How to improve and strengthen your fretting hand?

[jaimeiniesta]

Hi! I want to improve my acoustic guitar skills and I find that I need to strengthen my fretting hand so I can play better barre chords. For example I struggle to play the intro to Stairway to Heaven.

I’ve googled for “how to strengthen fretting hand” and found tons of results, but I’d like to know from your experience, how do you approach that? Is it a question of strength or skill?

[Garry]

Hi Jaime. I reckon it’s a combination of strength and skill. I’d practise the barre chords in short bursts each day and slowly build up stamina. Also make sure you’re positioning your index finger as close to the fret as possible, sometimes it’s getting into the exact position (and case of millimetres could mean a clean sound or a buzz). I’d also make sure you check the gauge of your strings. Maybe you’re using 12s and you mind find 11s easier. Anyway just some suggestions. All the best with your playing!

[Martin W]

Hi , as Garry mentioned it’s all about the position of the index finger , I find turning your finger ever so slightly to the left so the flattest part touches the strings improves the sound , hope this helps , happy picking .

Martin

[Billy]

I can bar chord for about half a song on acoustic, issue seems to be that my index finger weakens quite easily, im no so sure that its about finger strength as much as it is about the skin toughness on my index finger..
I hope you find a solution.

..Billy..

[sunjamr]

You can Google “strengthen your grip” and find all kinds of ways to increase your grip strength. I work out in a gym 3 times a week using a lot of free weights, and I think this is the best way to strengthen your grip. Grabbing a heavy bar and holding it is what works. Deadlifts and chin-ups are especially good. I have found that the little grip developers you squeeze are pretty much useless.

Sunjamr Steve

[JohnStrat]

One thing is to play scales regularly. I would not drop string gauge unless its the only solution. Martin have bought out a new string called the MA540FX which has a more flexible core and it certainly is slightly easier on the finger they are 12-54 size (Martin light gauge) Tommy Emanuel has put his name to them.
JohnStrat

[jaimeiniesta]

Thanks all for your tips!

Yes I see it’s not just a matter of strength, although I’ll certainly do some exercise on my wrists I think it’s more important to observe what’s happening when the barre chords don’t sound good, and correct the position of the hand and fingers.

I’ll look out for the Martin strings you recommend, thanks John.

[JohnStrat]

Jamie another point that you might like to consider is are you suffering on particular strings to get the fretting if so it might be that a change of neck profile solves the problem. Of course this is not an answer you may wish to entertain but if you visit a guitar store sometime and seek out some necks of differing profile you may well find some easier than others, You might then think I need a flatter or more radius / curve on the fret board etc.

Secondly and more readily, changing the fret wire can make a big difference. I have a friend who has a Strat copy of very high grade and he has jumbo frets on it. I think it looks dreadful but fretting it is so easy it is ridiculous he swears by them and I can understand why. So when you think about these two ideas/ solutions its easy to see that in effect you are almost lifting the fret closer to the string almost individually where a change of radius is occurring and by a change of frets to higher/ fatter profile and thus it will receive more pressure from your finger. Obviously thinking about this as you clamp the string to the fret and your finger gives to the string tension but at the same time it bottoms out on the fret board itself if the profile is too low and thus inhibits the clamp pressure on the string. And where the bridge height is adjustable a slight action tweak might change the game for you. It may be possible to lower the strings that fret easily and thus deliver more clamp force to the higher strings.

Some engineering thoughts
JohnStrat

[jaimeiniesta]

Hey JohnStrat, thanks a lot for your tips. Yeah, definitely the neck profile is so important, I have a Yamaha Pacifica that is super easy to play but I also have a Steinberger Spirit – sort of a travel guitar – that is surprisingly harder, the guitar is shorter but the neck is thicker and that makes it more difficult to play.

Fortunately, my acoustic guitar is a Taylor 114, and it has a thin neck, I’d say it’s very easy to play, for an acoustic guitar.

I didn’t know about fret sizes by the way!

Anyway, I prefer to be able to play with any guitar, and not be tied to a single custom guitar suited for me. That’s why I hope my playing will be improved by learning the right position in my fretting hand, and by improving the strength on the forearm.

Thanks!

[JohnStrat]

Jaime,
i appreciate you comment about being able to play with any guitar but that to some extent is a myth. Fret boards and necks etc are made in differing dimensions because hands and fingers are myriad in their diversity. Obviously some will suit better than others as you acknowledge. I would recommend you set up your favourite guitars to suit you. I am no expert but it is logical. It will not stop you playing any guitar but may make you a better player on your own instruments. Also you will be able to head all that you own into the format that is best for you an entirely sensible thing to do. Further it may be that if you nail the difficulty to a precise thing you can then avoid that in future purchases as you will now know what to seek.
JohnStrat

[GnLguy]

Jamie

One very important thing is that you need to be sure that your guitar is set up properly. If it isn’t, barre chords can be a beast to play

I’ve owned Martin and now have a Breedlove; both needed the saddle piece lowered to make barre chords easier. Guitar makers leave the action high from the factory because some players, bluegrass in particular, want a higher action but that doesn’t work out so well for those that like to play their acoustic as most usually play an electric.

A lot of great info at the links below that can be trusted. Might help you determine if you need a setup

http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html
http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/Saddle/saddle01.html
http://frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html

[jaimeiniesta]

JohnStrat wrote:

Jaime, I would recommend you set up your favourite guitars to suit you. I am no expert but it is logical. It will not stop you playing any guitar but may make you a better player on your own instruments.

Thanks John, this makes perfect sense!

[jaimeiniesta]

GnLguy wrote:

Jamie, One very important thing is that you need to be sure that your guitar is set up properly. If it isn’t, barre chords can be a beast to play.

Thanks, I’ve always thought that my guitar, being first hand would not need any adjustment to be made, but now that you mention action, I think it may be too high and that makes it difficult to play barre chords at the upper frets.

I’ll take it to the luthier and see if the action can be lowered. It looks like a simple adjustment but I prefer to have an expert take care of it.

Thanks again! I’ll keep you posted.

[JohnStrat]

Jamie
just to make the point again when you talk with your man about adjustment we often skip to the phrase ‘lower the action’ because it is in common parlance but actually a change of frets might be more appropriate. Perhaps the phrase ‘improve the action’ might be more apt. I would approach and put it to the luthier in both ways. Explain your problems carefully and would he recommend a change of frets or a lower action or a bit of both. Again if you can get to the local guitar shop before hand and try guitars with differing frets even if the necks are wildly different you will start to appreciate the enormous difference there is between jumbo frets and say thin. With a bit of luck you will find guitars equipped accordingly. Low actions can be easy to play but also introduce problems for bending and fret buzz if not correctly adjusted. The bending part will also be very personal as to what height is best for your fingers to connect with the strings. Actions that are low can be susceptible to introducing problems if the strings are varied to another size or type.
I think that’s about everything I can tell you that I have hit upon over the years good luck I am sure you will benefit from you excursions.
JohnStrat

[Billy]

Guitar action is a bit of a strange one, Guitars from factory come preset with the strings at a general height setting.
Of course with each and everyone of us being different there really is no such thing as average so there is no one size fits all scenario when it comes to string height.
I have to say that I do like Johns way of looking at this and agree that fret height is as important as sting height when It comes to a set up..

..Billy..

[jaimeiniesta]

So many factors to take into account! Thanks again for your tips, I’ll consider all of them.

[Author]

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