Hi all
I Just saw a Video of Steve Vai where he explains that he does some Finger stretching before he plays. He doesn’t mean like an specific exercise but he actually stretches his Fingers to get them more flexible and warm before playing. No I was wondering, the first thing I do after some little warm up tune, is to play the Finger Gym exercise for 5 Minutes. But should I do some Finger stretching before that? How do you tackle it? Any thoughts about it? 
Greetings
Dominic
Honestly, i never thought of that.
What i’ll do for a warm up is to play some scales up and down. Added bonus here is that you’re warming up ànd rehearsing a scale.
Can you provide a link to the video?
yeah I do a little Blues or Riff to warm up but maybe this could be something to think about as well. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0rxCVoy1xnI
I think he means it in the context of keeping yourself free of injuries I guess
I don’t usually bother - I just play a bit to warm up before doing anything technical or demanding - so usually just like a Blues jam or something like that for a few minutes.
But physically stretching your hands and fingers is a good idea if there is tension there - I might do something like that if I’ve had a heavy session at the gym and my hands are feeling tight - just to kind of get things feeling more relaxed.
I have a long running issue with the elbow on my fretting arm so I do stretching exercises for that but not as a warm up. Just when it gets a bit tight I loosen it up.
Hi, just gently play songs or something like scales if you like or stretch very, very lightly until you feel the tension just a little bit (without going any further stretch from there ), is okay, especially before you start doing really demanding songs/difficult techniques… but don’t stretch unwarmed muscles and tendons as we used to learn in and on the sports fields… “we” have come back from that …
If there has been some movement done , you can go a little further with physical stretching and of course taking into account all the exceptions with deviations of people … I start with playing some simpler songs, finger picking … strumming a bit for 2 or three songs and then I start being a Rock star and virtuoso and so on. 
Greetings
I also belong to the guys who warm up and stretch their fingers by playing. Indeed, my first exercises when I start the day involve playing some finger-stretching chord progressions; at the moment my favourite is the main riff of Every Breath You Take… 
Ooo Tomasz ,
This is my end goal 
… and than sometimes when I played a couple of hours 
Even after an hour or 2 of playing I’m still not “warmed up” enough for that… 
more like a week every day maybe …and if i stop for a long time all the stretching trying failing starts again
I’m just a bit jealous 
but one day 
Greetings
That is often strongly discouraged here…it is a
Bad gimmick 
By the way, there are many other topics for finger stretching that may help some people like
Beginner Finger Stretches | JustinGuitar
Greetings
I probably wouldn’t recommend this as a warm up but it’s the ultimate stretching exercise.
12 Awful Stretchy Guitar Chords | JustinGuitar.com
I for sure don’t do any finger stretching exercise prior to playing.
Sometimes I’ll play a scale or three.
I’d say most of the time. I just start by playing a tune. Followed by some more tunes.
Or if I got a song I’m working on, I’ll just dive right into that too.
I just don’t do much for warmup. My warm up is my first tune of the day.
@LesPaulMoreRay I did some research about this some time ago and it can permanently damage your fingers and will only negatively affect your playing… in history there were many attempts of doing similar things to skip some finger flexibility, but this is not the way and I really recommend you to stop using it immediately.
I am not doctor, just ordinary guy.
What? you stop long enough to get stiff fingers?
– kidding. 
I will loosen tension when I feel it. This is AFTER I touch the guitar though.
I am more likely to stretch after playing, especially something that is requiring me to stretch my grip and especially after something that causes fatigue (usually includes a stretched grip). Stretching after playing in tension is a really good idea.
I do a physical stretch where I just manipulate my fingers and thumb. And then I do this finger stretching excersize for 2 minutes during the beginning of my warm up of my dailys. Once you understand it and how it works. 2 minutes is plenty of time to do excersize.
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/finger-stretching-exercise-te-101
Dominic,
I took a master class with Stephane Weinberg a gypsie jazz guitarist. He recommended a daily exercise with a clothes pin or any other kind of small resistance apparatus. I use a big paper clip. Use it with each finger combination, you’ll notice a big difference in two weeks! Your pinky strength will increase dramatically.
I know I didn’t explain this well but squeeze with your thumb and each finger individually. It’s a great exercise. I keep my clip next to me by the TV and just squeeze it while I’m watching TV.
Stephan Wrembel
You can just edit your original post.
I like this! Just been trying it. My pinkie feels much weaker than the other fingers.
Ah I get it Good stuff, I used in the past this Varigrip strength trainer but nowadays I get my strength mainly from Barre Chord training. The Pinky is getting stronger by the day with the Finger Gym
