Bassist finger exercise

[amnesiac]

Not sure if this was every discussed before but, what kind of finger exercises do you guys do to warm up or strengthen your fingers?

 

[splintersfury]

..

erm i jus do bass scales to warm up and also to recall...

 

[cloud]

try bending ur index and fourth finger(one next to the pinkie) towards your palm together and using ur thumb to press them down, then doing the same with the middle finger and pinkie.
repeat until you feel your fingers have enough warm up =)

 

[mingrong]

Something cool I found on youtube, discusses not what you do to warm-up, but where you do it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y57-2eaTBwc

 

[shinobi]

chromatic runs

 

[b33r]

what about spider scales?

 

[rylche]

I just play scales and that's about it. On the train to the jamming place, I dig my nose for some extended exercise.

 

[yuujin]

amen brother,
remember to dig with every finger (resting your thumb under your chin for support).

 

[5stringwonder]

scales for me too - slow to fast.

 

[yuujin]

just keep practicing scales, especially to a metronome if you can. (no metronome? http://www.metronomeonline.com/, start with about 70bpm?) this will help your fingers move better across the fretboard. oh yeah. keep going all the way until the 12th fret.
so its like this on 1 string, 1 2 3 4, 2 3 4 5, 3 4 5 6, 4 5 6 7....

do this as well 1 3 2 4, 2 4 3 5, 3 5 4 6....

edit: oh yeah dont start with too fast a bpm. speed is not a main concern, especially if you're starting.

 

[amnesiac]

yuujin = I do that too, only w/o the metronome =D

 

[yuujin]

the metronome is very important!

 

[shinobi]

do exercise some caution when you run over the lower frets. sometimes no pain means no gain, but other times pain could lead to injury and irreversible joint damage.

if you are scaling on the lower frets, don't overdo it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXkxu_7Tn48

 

[rylche]

I tend to adopt a thumb over the top of the neck kinda playing for some stuff and the proper method for other kinda stuff. My hands just do whatever is comfortable at that time. Bad technique but it kinda alleviated my wrist strain that I was having while always using the proper method.

 

[yuujin]

wow cool.
ok i guess you guys should start from the middle of the neck!

 

[shinobi]

I tend to adopt a thumb over the top of the neck kinda playing for some stuff and the proper method for other kinda stuff. My hands just do whatever is comfortable at that time. Bad technique but it kinda alleviated my wrist strain that I was having while always using the proper method.

ultimately 'proper technique' is meant to help you play better, instead of developing nasty things like chronic wrist pain etc... i think it's also important to play effectively

technique is meant to make the job easier, not more difficult, for maximum results

 

[Bassman250]

I usually do scales and arpeggios exercises before playing.

 

[Yaz]

Guess all of the above mentioned exercises work well, its just a matter of that time well spent. Be it few 10-20mins or even 5mins.

 

[benjso28]

Good fingering exercise for warm up and solo (similar as jaco)

Enjoy : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buUMU7EKW6E&feature=related

Cheers,

Ben

 

[Benny De La Vega]

well, just minor finger stretchings will do for me... i mean... just stretch ur fingers back nd forth and away from each other..