Added: 1 year ago
From: GuitarLessons365
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  • Im a piano player and these stretches are equally effective, I really felt it even the first time, thanks for the video!

  • Im really hoping this helps me out. Im just startign out and having a really hard time hitting something using first and third fingers (ie 1st and 3rd frets). But im assuming/hoping that these stretches coupled with regular practice will help out.

  • Thanks for this! I'm a bass player and my hands always get tight when practicing. I'm currently preparing for my dissertation performance for my degree and these stretches have really helped!

  • WOW MAN i really didn't believe at first that it is gonna be this effective. THANK YOU SO MUCH

  • I can't tell how grateful i am for this. I'm a student studying guitar performance and didn't take the time to warm up and started feeling a pain in my wrist and forearm. It was the dreaded and feared tendinitis. Luckily for me I started doing research and caught early enough. These stretching exercises (which i do everyday before i pick the instrument) made the biggest difference. Thank you very, very much.

  • Thank YOu SOOOOO Mush !!! I've been playing guitar for 10 years, and after doing the Stretches, it feels like I've been playing for another 20 years, thank you, thank you !!!!

  • thanks, really does help a bit

  • Thanks for the video! I just got a guitar today and I am trying to learn right now. I was having trouble spacing even just my index finger and middle finger two frets apart. After doing these stretches once, I can do it no problem. =p

  • GREAT exercises but I don't quite see why you should do them for your picking hand?

  • Thanks a lot ! :-)

  • that made my fingers feel better i'll do it every morning

  • Jaysis,that helped! back to shredding now! :)

    Thanks a lot!

  • also works for gaming helps so much to avoid pain from starcraft

  • thank you for posting this. it has helped tremendously. i've broken my fingers on my "fret hand" in the past and they never healed right. this stretching technique has really helped me regain control of the muscles/tendons in my fingers.

  • Thank you for the tips this is awesome advice im going to do this every morning before i play guitar now ty

  • That was very helpful. Thanks for posting. I've struggled with soft tissue injuries my whole life. I've even had hand surgery. This stuff is gold.

  • wow!!! thanks for this.

    I've been struggling with my reach. I just can't cover four frets. I can honestly say that these stretches have me MUCH closer to it in just one day. My hands just feel bigger. I've not only been doing them before playing, but just randomly throughout the day as I do other tasks that don't require my hands.

    Awesome exercise. Thanks a ton for posting.

  • Amazing video !!!!!!!! where is the tab ahahahha !!

  • im really glad i found your channel. subscribed

  • Without these, I would never be able to do the Guthrie Govan string-skipping tapped arpeggio exercises. You sir, are a prophet and a scholar. I tip my hat to you.

  • I did it only to my left hand to follow along, and after doing 8:12 Immediately I felt my left hand was Incredibly relaxed and like it was laying on a silky king Size bed. Thanks!

  • u look like u r going to show a Magic Trick loool

    m going to test this routine tomorrow

  • My left thumb (thumb palm?) always get really sore/tight after I play from gripping the neck, especially for extended periods of time so I'm really hoping this helps out. I'm terrible at guitar and I've never had a lesson, so I'm not really sure if I'm just holding it wrong or what.

  • @Alf68463 it sounds to me like your playing position isnt very good, it could be that your gripping the neck too tightly, try playing for a few seconds without your thumb on the back, so you can see how little pressure is needed to fret notes and then simply rest your thumb on the back. i used to have the same problem but that helped me. then after that try and play something simple while concentrating on how much pressure your using.

  • Wow! I can really feel it just doing it the first time. I know you kind of rushed it and only did one hand, but if you took your time with this, about how long would the whole stretching routine take. And do you do it just once before you practice or do you repeat it?

  • @somarriba333 Hey, I typically get through stretching both hands within 3 or fours minutes. I also usually do at least a simplified version of this routine after I practice to just to keep the muscles in shape and flexible. Also, if you are practicing something the makes either hand tight during your practice it is good to do one of the stretches for a few seconds to loosen up again. :)

  • @GuitarLessons365 I notice a big difference already. I did what you said, every time it tightened, I stretched and then it felt loose again. Is this an exercise that is good for beginners guitar students?

