from multiple angles and varying degrees of pressure on a grid of strings. Each note on each string from each position has its own combination of strength and dexterity. You can't play the low E string with the same feel that you apply to the high E. And on the higher frets, the angles are all different. The fret distances all change sizes.

Very few instruments have all of the notes crammed so close together like the guitar does. From the 12th to 14th fret, you've got 18 notes in a 2" x 1.5" area. That's crazy. To be able to equally play all of those (especially in weird combinations in jazz chords) takes a lot of specialized practice.

A lot of it has to do with training your mind / nerves to be able to plant your fingers in any position instantly. The raw muscle strength comes in handy, too, but I think the best way to develop all of this combined nuance is to keep playing your guitar in as many unusual ways as you can, play all over the neck with different tempos and levels of dynamics, get your mind and hands conditioned, and don't hurt yourself.

If these putties and balls help, then that's great. But none of these will truly condition your hands for playing guitar like playing guitar will.

-Carl.

Well put! Think of it very logically. How much finger strength does it actually take to press down on the guitar strings? They are very thin, steel pieces that are nearly millimeters from the neck by which they are to be pushed down on. This isn't to sell short the level of difficulty involved, but honestly so much of the process of learning the instrument is developing the motor skills to know "how" to use your hands, not necessarily "how" to make them stronger. Truth; you do need to develop a bit more strength in your individual finger joints as you are bending them in new and interesting ways. However, stay clear of all those fancy gadgets that music stores try and sell you on and simply play; ALOT! Pure passion, drive, and practice will aid you in getting your hands in top shape.

Not unlike sports, so much of guitar playing is a mental thing. Michael Jordan was not out searching for the quickest way to make a slam dunk. Payton Manning was not at the store looking for some special gloves to aid him in breaking NFL records. These guys worked very hard and developed their skills through meaningful work. This can and will happen for you. Again, if that putty helps you than go for it. However, don't expect stuff like that to take you on a faster route to guitar success. Simply keep playing like you are doing, asking questions, and continue to stay in love with the process of learning.

Best of luck and keep up the good work!

WOW ! Carl and Show really tell it all with a passion. Personally think their advise is spot on. As a new-be, will be following it. Thanks.

This may not be practile for eveyone, but... Get a bass guitar. Even if it's just some junky bass. Use it for warming up, use it for stretching those fingers. Practice the same scale exercises you would use on your guitar on that bass... You think you have to stretch now? Just try those five fret stretches on a bass. ;)

I just got a bass a week ago, I find that I warm up on IT now. Makes the guitar feel like buttah in your fingers.

There is definitely a lot to learn from working with a bass. I honestly think you should take it a step further and try and play bass in a band or simply just jam with some other musicians where you are the bassist. Being a fellow rhythm guitarist (although I do play lead often, but my strength is in rhythm), I often find the shift over to bass to be quite easy. The key is is to not be too intrusive and make sure you lock with the drums. I honestly believe if you take that approach you can come off as somewhat convincing on an instrument that you don't play predominately.

Anyway, it never hurts to play around on instruments that aren't your main forte. This will teach you quite a bit about how to communicate with other musicians, and will strengthen your overall musicianship.

Keep up the great work as always! :D

you know, back in.?.?.? 1985/1986? I bought a fender bass. Took it to the Navy with me. Played it off and on. Back then, I never took it serious. Sold it when I got out of the Navy and went to college. Wish I had taken it more seriously back then. Actually, there's LOTS of things I wish I had taken more seriously.

Playing acoustic guitar and bass are great suggestions. Doing any kind of playing that requires stretching and strength are good too. I recommend bending and vibrato. Most of the strength there actually comes from your wrist and arm but some finger strength is required too. Start with half step bends, then whole step, then 1 and a half step bends. Those are really good workouts. Just be careful not to strain too much.

Most of the time you can play lead very light handed. Straining will just slow you down and take away efficiency. The real trick is in building your callouses. Doing a lot of rhythm playing(chord progressions) and the aforementioned bending and vibrato will be your biggest aid in building those callouses. Once the tips of your fingers start getting tougher you'll see that most lead playing requires only a pretty light touch.

Originally Posted by: RickBlackeryou know, back in.?.?.? 1985/1986? I bought a fender bass. Took it to the Navy with me. Played it off and on. Back then, I never took it serious. Sold it when I got out of the Navy and went to college. Wish I had taken it more seriously back then. Actually, there's LOTS of things I wish I had taken more seriously.

It's never too late. Take them seriously now and enjoy yourself. Believe me I can relate.

Originally Posted by: KwoteIt's never too late. Take them seriously now and enjoy yourself. Believe me I can relate.

I am now. But... I fear that by the time I get good enough to be successful, I'll be a old fart and the young hotties will wrinkle their nose up at me. :D

lol. Hotties like confidence and success. Nothing else matters to them. ;)