Finger stregthening exercises - do they help?

[jfrog]

Do finger-strengthening exercises, such as the gripmaster, or whatever it's called, help with finger dexterity and playing in general?

[Garry Sharp]

Nowhere near as much as playing scales and barre chords for two 20-30 minute sessions a day.

[matt rascal]

I've never liked my Gripmaster. It was a gift.

[azraelswings]

Well, they don't hurt, I guess. However, to echo the above, real practice is 800 times more effective.

As an alternative:

Grab your ax, and fret the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th frets on the fifth string. Now, lift your index and pointer finger and alternate between the 5th and 6th frets on the sixth string, while keeping your ring and little fingers down on the 7th and 8th frets of the 5th string. Repeat with every finger combination, keeping the non active fingers anchored to their respective frets.

Kicks the shit out of a gripmaster any day.

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by jfrog

Do finger-strengthening exercises, such as the gripmaster, or whatever it's called, help with finger dexterity and playing in general?

The gripmaster may be somewhat beneficial for some finger strengthening if your guitar is not available to you wherever you may be, eg at work etc, but at the end of the day nothing is going to be more beneficial as picking up your guitar and going through some scales or finger strengthening execises.

As to whether the gripmaster will be beneficial to your playing in general, I don't think it is going to do any harm, but me personally if I'm in a position to play my guitar I would rather do that than squeeze a gripmaster.

[bongolation]

Originally Posted by azraelswings

Well, they don't hurt, I guess.

If you're over forty, they almost certainly will.

Those mechanical things are very, VERY dangerous for geezer hands. By the time you first start noticing pain, it will have been too late and it will take months or even years to heal the strained tendons depending on how much damage you've done.

Did I say they were DANGEROUS?

[azraelswings]

Originally Posted by bongolation

If you're over forty, they almost certainly will.

Those mechanical things are very, VERY dangerous for geezer hands. By the time you first start noticing pain, it will have been too late and it will take months or even years to heal the strained tendons depending on how much damage you've done.

Did I say they were DANGEROUS?

Thats a very good point, and I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone with tendonitis issues, such as myself. I would HIGHLY recommend a tendon pad, that thing has cleared my pain and discomfort up very nicely.

Honestly, I don't think gripmaster really serve much of a purpose at all, given second thought. Truth is, I don't believe much strength needs to be developed. Dexterity and endurance certainly. It's not as though your fingers are power lifting to fret a chord.

Fuck Gripmasters, just play.

[bongolation]

Originally Posted by azraelswings

I would HIGHLY recommend a tendon pad, that thing has cleared my pain and discomfort up very nicely.

What's that? Never heard of one.

[KaraokeKancer]

I can't say my playing has gotten better from the gripmaster, cuz i play 1-2 hours a day. I haven't noticed any huge jumps in skill over the past 4 months. It's just cool in the car and work. Over-designed stress reliever. That's a new term, write it down.

[matt rascal]

Practicing on a bass or an acoustic (if you normally play electric) will noticably help your guitar playing.

[Dani Pace]

To expand on what Matt said; get a second guitar, one with high action, larger neck, and heavier strings. Play it (instead of your regular guitar) for 1/2 hour daily for a couple of months, you will be amazed at the difference it will make in hand strength and endurance. When you switch back to your regular guitar you may even want to change to heavier strings, (I did, I was overbending everything.) If you want to improve both strength and stretch, by all means play bass for a while, the longer neck and bigger strings will definately give you a better "work out" than any of the gadgets. Also, none of the exercise gadgets will improve your dexterity or playing skill, only practice can do that!

[jfrog]

Originally Posted by matt rascal

Practicing on a bass or an acoustic (if you normally play electric) will noticably help your guitar playing.

The last couple of years I have been hitting the acoustic more & more (I normally play electric). I also have a bass that perhaps I should play more...I just got it for recording.

As an unrelated side note...The weird thing about playing the acoustic is that more and more I find myself fingerpicking. I've always pretty much played with a pick.