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Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | For people like me that have been out of the habit of playing for a while, plus having a bit of arthritis in the fingers, what exercises do you use to loosen up your fingers before playing? :confused: Inquiring minds want to know! |
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Posts: 78
Location: Scottsdale, AZ | A HOT bath and a cool Jim Beam. |
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February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Originally posted by Chuck:
For people like me that have been out of the habit of playing for a while, plus having a bit of arthritis in the fingers, what exercises do you use to loosen up your fingers before playing? :confused: Inquiring minds want to know!
I just slowly roll my fingers for a while.
Hey fellow Illinoisian, where the heck is Waterloo? |
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March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | Margaritas are good to warm up with, or cool down with.
Hey Chuck, how do you like your Pacemaker 12 string? Are you aware that the guy who sold it to you is a studio musician in Nashville? His name is Mark Casstevens and he's got a composition in the latest issue of Fingerstyle magazine. |
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December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | [Shameless plug mode on]
Actually, I went to guitar5day.com and got his DVD. He has some good exercises for stretching and finger/pick speed.
I don't have any financial connection....
[/off] |
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December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Chuck:
Try "dansm's warm-up exercises for acoustic guitar" http://www.geocities.com/mike_mccracker/acoustic/warmup.htm
It has more than you probably will want to do. |
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March 2004
Posts: 201
Location: Vernon, CT | Crack your knuckles, slam a board with a nail in it into your forehead, put your head between your legs and kiss your a$$ goodbye! Oops, wait...that's for airline emergencies. Sorry, get those two mixed up a lot! (SMILE)
John L. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Start with a G major pentatonic scale. When you're tired of that go to a Em pentatonic. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . . A HOT bath and a cool Jim Beam . . ."
I LIKE this girl!!! :-)
To stretch my my fingers out, I like "palming" a basketball for a while . . . squeezing a tennis ball helps build up strength . . |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Do different blues scales, starting in the first position and going down the neck. Then some strums, moving from bar chords to open chords, then bar chords for a triplet then what amounts to a triplet of fills, going thru a blues progression. Takes about 5 to 10 minutes. |
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October 2004
Posts: 78
Location: Avondale AZ | Chuck
Before I do warm-up scales, I make a V with my fingers (2 at a time) and run the guitar neck through them. I do this until I've done all fingers on both hands. It not only stretches the fingers before limbering them up with scales, it also carresses the guitar. She likes it and purrs.
Old Liver Jones
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1979 Viper(original owner)
1981 Limited(second owner) |
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July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | Bradley,
I am familiar with Zion, as I worked with a guy from there when I was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base a few years ago. Waterloo is about 25 miles south of St. Louis, ten miles from the bend in the river.
Thanks for all the great input on finger exercises. I will have to try them and see what will work best for me. The cold weather seems to get arther stirred up quite a bit. |
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February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Hey Chuck,
Talk about knowing about Zion, I was posting to a another message group and mentioned Zion. Someone replied back to the effect of....
Zion? Isn't that the crazy town that built a nuclear power plant right in the middle of Illinois' largest state park?
I had to grin, he DID know Zion!
I answered him back, telling him that they had built a windmill right across the street, I wondered if it was suppose to be a backup? |
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April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | Also the name of Pretty Cool Custom Made Electrics. Made Right here in NC. |
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June 2004
Posts: 365
Location: NC | I just play a few scales that use a slight stretch of the fingers. My pinky is the hardest finger to get working..........just try not to use it too much. I think Hendrixx did not use his pinky as well.........not that I am he but it was my only comparison....LOL :D |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Warm water works for me! I am working on the Bass lines from Chris The Frigin Nightmare Squire! My hands cramp up after about an hour or so on a good day! I run my hands in the sink for a few minutes. I guess if I play out I'll have to have a bowl of hot water waiting between songs.
I notice on my Acoustic guitars I can go longer if I do not play to many songs that require a lot of Bar chords or full chords in a row. I go from finger picking to full chords by mixing up my song list. This way my hands do not suffer as much.
I frostbit my fingers when I was younger and in the cold weather My hands hurt a lot if I am playing outside and it gets colder.
Mandolin is almost impossible to play unless my hands feal real good.
Randy |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | My "warm up" regimen usually consists of:
Drumming my fingers on the bar for a half hour while I wait for the inept staff to remove the tables that should've been vacated/cleared 15 minutes before I even GOT there.
Grasping handles (usually in cold, rainy weather) while I hump the gear out of my car into the venue.
Bashing knuckles/fingers on the swinging doors as I bring said gear inside because I can't prop the door open because there's ALWAYS one whiny patron who complains that it's "too cold/drafty" (repeat bashing procedure as long as gear lasts).
Get fingers soundly pinched in the mechanics of the speaker stands as I unfold them.
Zap fingertips with that ONE power outlet that has the broken recepticle that I ALWAYS seem to find.
Repeat the grasping/bashing procedure (in reverse) as I carry empty cases out to the car.
Bitch-slap my partner for showing up AFTER I've done everything (and not knowing how to f*&^#(*g DO any of the set-up when he DOES show up on time).
Wash my hands, tune my guitars, and I'm ready t'go . . . |
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December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Hey, wait, that's the regimen I use too...
:rolleyes: |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | I generally just post a lot on the OFC. In fact, generally, I post so much that by the time my fingers get limber, I'm too tired and/or it's too late to play guitar.
I have some nice 'hangar queens,' though...not a pick swirl in the bunch.
:D |
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Finger exercises