Playing guitar involves the same hand dexterity that athletes use. You need speed, flexibility, and strength to grip chords spread over the neck of a guitar, involving a number of frets. Great guitar players have larger hands and can span over four or five frets, reaching and stretching to hit chords that others can't.
Size Doesn't Always Matter But It Helps
If you look at great athletes and musicians, they have that one thing in common - long fingers and big hands. I remember meeting a great defensive back Bobby Taylor of the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a superb athlete. What struck me was how small he was. He was maybe six feet tall and 180 lbs. When I went to shake his hand, his fingers wrapped around mine like I was a child. I noticed the same thing when I met some of the best guitar players in Nashville and New York. They had huge hands. Not all of them, but most did.
There are great athletes and musicians that have small hands too I’m sure. We just have to work a little harder to reach the keys on the piano or the frets on the neck to get the same sound. There are exercises and tools to improve the dexterity and strength of a guitar player's fingers and hands that will improve grip and make the most of what you were born with.
Hand Exercises For Guitar Players
In order to hold down a note on a guitar, you must flex your finger at all three joints, applying pressure to the guitar string. This Finger Flexion exercise can strengthen the flex muscle to improve your playing. While holding a tennis ball in your hand, gently squeeze the ball with your fingers and hand muscles to a firm yet comfortable degree of pressure. Hold the position for five seconds before slowly releasing and returning to a neutral position.
Another exercise for stretching to increase finger dexterity and keep them loose is to hold your hand in front of your chest with your fingers touching each other. Try to hold your arm still and just use your hand muscles. Slowly spread your fingers apart until you look as though you are waving at someone. Hold this position for five seconds. Do this during the day with both hands.
Wrist Therapy for Piano, Wind and String Instruments
Stretching rubber bands on your fingers improves strength in your fingers and your hand. The same goes for a rubber squeeze ball; it will improve your grip and hand strength. Typing is good exercise for guitar players to improve speed and dexterity. Wrist weights, grip masters, and finger weights are used to improve manual dexterity for musicians and other workers engaged in repetitive tasks. It will improve finger and hand strength, and is also used for rehabilitation of an injury. It will improve hand speed and dexterity, and is very effective in practice for wind and string instruments.
There are also slip-on finger weights that are specifically designed for musicians.These will improve speed, endurance and your ability to perform. The weights slip on and target the extensor and flexor muscles. These are the tiny muscles that open and close your fingers. The extensors or speed muscles determine how quickly the musician can move from one key or string to the next. The flexors close the fingers and are essential for purity of tone.
In reality, a musician is close to being a professional athlete. You depend on your body to perform. Just consider how much body muscle goes into practicing and performing. If you are serious about what you do and put time and money into it, then exercising and stretching should be part of a musician's schedule. There are exercises and equipment like the Gripmaster, finger weights, and other exercise equipment like the Eagle Catcher and hand grip that can protect you from long-term repetitive injuries and help you perform better by improving endurance, strength, and dexterity.
Jim Galloway - Professional Musician/Published Songwriter for 30 yrs. With over 200 Articles in Recording/Music Buisness/ Resources/Vintage Instruments
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