  • @GuitarLessons365 it takes me fifteen minutes! But then I play for about three to five hours from then on.

  • @somarriba333 Oh yeah, definitely... :)

  • For some reason I make all my songs have huge stretches..

    This will help a lot!

  • 3 people have carpal tunnel syndrome.

  • 3 people dont have hands...

  • thanks a lot for the finger exercises tips. i've experienced numb and finger injury before but this improves now with finger exercises

  • you have an overstreched left hand - go figure - still awesome..

  • My hand feels better and the stiffness disappeared! Thank you so much for this!

  • awsome from morocco , great exercices help me a lot , thank you

  • I will try this,for sure :) thanks alot man

  • i have small hands for playing piano/guitar, these stretches are extremely helpful! many thanks!

  • Thanks alot. I don't play the guitar but am a gym junkie and lately my hand have been becoming stiff from lifting weights and these exercises sorted that problem right out, thanks again.

  • this vid changed my life...;-)

  • WOW.. now I have MAGIC HANDS!!

  • try showing this to reinhardt hed piss himself!

  • Very good Carl, thanks! This video got a rave on my forum, so I thought I'd check it out. I am not usually a fan of "away from the guitar" exercises, but this is good. Non-classical players rarely get to challenge the left hands potential like we classical players who deal with Villa Lobos Etudes every day!

  • I never did this before and I don't suffer from any hand pain, but it was really great nonetheless :)

  • thank you i suffer from hand pain constantly when I play and this helps!

  • where did you learn this technique? it's brilliant mate.

  • thanks man, very good.........i like your videos.

  • Thanks! it helps a lot!

  • I have some serious twisting problem with my ring finger, other fingers work fine. I can't control my ring finger I can't stretch it either. I think these exercises are pretty awesome and hope it helps.

  • Hey man thx a lot for the hand stretching advice! Lately ive been cramping up when I play, but watching this has helped out a lot with the problem. THX!

  • Excellent video! Well explained and to the point. I will definitely be putting these into action as part of practice. Thanks!

  • thnx a lot

  • Wow this really made a huge difference, thanks for sharing this. I'm going to do it everytime before i touch the guitar :). Oh and by the way, do you have any tips on stretching after playing guitar? For example: When doing technical excersises on the guitar for a long time i always get muscle cramps going all the way up the right arm. Many thanks!

  • @EczilaSF I do these same exercises after I play as well, I think they will work fine either way. Thanks for watching! Carl..

  • I've resently started to play some Bach and it makes my right hand hurt. I have RSI probably because I ocassionally get such pains in my hands. Probably because I never warm up? I'll start using your stretches from tomorrow before playing piano and I see how it goes.

  • That was very helpful, thank you and have a nice day !~)

  • haha i did the streches and i couldnt believe it my hand felt free! omg its awesome

  • This video helped me not be in pain every time i played ghuitar for a while

  • Thank you so much for this.

    Best wishes

    Staffan

  • hey ive recently gotten a terrible pain above my pinky finger, running down the side of my hand, im afraid its tendinitis any tips? i really could use some help.. its really painfully whenver i do a hammer on or pulloff ive given it 2 days of rest but not much important :S :( please help

  • thanks a lot man, that was really helpful and makes my hands feel a lot better

  • this is great fro weightlifters too. i noticed drastic changes in my wrist/hand strength and flexibility. thanks so much

  • Perfect for playing in cold weather!

  • Man, that's is so nice from u!!! Very generous!!! Thank u!

  • hey man thanks again... the pain of my hands is gone!!! thank you

  • oh man!! thanks a lot... it really helps.. thanks again!!

  • Very useful series of videos. Do you have any opinion on the advisabilty of guitarists performing weight bearing exercise such as pushups, pullups etc.? Are you aware of any consensus in the medical community regarding the effect this has on the hands? My two main avocations have always been working out and playing the guitar, and I have a suspicion that the two activities may be mutually exclusive.

  • tnx for sharing!

  • cool

    

  • WOW.

    I didn't realize how tense my hands until I watched this video. Now my fingers are on fire!

