Finger stretches for guitar

The saddest thing for any guitar player is not being able to play because you’re in pain - or worse, you’ve injured yourself. We put together a guide on how to avoid injuries, warm-up before practice and stretch your hands and fingers.

There are a few things you can do each time before you play and while you’re playing guitar that will help you stay healthy:

• Warm-up
• Stretch
• Breathe
• Rest

First, we’ll cover a couple of warm-up exercises as well as finger and hand stretches. Then, we’ll talk about how to keep healthy when you need to or want to practice for a long time (and why longer is not necessarily better).

Warming up your fingers, hands and the rest of your body

The goal of warming up: Get your blood flowing so that your body is flexible, responsive and ready to learn new things.

Keep your movements slow and smooth

Full body

If you’re able to walk, walk around for a bit (maybe get yourself some water, tidy up your practice spot etc.) or if you’re super motivated, do some jumping jacks.

Arms and shoulders

Circle your arms and your shoulders, small circles first and then bigger ones. Move them in both directions.

‍Wrists

Interlock your fingers and move your hands in a figure eight to warm up your wrists. Do this clockwise and counterclockwise.

Fingers

Make a fist, hold it for a second, then open your hand and spread all your fingers as wide as you can. Repeat five times.

‍

Finger and wrist stretches without a guitar

We recommend three simple stretches. Don’t use force with these, stretch gently. You shouldn’t feel pain.

Hold one hand out as if you’re telling someone to stop. Take your other hand and gently push your fingers back.

Then, bend your wrist in the other direction so your fingers are pointing to the ground. Take your other hand and gently push your fingers towards your body.

Press the palms of your hands together, fingers pointing towards the sky. Center your hands in front of your chest and slowly move them as a unit to the left and to the right.

‍

Using your guitar for finger stretching exercises

One of the reasons we stretch our fingers is to be able to play comfortably and navigate the guitar neck without strain. So, why not practice right where your fingers are going to be at work anyways?

For this exercise, you’ll be using four frets in a row as your anchor points for your four fingers.

Easy version

This is a slow exercise, so move your fingers at turtle speed maximum.

• Start on the 7th fret with your index finger
• Put your index finger on the low E string, close to the fret that’s adjacent to the 8th fret
• Play the note, make sure it rings out nice and clean
• Your index finger stays put 
• Try to keep it parallel to the fret, don’t angle it
• Add your middle finger on the next fret, close to the metal fret
• Play the note, make sure it rings out nice and clean
• Continue like this until all four fingers are on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th fret

Shake out your fretting hand, repeat the exercise five times.

Intermediate Version 

If you’re not feeling any stretch and you think you’ve outgrown the easy version, do the same exercise but start on a lower fret. The lower you start, the wider the frets get and the more your fingers will have to stretch.