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Introduction
Playing guitar is an athletic activity, and just like we need to stretch our muscles before a run, we also need to stretch out our fingers before a practice session or gig. I'm going to share an incredibly quick and effective finger stretching exercise I learnt from a fantastic fingerstyle guitarist by the name of Alex Kabasser, who also happens to be a medical doctor. I met him in Austria at the Thomas Leeb acoustic guitar boot camp around 10 years ago where he was one of the teachers, and this simple stretching exercise has stuck with me ever since and I believe it will be of great value to you.
Welcome to 'Fingerstyle For The World', my online lesson series where I strive to help guitarists around the world become better musicians.
Before You Begin:
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Step 1: Stretching the digits
Use the thumb, index, and middle fingers of your right hand to stretch the joint each digit of the fingers and thumb on your left hand.
Repeat the process on your other hand.
Step 2: Stretching the knuckles and wrist
Press the palm of your right hand against all 4 fingers of your left hand, stretching the muscles under your knuckles.
Relax the knuckles of your left hand and allow your hand to stretch backward at the wrist.
Repeat the process on your other hand.
Step 3: Hammering the webs of your fingers
Use your right hand like a chopper and hammer the webs between all your fingers of your left hand.
Repeat the process on your other hand.
Step 4: massaging the palms
Use the thumb of your right hand to gently massage the palm of your left hand. Pay special attention to the muscles between your thumb and index finger.
Repeat the process on your other hand.
That's it! the whole exercise is done.
Why I use this exercise and why you should too
This little stretching exercise takes less than a minute, but does wonders in waking up my hands and fingers before a gig or practice session. I find myself doing it the most is in the backseat of a taxi while travelling to a gig. Not only does it enable me to warm up my hands when I am physically unable to do so on my instrument, it's become a sort of mental preparation before a gig. After stretching I feel psyched and ready to go!
In my head I imagine I'm an athlete doing stretches before a big run. There's something about watching athletes do their warmups, you feel this sense of anticipation and preparation, both physical and psychological.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoy adding this little stretching exercise to your daily practice routine. Let me know in the comments: do you do any finger stretching exercises? What are some different exercises that have worked for you?
Also, follow along my musical journey on my YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and website as I share new music videos and lessons each and every week.
Until next time, I'll see you again!
By Neil Chan