  • Had no idea I needed to exercise my hands. Glad I found this. Thanks! However, I do believe your pinky alone is longer than all five of my fingers put together. LOL

  • Thank you so much. I have VERY small hands and have been really suffering because I have carpal tunnel and I just can't reach the notes. Thank you so much.

  • i've seen stretches like these before in one of my instructional dvd's..if i remember it correctly it's in John Petrucci's rock discipline..but i really don't feel the necessity for it before so i always skip that stretching lesson, but as i go further and keep learning different shapes and advancing i always have problems doing larger and wider shapes, specially in doing arpeggios, til i found this video and have a thought about trying this out and it worked for me...

  • Thanxs a lot!! i´m learning how to play guitar and i think Hand Stretches is important. Afer making the excercices i feel my hands more flexible. Greetings from Colombia (South América)

  • cowboys frrom hell should be easier

  • Comment removed

  • thanks alot man :D laser cannon death sentence is a breeze now! haha

  • would anyone help me? Im a classical guitar player but im getting into fingerstyle so

    im going to buy an acoustic guitar with metal strings so I can play it with my alaska piks so i was checking out guitars and it seems to me the sound is really low even with the alaska piks what should I do I have seen many guitarrist play with their guitar unpplugged in videos like daryll kellie and their guitar sounds really loud is this because of the microphone?

  • @blaksephirot Well, a lot of it has to do with the strings and how they hold their pick. When you say metal strings do you mean steel, bronze, phosphorus? I mean, do you use nylon right now?

  • @RealisticMeg yeah well as I am a classical guitar player I play on nylon string so Im gonna change to steel strings thanks for correcting me C: C: C: but I am having trouble with the sonority Im trying to adapt to the alaska piks

  • @blaksephirot Sorry, I didn't mean to correct you. I've never used alaska but I know people who have, it is an adjustment. If you have a good guitar store nearby I would ask them for help. A lot of the employees in stores like that play live so they might know a few great tricks. Sorry I was kind of useless.

  • @RealisticMeg no its ok and maybe I just need to adjust thank you for responding feedback really helps :D

  • Thanks! I needed something like that. I have very small hands and its hard for my fingers to reach over the neck of the guitar to make chords. I'm a beginner female teaching myself how to play the guitar.

  • THANK YOU. I Found best to hot soak first and apply celadrin. I muscular and very tight athlete, so these helped big time. Big thanks.

  • 8,432 views of those are me FYI

  • Great lessons man, keep em comin!!!

  • Thank you for very useful exercises but you know, your fingers definitely look longer than average and that's good for you!

  • Thanks, Carl, great piece of advice. Also, I would insist on breathing --i.e. exhaling while stretching, which relaxes the muscles. Breathing while you're playing can help too...

  • wow....these have made me play almost effortlessly INSTANTLY. I was very skeptical but I'm gonna do this every time I play now!

  • wow this actually works i luv ur channel

  • great advice. my hands have always had problems with being tensed up and tight. now they feel amazing after being stretched out. :D

  • @gingerwithasoul1 Hey thx, they make a big difference for me as well, that is why I wanted to share them to hopefully help others keep their hands feeling nice and loose. Thanks for watching!! Carl..

  • These are great for finishing a long guitar session. Its like stretching your legs after a football match

  • Thanks added to favorites! You are a life saver!

  • wow i just did this and holy shit it works not like other vids, thanks alot dude

  • this is really a big help for us guitarist. this is cool. thank you for uploading :)

  • This video is a God send. I put it in my favorites. Thanks for posting! I am interested in seeing some videos of you playing live. You rockkkkkkk!

  • @fashank22 Thanks a bunch!! Carl.. :)

  • good post man, these exercises definately give the attention that the fingers need where as most people just say pull your fingers back and thats it.

  • Point of interest: this is useful for keyboarding (both qwerty and piano), woodworking and even console gaming.

    Limbering up before doing something intensely physical is incredibly important.

  • great ! I was lookking for a way to stretch my hands and this works!!!

  • its works!

