training finger strength?

[psychodonald]

I also agree with Jemtheflute. That having been said, my bagpipe teacher, last year gave me a set of hand grips which he made out of PVC pipe (plastic plumbing pipe). The grips themselves are held, of course, in the hand with the ends of the fingers doing the actual closure of the grips. I did try them for quite some time and I found it did impove my ability to finger the chanter especially my left hand. As you may or may not know, piping is, of course, much different than playing the flute in terms of demands placed upon the shoulders, forearms and hands, mainly the left arm and hand as a steady pressure must be kept on the bag and still finger the chanter.

At any rate, I'll give the measurements of the grips and if it all works out, I'll try my luck at sending a picture of the actual device (it will be my first attempt at doing such high tech work). The PVC pipe is 5/8" outside dia. and 7" long. The pipes are joined at the top by a 3 3/4" piece of clear plastic tubing. The pipies are in the shape of an inverted V with the clear plastic tubing at the top holding the two pipe pieces together. Now, on the bottom, there is a piece of black plastic which has a rubber consistency (that's the only way I know how to describe it) The bottom rubber/ plactic piece is 4 1/4" in length, 1 3/4" in width and the thickness of the material is 1/8". The bottom piece has two 5/8" holes drilled in the material at each end of the strip. The PVC pipe is then inserted through the two holes in the rubber/ plastic piece (one in each hole). The bottom strip is what gives the grips the resistance and the ability to spring back after having been squeezed by the finger tips. As I mentioned, my pipe teacher made these himself and gave them to his students for Christmas last year. I know that all of the materials were purchased at a local hardware store and are commonly seen in such places.

I have no idea regarding the science behind this device??? I do know that it has helped me to develop better control especially in my left hand for the purpose of playing Highland Pipes. Would it assist with the flute?? I just don't know. I think that practice, as has been suggested would be the most effective, at least that has been true for me as far as the flute is concerned.

I will attempt to post some pictures of this thing; however, I will have to wait for my wife to return from the store; she is far more adept at such things Cheers, Don.

[Berti66]

well, no offense, but I rather like to find out myself if training this would work.
that is why I asked, after all........

the device of don's teacher reminds me of some of these spring based handtraining stuff also available in fitness shops, or is it completely different?

berti

[Bridges-PdP]

the device of don's teacher reminds me of some of these spring based handtraining stuff also available in fitness shops, or is it completely different?

berti

In the fitness shops, that's the Gripmaster. It has an individual spring for each finger. In fitness shops or on Amazon you often find them in different colors. Each color provides a different amount of spring tension. As I said, developing the strength and dexterity in my hands wasn't just about playing flute. My hands are just in all around better shape. It even improved my Vulcan nerve pinch.

[rama]

don't kid yourself, playing flute does not really build much strength in the fingers unfortunately . search utube for finger exercises and you should find plenty exercises specifically for finger strength. i do train my fingers and i must say i notice a big difference.
i won't go into detail here because typing is too much for them.

[sbfluter]

If you want fingers that'll do what you want, play lots of tunes. Lots and lots of tunes. Play 'em slow, too. Play the whistle, too. It's easier to carry around.

[Cork]

I'd bet that none of you have ever milked a goat.

....'course it's strictly a down scale motion.

Sorry, but you just lost a bet, my friend.

In fact, when I was quite young one of my dearly beloved neighbors was an old Russian woman, who kept her own bee hives, who cut her hay by hand with a scythe, who then gathered her hay by hand (this is where I came into the picture), who grew her own vegetables, who kept her own chickens, and who milked her own goats, although I got some lessons (BTW, cottage goat cheese leaves cottage cow cheese far behind, but perhaps goat cheese could be an acquired taste).

However, :lol: , I'm also able to appreciate that milking could be a down scale motion.

[Cork]

does someone have suggestions for training finger strength?
despite doing a lot of typing this is still weak.
arm strength is no problem, but fingers, different story.

can imagine guitar playing might help but currently only play flute.

thanks
berti

As has amply been said, it is by playing that both finger strength and finger dexterity could be gained.

Beyond all of that, however, perhaps a greater concern could be the overdevelopment of such finger talents. For instance, there have been times when I have had to take some time off of flute playing, in order to relax my hands and fingers.

That is, perhaps finger strength and dexterity could come at a price, so please be careful.

[Denny]

I'd bet that none of you have ever milked a goat.

....'course it's strictly a down scale motion.

