Hey Friend,
Doctors make the worst patients. That’s because they’re the first ones to totally disregard the advice they typically give to those in their care.
They know what they SHOULD do, but often, they think they can take shortcuts because, well, they’re doctors. They “know” their bodies better than the average person. They KNOW how the body works and think they can hack physical laws…
Bah...
I should have followed my own advice this past weekend - I am still sore!
We were cutting down trees and chipping / shredding them, trying to tame the jungle that is our back yard.
Did I stretch my body before picking up the chainsaw? Or the weed whacker? Oh no, not me…
Now these “simple” hand and finger exercises are reminding me EXACTLY how foolish I am! I feel the burn...
It’s a good burn, right? Right.
Here’s the deal…
Just knowing about the stretches and exercises does you no good if you don’t USE them!
Like daily practice, doing daily hand stretches before you play is a habit you should create. You can easily set a timer for five minutes and work through the stretches in that time.
I know, squeezing five more minutes out of the rest of your schedule can be tough, but the benefits outweigh the cost!
Here are a few: Long term, the stretching will help protect you from injuring your hands and forearms.
Doing the stretches creates a discipline for proper preparation.
Stretching makes your hands and arms more flexible to handle rigors of playing. The better you become, the longer you can play comfortably. Believe it or not, you can wear yourself out playing guitar!
Stretching makes you more limber, which helps your movements become more fluid. This smoother motion will help to increase your speed and accuracy on the fingerboard.
You’ll also be able to execute more. More difficult chords (and chord changes). Wider stretches between notes. More options in your note and chord selections.
Can you see how taking a few minutes to get prepared for your practice could pay off in your guitar-playing career? You’re less likely to hurt yourself and being prepared makes your practice session better.
You’ll become a better guitarist faster because your hands are more relaxed and able to endure the demands of playing for longer periods of time.
So listen to “Doctor Dave” and do your freakin’ hand and finger exercises!
Rock on!
Peace~
Dave
P.S. There’s a great way to bypass some of the challenges people have with learning chords... you can “cheat” by learning power chords.
Power chords are based on the two primary notes in a chord (which requires three notes to be considered a true chord). But for Rock players, we can get away with power chords for a lot of the music we play.
And, power chords are a LOT easier to play, especially for new guitarists (or you rusty old coots trying to get your chops back!).
I compiled chord charts for over 250 possible power chords, from simple fingerings to some real beasts, and put them in an ebook.
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