left hand exercises

[billkilpatrick]

i assume i'm talking to people who understand obsession and have long since ceased to be amazed at how tiny the tiny details can get.

somewhere on the message board i read that rubber bands placed around two or three of the fingers of the left hand (assuming you use the left hand to make the notes) will help to strengthen the little finger as it reaches for those places where it normally doesn't want to go.

this works but i found that in my case it was the ring finger that was the weaker of the four - it simply followed the little finger where ever it went and lent it some feeble, back up pressure. the rubber band was exercising the first and middle fingers instead of it.

in addition to the rubber band i found a clothes pin works very well for any of the fingers you want to beef up - simply by gripping the pin between it and the thumb and squeezing.

another exercise that zeroed in on the weakest finger was done by placing the tips of the extended fingers on something like a table top or steering wheel and lifting it up and rearing it back as far as it will go. trying to keep it off the table as i walked my hand around was a challenge as well - i was amazed at how little strength my ring finger had to do this and how uncoordinated it was in relation to the others.

of course the best possible way to exercise the fingers is to play but on those occasions when you can't, you can cause a gratifying level of consternation amongst those around you simply by walking your hand across the dinner table or up and down the steering wheel or by fiddling too much with a clothes pin.

- bill

[mandocrucian]

Go to Wal-Mart, buy a box of Gulfwax (canning parafin wax) for $2 or $3. There are four bars per box. #Set one bar out in a bowl in the hot sun to let it soften up. #Then reshape the bar into a ball.

When you get it into a ball shape, carry it around with you and squeeze the thing on and off. Put finger indentations into it. #There's a little give, but not so much (like with a rubber ball) that you can hyperextend the finger muscles and hurt yourself. This is what is recommended at the karate studio I go to for devloping an iron grip.

Might as well soften up a second bar for a ball for the other hand.

Guaranteed to turn you into Capt. Queeg!

NH

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Radim Zenkl advocates the use of a rubber glove. Buy a pair that are one size too small and cut the finger tips off. Play with the glove on, then play with the glove off. Big difference.

Daniel

[jmcgann]

How about Bach Violin Sonatas and Partitas, or any great classical or jazz stuff; contest fiddle tunes, Russian Rag, anything that gets you out of first position and gets all 4 fingers wagging... you can use actual music to strengthen your fingers, and have a great time playing great music while you are at it!

I'd be very careful of resistance-type exercises to develop strength in the hands. There is too much tendinitis and carpal tunnel going around in people who DON'T do that stuff, let alone those who do a lot of grip type work. I'd hate to hear of someone who overdid it with "strength training" and became unable to play because of it- horrible irony!

Radim is a wonderful musician, gloves or not!