  • I searched "hand stretches" and got this video, I was looking for help with pain in my hand, knuckle area, after lots of computer mouse use. I am also a guitar player but never had any problem with stretching my fingers, even playing "every breath you take" hahaha. These stretches removed most of the pain in the few minutes it took to watch the video, AMAZING. I'm gonna do them before work and before guitar now too. Also, your answers to other people's posts were on my mind too, kudos!.

  • @justincreimer Hey thanks a bunch for letting me know this. It's really cool that people are also using this video for other uses than just a guitar warm-up. Thanks a lot for watching, I hope you continue to find relief!! Carl..

  • thank you for sending me the message very usefull :))))

  • Thank you so much! you help a lot!

  • Very usefull !

  • thanks man.. :D

  • Very good. Thank you.

  • Thanks for this video, it really helps. Keep up the good work, Cheers

  • Nice Stretches , thx alot mate.

  • Thanks men you video is good

  • Thanks

  • sweet, thanks

  • hey!! nice execices, but, i play with 0,13 and I never dis this. I have no problems :S

  • thanks, i have a feeling this may help, even though i dont find i have many issues with my fingers being in the right place im sure it will still help. the problem i am having is just hitting the right string. sometimes if im playing, i would just randomly hit the wrong sting, either the string above it or below it, any tips at all?

  • @ThelilKnight Most of the time when I see that problem in students is when they keep their fingers to far away from the fretboard. You should keep your fingers very close to the strings at all times even when you are not using them at that moment. Then they will not only be able to play the note faster when needed, but with much more accuracy. If you see your fingers hanging out a couple of inches over the string then you will know that you should start practicing to keep them closer. :)

  • @GuitarLessons365 ya i understand, but if you were playing something like hells bells it would still be pretty hard, because you have to hit the 5th string, then the 1st, then 5th again, repeatedly. im getting better, but when i try to show off to my brothers or friends i mess up when it counts most. probably not something you can avoid though...

  • @ThelilKnight and a metronome is your best friend

  • @fashank22 ive greatly improved since that comment just to note, and i agree

  • @ThelilKnight mee too Im so glad Ive found this. I also found that like sports, one should stretch before AND after. That way your muscles that youre working can rebuild faster and get stronger faster. Duringmy two hours and up practice sessions I also give a small stretch in between. Its half the part of playing.

  • Thank you so much !

  • Thanks, I was wondering if there was something like this. I'm older and just started with the guitar.

  • Thanks a lot. I have been playing for about four years. I have broken several fingers and always noticed that it took me about ten to fifteen minutes of playing before my fingers would be loose enough to move quickly without missed notes. I was jealous of my friends who just pick up the guitar and play. This has helped a lot.

  • just curious.. my knuckles and wrists crack alot.. should i avoid cracking them in these excercises? however if i do im afraid i probably wont get the extention i need.. any comments?

  • @krawn1 Hey krawn1, my knuckles also crack and I was horribly worried about it when I first started doing this when I was a teenager. My teacher simply said, "don't worry, some people's knuckles just crack". I know he had taught these exercises to thousands of classical guitar players but I was also able to find out from a medical hand specialist that all it does is release air or gas or whatever. As long as it isn't painful then you are doing no harm at all. It can even help you loosen up. :)

  • Well done, great vieo!

  • I use to teach guitar to young boys and they were surprised when I advice them to do this exercises before they start to play,now they do this as a warm up before play any note on the instrument,also advice them stop playing when they feel any pain in hands or fingers so they do not get hurt.Thanks for post this vid it help us a lot.

  • just wonderful, so great, thank you so much

  • Sooo, these excercises are amazing! I noticed a huge difference in a lot of aspects. Not only in my playing but one huge way was that I broke my pinky pretty badly (luckily it was my picking hand) and its never been the same, these excercises have actually made my pinky super close to what it was before in just a few weeks! Cant wait to see if it gets even better! Thanks a bunch!!

  • Thanks for sending me this, I'm sure it will help! Sorry to take so long to get back to you, but I do appreciate your thoughts. Best wishes, Mark

  • Truly awesome stretch. Thankyou so much for putting it up :)

  • such an easily over looked step for playing guitar imo. my fingers feel great, thanks taking the time to upload the video

  • Ok, I have religiously applied this for a good month now: what a MASSIVE difference in my play!!!

