Hi all, any suggestions for hand stretches / exercises in the fretting hand to keep the hand loose and limber as its goes into and between various strange chords shapes? Thanks!
Here's a hand stretch I learned from my orchestra conductor(I'm a violinist first and foremost) that I've found works well with guitar. Take the hand you're going to stretch let's say the left hand and hold it up like you're going to give it a high five, then take your right hand and hold it perpendicular to your left hand so that the form a cross. Then push back your hand, you should be able to feel a stretch coming from your wrists and going up your fingers. Hold this for about 30 seconds then release and shake out your hand before moving on to the next one. Try doing this around 3 times before you play to get your blood pumping to your fingers and prevent muscles from cramping up. I hope this helps
Chris Pandoliano
Hi there,
I've always found this video very helpful (it's an old fragment from Rock discipline by John Petrucci), the quality of the clip isn't great but the important thing here is the message. Hope this helps!