Finger Strengthening

When I try to do 1 hand runs, the notes come out very quiet unless I make a large effort to bang my fingers into the fretboard. I assume I need to build up finger strength so does anyone have any good exercises to help?

well u can do any number of finger exercises along the fretboard to improve ur wrist and finger agility and also picking at the same time. just alternate pick all along the fret board using all combinations of finger on all frets and strings.

practice really sloooow so u need to keep ur fnger down more and u see if u sound nice and flowy or not.

Now i want more strength than that, u can try getting higher gauge strings or one of those grip things with springs - ive never tried these cus i cant find em but some ppl say theyre good some ppl say theyre not.

I think you should consider less gauge strings , if you go on pressing harder to make the notes sound cleaner you'll have problems playing faster.

If you're sure that some strength is what you need , the best way to get that is doing string bending exercises for each indiviual finger and in any combinations you know ... I'm not talking about full step bending , you'll have to go at least 2 steps (4 frets) and up to 8 or 9 frets bending (the 8 frets bending doesn't have to work on every place on the fretboard or every string).

or practice a lot of cromatic stuff on the real low frets or on and acoustic would be even better

------------------------------------2p1h2-----
-----------------------------1h2p1-------
----------------------2p1h2-----------
---------------1h2p1-----
--------2p1h2-----------
-1h2p1-----------------

do that pattern up and down with your index and middle finger, then do it with your middle and ring finger, then your ring finger and pinky

over and over

Originally posted by SLY
I think you should consider less gauge strings , if you go on pressing harder to make the notes sound cleaner you'll have problems playing faster.

If you're sure that some strength is what you need , the best way to get that is doing string bending exercises for each indiviual finger and in any combinations you know ... I'm not talking about full step bending , you'll have to go at least 2 steps (4 frets) and up to 8 or 9 frets bending (the 8 frets bending doesn't have to work on every place on the fretboard or every string).

This is interesting for me because even though I've been playing for 5 years and have done several semiprofessional gigs I've only just recently (like this month) started seriously working on bending.

What I'm wondering is, how can you bend that far without breaking a string? How much does the string gauge make a difference? Because if I try much more than 3 fret bends on my guitar it's very difficult and it feels like something's going to go. My guitar isn't set up very well, but still..

I used to think those big sweeping bends were done with the aid of a whammy bar (I've never owned a guitar with one), but now I'm not so sure.

Hello all. This is my first post and I thoght i'd use to to offer some handy advice about those finger strengthener things with the springs. I personally would not use one as they can build yor fingers up to much than what is needed thus making them more bulky and will slow you down. Exercises on the guitar are what train your fingers best for ... the guitar.

Hammurabi - Very nice nickname dude !

I don't have much experience than yours , I've only been playing for about 7 or 8 years , but I can asure you that the strings should never break if they're new .
I play .010's gauge , and they never broke before a month of heavy playing , that's why I make sure when I go giggin' that my strings aren't more than a week old .
I also use my Floyd Rose whammy to bend as far as it goes , and I never broke a string this way either.

I don't know if heavier gauge can stand much more heavy bending without breaking , but Malmsteen for example uses .008's gauge and he does a lot of 5 fret bendings and he never break strings during a show , but I remember that he said something in an interview about changing his strings daily .

Bottom line : It's non-arguable that the heavier you bend the shorter the strings will last , but isn't that what they're made for anyway ?

[Edited by SLY on 01-27-2004 at 10:37 AM]

Play alittle bass.. I'm sure your fingers will get alot stronger. Anyone every see a serious bass players hands, they're huge or at least muscular (as muscular a hand can be).

ever seen John Petrucci's hands?

his fingers have throbing biceps

Yeah. He does have muscular hands, probably from all the legato playing he does. Ever seen Wooten's hands, his hands are small but his fingers are Huge. It's kinda funny if you ever look at them because they're so disproportional. :D

I can't help but wonder if forearm muscles help out some. I saw a photo of Vai the other day and he has some very well defined forearms for his build.

If you want technique to help you pay better I find going for a more classical or flamenco technique is far more efficiant. Being as square as poss enables each finger to use its own individual muscles and become more indipendant. So your not being restricted my anothers fingers movements.