    This is a two thumbs up video: well...I only have two thumbs ;-D

    Regards,

    Pascal.

  • @Qpidon Cool!! Thanks a lot for letting me know!! I am really glad it is helping you. Thanks for the kind comment as well!! Carl.. :)

  • @GuitarLessons365 ...that was the LEAST I could do ;-D

  • nic e

  • good vid

  • Thanks for your help ;-) and your message to get to know you and your great work which helps a lot !!!

    I suscribe and wish you the best and congratulations from France !!

    Nathalie

  • really helpful!!!

  • Very Cool !!! : )

  • very helpefully specialy when its coldm. thanks

  • Yes, great exercises... a bit of yoga type..... thaxs for your website.... john

  • thanx man for sharing this with me, this is so helpful!!

  • I noticed after the first individual finger bends backwards you didn't keep your elbow locked for quite some time with the following bends.

    Is that correct?

    Thanks!

  • @notwaiting I keep my elbow locked for the backwards stretches, but not the forward stretches or side stretches. Does that help? :)

  • @GuitarLessons365 I'll let you know in a few weeks. I've been playing for a long time but never really practiced stretching excercises.

    Thanks!

  • @GuitarLessons365 You're really good, but unfortunately I don't understand english, sorry.

  • @GuitarLessons365 I've been doing these on a daily basis for a couple of weeks now.

    I can see improvement.

    The stretch-chords and lead notes are getting eaier and cleaner.

    Thanks!

  • thankz ...

  • this exercises work for piano players? if we have small hands?

  • @reneciitha Definitely, it should work for any activity that requires lots of finger or wrist movement. Thanks for watching!! Carl..

  • This exercises are very important. Good work

  • I don't know If this is such a great Idea. Is this any different from nuckle popping?

  • @TellingYouTwice

    Although theres lots of things out there that say knuckle popping is bad for your hands, truth is, its not, theres basically a cushion of air between your joints, think of it as a balloon, and when you bend your finger a certain way it pops that, which is why you get that noise, the reason that info is out there is 1: Because most people don't like the noise or think its gross 2: Because it can be dangerous, any bending beyond normal range of motion is "dangerous"

  • @wiiwouldntliketoplay

    The reason dangerous is in quotes is because, hmm, maybe an example would work better, think of it this way, a doctor would tell you that skateboarding or riding a bike is dangerous, we all know things have their dangers, but 80 years ago, everybody "knew" watching too much TV caused the decay of brain cells.

  • Thanks for the share man this stuff is valuable.. I love how everyone who adds me or shares with me is a guitarist ;) lol. Seriously though, thank you

  • dude this works my thingers move a little bit faster XD im doing crap on my ukalele but hey im faster now XD

  • Great information. I wish you would allow embedding of this video so I could put it on my student resources page!

  • @johnhorneguitar Hey John thanks for wanting to put this video on your site. I have no idea why it was set for no embed. But, I have changed it to allow embedding if you still wish to use it. Guess I will check all of my other vids to make sure as well. Thanks Again!! Carl..

  • @GuitarLessons365 Thanks - I have embedded it with a link to your site!

  • @johnhorneguitar Thanks John, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I hope everyone reading this will also check out johnhorneguitar(dot)com and listen to some oh John's fantastic playing!! I am honored to have you here!! Cheers!! Carl..

  • very nice (:

    thank you ! (:

  • thanks!

  • This does actually feel like my fingers are warm with my fret hand. I notice I do have a quicker response from them also.

  • Thanks! it helps a lot to flexibility!

  • one of the few skills that doesnt transfer to my violin playing :3

  • what a helpful video!!!! thanks a lot

  • great freaking excersises man I am an untrained guitar lover and its great for you to share these kinds of exercises you learned from school thank you.

  • @the420kid Hey thanks a bunch for watching!!

  • @GuitarLessons365 I did all these exercises today before I started to play and already felt warm when I started which I usualy just play tight for few songs to lossen up but really did seem to make a difference I will continue these techniques for sure.. Do you do any acoustic / finger picking exercises or just electric?