Hand Exercisers

[metaladd_uk]

So I play guitar. I've been at the base of a wall I have happily been sitting at for a good 3 years and I am now determined to push myself over to progress to solos, intricate leads and fast riffing. I have, as such, noticed that my ring and pinky HATE each other and it's so frustrating. I know the best cure for this is to practice practice practice and I plan to. I am basically just asking if anyone has had one of these hand exercisers (such as the Planet Waves Varigrip) before and if they work or what you personally think about them? While I'm hear, good starter solos to start with? Just some simple solos with some moderate pick and fretting work. Currently trying to force myself to learn the lead bits from Fire and The Fury by Firewind but feel this is probably too hard for me at the moment so slowly does it. Cheers.

[EveryThingStartsWithCore]

I'm a drummer (I don't know if this will help) And used the gripmaster for maybe a week and saw improvement.You can work fingers individually and they have different exercises. I think it would be worth a try.

[FatherAlabaster]

For getting your pinky and ring finger to start working independently, try this: 1) put your index finger on the 6th string at the 5th fret and your middle finger just below it on the 5th string at the 5th fret. Keep them pressed down during the whole exercise. 2) play a progression of notes alternating your ring finger and pinky, starting with your ring finger on the 6th string at the 6th fret (A# if you're in standard tuning) and then picking it up while you put your pinky down on the 6th string at the 7th fret (. Walk this dumb-sounding progression up the strings from 6th to 1st - 6th fret, 7th fret, (up to the next string) 6th fret, 7th fret (up to the next string) and so forth. 3) keep doing it long after you've begun to hate it. Make sure you're keeping your index and middle fingers pressed down and motionless during this exercise. Your ring finger and pinky go up the strings, back down the strings. You aren't using your index and middle to play notes, you're just training them to keep holding a shape while your ring finger and pinky work independently from one another. It doesn't sound like music, but who cares. Also try switching between a bunch of chords that use your pinky and ring finger in different positions, rather than just sliding power chords around. If you're playing in drop, try switching to standard for a bit... or vice versa. For solos, forget about shredding and try some blues licks. It'll be a lot easier to start on other kinds of solos once you're used to stringing a couple of easy licks together over a simple chord progression.

[metaladd_uk]

For getting your pinky and ring finger to start working independently, try this: 1) put your index finger on the 6th string at the 5th fret and your middle finger just below it on the 5th string at the 5th fret. Keep them pressed down during the whole exercise. 2) play a progression of notes alternating your ring finger and pinky, starting with your ring finger on the 6th string at the 6th fret (A# if you're in standard tuning) and then picking it up while you put your pinky down on the 6th string at the 7th fret (. Walk this dumb-sounding progression up the strings from 6th to 1st - 6th fret, 7th fret, (up to the next string) 6th fret, 7th fret (up to the next string) and so forth. 3) keep doing it long after you've begun to hate it. Make sure you're keeping your index and middle fingers pressed down and motionless during this exercise. Your ring finger and pinky go up the strings, back down the strings. You aren't using your index and middle to play notes, you're just training them to keep holding a shape while your ring finger and pinky work independently from one another. It doesn't sound like music, but who cares. Also try switching between a bunch of chords that use your pinky and ring finger in different positions, rather than just sliding power chords around. If you're playing in drop, try switching to standard for a bit... or vice versa. For solos, forget about shredding and try some blues licks. It'll be a lot easier to start on other kinds of solos once you're used to stringing a couple of easy licks together over a simple chord progression.

Sounds like a lot of help. I will certainly try this out. As for the blues, I'm not a big fan really. Anything in particular you could suggest? Well I've bought the Varigrip anyways. It can't do any harm can it? Worth a try I'd say.

[FatherAlabaster]

Nothing wrong with grip exercisers. They're no substitute for actually playing, though. As far as blues, nothing in particular - just learn a few basic generic licks, so you can string them together and start improvising. It's great for getting your fingers used to playing melodies. Really for that sort of thing I'd recommend lessons. If you want to stick with metal, try some of Hetfield's solos like the one from Fade To Black.