JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Bass and Drum Forum Finger Exercises and Warm Up Tips

Are you over age 40? Do you work full time?

Are you a little out of shape??

Did you used to play guitar all night long without any physical damage to your hands, arms, shoulders and back?

Well..join the club.

After a few hours of bass playing, I am starting to notice cramping and fatigue of my hands and upper body.

I have decided to get in top playing shape again and would be interested in knowing what kind of exercises you are doing to keep your body in shape for playing.

I am very interested in hearing about pre-playing finger exercises too.

Thanks,

Gary

I'm 52 years old. I've been playing guitar since I was 14. I've played and taught professionally throughout most of my life.

Currently I play a lot of bass. This week I'll do three sessions, 17 songs; play four gigs; rehearse an artist for a session; and, teach a guitar student.

I rarely get pain. I do a lot of stretching using three basic stretches:

1. Wrist Circles. I hold my arms out with my elbows at a ninety degree angle, make a loose fist, and turn my hands in circles one way then the other. I don't push to the point of pain, just a good stretching feel.

2. The Spider. I put my thumb and fingertips together and turn my hands up until my fingers point to my chest. Then, I push my hands away, stretching the bottoms of my wrist. No real pain.

3. Wrist Stretches. Hold one hand straight out in front of me. With the other hand, I push the first hand down and back, then up and back.

I can't stress the no pain part enough. Don't stretch when you are cold, like after being outside in the winter. Start by playing easy stuff for a few minutes, then stretch.

When I've gotten hand pain from over-work, I've put plastic bags of ice on the pain area 20 minutes at a time (no stretching with cold hands.) I've rested on my back, keeping my hands above my heart. When I've had to play like that, I've used an ointment called Mycoflex. It works pretty well. I've had no chronic pain from the guitar or bass. The only real problem I've had lately is with my index finger. I've figured out it's from the computer mouse LOL.

All the Best,
Mike

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Mike Dunbar Music

Mike,

Thanks for the stretching tips and exercises.
We could all benefit from them, young and old.

Tonight I start taking a weekly Yoga class at my local YMCA.

Everyone take care of their health, there is just too many great songs to be played out there.

Gary

Thanks for the tips, Mike! I sometimes get a tingly feeling in my left fingertips that takes a couple of days to go away, like when your foot falls asleep. am I using too much pressure (trying too hard?) Arthritis runs in my family.

Herbie

Herbie, I'm no doctor, so take what I'm saying as information, not as a diagnosis.

Work backwards from the tingly feeling. Do you keep your knuckles bent tightly when you play, do you press real hard?

Do you bend your wrist a lot when you play. Is your elbow bent out of the "neutral" position? (neutral for the tendons travelling through the bursa in your elbow is acheived when holding your arm either in a 90 degree bent position, or a straight position. Keeping your arm in any other position for a long time causes the bursa to squeeze the tendons which can cause numbness anywhere in the arm or fingers, or it can cause bursitis...inflammation of the bursa.)

How do you sleep? Do you bend your neck? Any of these things can cause tingling in the fingers, as well as a bunch more things.If it persists, see your doctor.

All the Best,
Mike

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Mike Dunbar Music

Hello you bass players,

I just got my cello fixed and played it today for the first time in at least 5 years. I don't have any pain in my left hand and I can pluck just fine. My problem is with holding the bow for any length of time. I believe this is a strength problem with my right hand. The pain is mostly a cramp from the thumb up into the wrist. Test for carpal tunnel came back neg. a few years ago.

Any suggestions for increasing strength? I am left handed so my right hand is weaker. If I have to, I may wear a wrist brace...

It was wonderful fun to play....even got some nice sounds and the bad sounds were my fault.

Thanks,

Vondelle

HI Vondelle - glad to hear you're back with the instrument. As Bill Cosby says, "There's always room for cello."

I'm 47 - I've played assorted instruments all my life - mostly strings, but I dabble in other veins. Only after recouping from a really bad dog bite to my hands have I ever had any problem. (Bit one hand severely, bite the other one trying to pry it's jaw open to free my hand). Now I find that if I don't eat right, and have a consistently good diet, it affects not just my physical well being, but I've had my right fingers cramp and curl up in the midst of performing. I had so much pain that I had to use the other hand to reach over and stretch them straight so I could finish the set. I think I finished that set plucking the strings with my ring and pinky fingers. It was incredibly painful; but taking vitamins, eating right, and basic exercising(stretching too) has prevented this episode from ever happening again.
That was one of the scariest experiences ever.

