Exercises for Finger Strength
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Gerry Weatherley
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June 26, 2024
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Hi Jonathon can you give me any tips to strengthen index finger of left hand and flatten it to get a n effective barre – I don’t think it helps that in the past I have broken my middle a ring finger ( healed now!!:) but my index wants to curl naturally :-/ any thoughts!? Thanks Gerry
Jonathan Boettcher
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June 27, 2024
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Hi Gerry, what angle is your barring finger at, in relation to the fretboard? When I’m barring chords, my bar finger is nearly fully sideways; ie the side of the finger is what is touching the fretboard, and not the underside of the finger.
I’m not sure if that helps or not… I used to be 10,000% convinced that anyone could do a bar chord if they learned correctly. And then I met a friend who had had an injury in his arm… And his wrist literally would not turn into the correct angle. I tried moving it for him, and it just locked out – wouldn’t go any farther! Argh.
So keep trying and experimenting, but try to isolate exactly what’s causing the problem. If it’s just a finger strength issue, you might try one of those little hand tool things that can help strengthen fingers. They’ve got different ones on Amazon. Or squeeze a tennis ball or something (that’s probably not enough resistance though).
Does that help?