Sorry, but you just lost a bet, my friend.

that's three so far.....anybody else?

However, , I'm also able to appreciate that milking could be a down scale motion.

unless ya really want to upset the goat

[jemtheflute]

that's three so far.....anybody else?

I only count 2, Cork and myself. I claim no benefit whatever in hand strength or dexterity, however - like I said, haven't done it for 35 years, and never did a huge amount back then, plus it was before I took up the toot.

Back on-topic, FWIW, I would have thought that getting highly developed muscles tends to militate against swift dexterity due to bulk - proverbial "muscle-bound" situation. However, of course there are virtually no muscles as such in the hand - all the finger-manipulator muscles are in the fore-arm and do their work via long tendons. Go do finger-tip press ups if you want sheer power there, but don't expect it to be particularly good for your fingers (strained joints & tendons) or to help in any way with floo-tooting!

How many times do we have to say it? You do NOT need "strength" in your hands/fingers either to hold or to play a flute or whistle. What you do need is highly controlled, small-scale voluntary movement in complex patterns, often with contrary motion within one hand and with fine co-ordination between and within hands (and with breath/embouchure/tongue etc. control). Those things - the physical movements themselves and the conscious control from the brain, develop and improve with practise and training. Some folks start from higher or lower "natural" starting points than others according to their given physical make up and other life experiences. The aim is for such voluntary movements/patterns to become so practised and ingrained that they require little or no conscious thought. The more you play and the more you both concentrate on extreme familiarity with core pieces of music/patterns of fingering and also on wide variety, the sooner all aspects improve and become automatic. Thankfully, in traditional music we can mostly achieve pretty high levels of competence by concentrating on playing the music itself and not doing sterile technical exercises like classical bods must. Making sure you approach all that work with good posture, minimum stress and good relaxation aids the process and also has knock-on benefits for performance situations.

I think doing muscle-toning/grip-strength-enhancing exercises is more likely to damage and strain your hands than to offer any benefits to flute playing, and certainly in the early stages of such training, like any other physical training, it will also cause stiffness which surely will hinder playing well. Go practice playing with maximum relaxation and minimal movement with least possible motion of fingers and tension of hold/support posture (in front of a mirror). Then tell us what you (think you) need "strength" for!

[Denny]

that's three so far.....anybody else?

I only count 2, Cork and myself.

oh

I was probably counting myself.

:sniff:

[jemtheflute]

that's three so far.....anybody else?

I only count 2, Cork and myself.

oh

I was probably counting myself.

:sniff:

But you have not hitherto pronounced yourself a goat-milker, nor even implied it, so far as I read the thread correctly. Are you now or have you ever been.........? (Call me McCarthy henceforth )

[Denny]

noob

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=365123


Don't even start on the sound clip thing!

[jemtheflute]

noob

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=365123


Don't even start on the sound clip thing!

OK, OK, I wasn't yur back then. I plead ignorance of all knowledge of your goat-herding tendencies, and you didn't mention them in this thread.....

Anyway, there's more than one way to skin a ........

[Denny]

...and the neighbor's goats are loose, again.

I need to go put them back, as the neighbor is a useless twit that has no ability with fencing a critter that is more.......nevermind

[Gordon]

The problem with most finger strengthening exercise devices to help with flute playing is that you do not hammer down on a flute, curled, as on a piano, but rather raise and lower your fingers from the knuckle joints - which are not muscles, but tendons. Too much power, and you'll irritate the joints in your hands. There's no real way to "strengthen" your fingers for flute playing other than playing flute alot, with a minimum of stress to the tendons. A rubber ball is better, as it really is doing more for your forearms than your fingers, which is more important overall.

This doesn't mean that having stronger hands is a bad thing for flute playing, or in general - but for playing flute without becoming fatigued, you should worry more about your forearms, back position and overall physical upper body strength (and muscle limberness) than the actual power in your lil' fingers. If you play for hours at a time, all the time, you won't need to exercise your fingers at all - or, rather, you already are doing so. And if you can't play that much, chances are that stronger hands won't make much of a difference, because most of the fatigue comes from breath control and body/arm positioning.

Even as an electric guitar player for 30 odd years (and, yes, they were odd), I never found much use for these devices, either - as it is, over the years, I tended toward higher-action string settings, as the lowered action became too soft, or mushy under my fingers. Again, playing on the instrument itself, a lot, is the best way to master control and dexterity.