Hi Tom,

I have been hearing about proper diet from lots of people lately. I also think I do not drink enough water. Will follow this prescription for a 45 year old cello player wannabe.

I am also 'exercising' my right hand by writing with it for a few minutes a day and doing the stretches. Limiting my practice time to 15 to 30 min. daily.

The music store is sponsoring a cello orchestra, it would be good discipline for me to join, (although it says it is for h.s. students, lol)

Thanks,
Vondelle

Check out www.carolkaye.com. Carol uses and teaches a thumb pivot for bass. It allows for covering more space on the fretboard with ease of movement, correct hand positioning, and prevents carpal tunnel damage. Take it from someone who spent years playing 12 to 16 hour days 7 days a week over many years, and hard playing at that. She knows of that which she speaks.
She also teaches to only use the first, second, and pinky fingers unlike one finger per fret for guitar. The reason is that the pinky and third finger share a common ligament and the third finger is the weaker of the two. It's OK to use the third finger if your switching strings on the same fret going from pinky to third finger or vice versa or for fast runs where it's light playing. Believe me, it makes a huge difference not only in your playing if you use the thumb pivot correctly. She has consulted with chiropractors and doctors over the years regarding avoiding crippling techniques. Hope that helps.

Hey Vondelle, for strength, I lift weights, three times a week. I'll take a 20 pound dumbell, sit down and rest my forearm on my leg, parallel to my leg and the ground so my leg supports the forearm, then I lift the weight with my wrist. I do 15 reps with my palm side up and 15 with my palm side down, then move to the other arm. I don't, though, recommend starting like this. Start with a light weight, maybe 2 or 3 pounds with ten reps.

Another good exercise is standing up, you hold a single sheet of newspaper by it's corner in your hand, knuckle side up, with your arm straight out in front of you. Then crumple the newspaper sheet until it's just a ball of paper in your hand. Do it with both arms. You'll be surprised what a good exercise this is.

The advanced forearm excercise is done with a broomstick. You drill a hole in the broomstick and thread a rope through, tying it in a knot to keep it attached. Tie the other end of the rope to a weight...traditionally it's a bucket of water, but you could tie it to a barbell weight. Then hold the broomstick in both hands, knuckles up, arms straight out in front of you, and "wind" the rope on the broomstick raising the weight up, then slowly unwind it, lowering the weight.

These are great forearm exercises for increasing the grip.

Diet's important too. Unfortunately, I have two competing medical conditions which cause me to have to eat only lettuce, rice krispies and water.

Tom, I had a dog bite my right hand and still don't have the feeling in all of my right index finger. A dead dog bit my hand...well...it's dead now, anyway.

Herbie. I've worked for years at keeping my hands in good shape, so what do I get? Arthritis in my shoulders.

Steve, great info. I'm a big Carol Kaye fan. Learning the upright bass brought me to the index, middle, little finger technique (the traditional technique for upright) and I use it almost exclusively on the electric. One thing they do on the doghouse is use the upper fingers to support the lowers, if you use your pinky, you have the index, middle and ring down on the string too, helping press that sucker down. Carol Kaye RULES.

The most effective thing i've used at age 40 now, is stress balls or foam balls. They come in different shapes and sizes and you can take em anywhere. Just do dexterity exercises from thumb to pinky and vice versa to strengthen the muscles which are less active than when your a young buck that seems to able to endure bein hit with a meteor....lol. Even though things like that do catch up, haha

Happy fingers make a happy man....ok, and woman too (pun police)

Rock Hard Rock Forever!!

twd

Steve,

I checked out Carol Kaye's site. What an amazing woman and she has all you men drooling about her....

Mike, thanks for the additional strength training exercises. I think those will help. You even gave instructions for a crafty piece of equipment, I think I will start with vapor in the buckets. I'm glad I am not on your diet plan...Maybe you could shape the rice crispy treat into a frog and set it on the lettuce leaf floating on water and that would make it gourmet?

tmw, those foam balls would be good too (for exercising, not eating).

Vondelle