Effective Finger Stretches For Guitarists


One of the most essential aspects of playing guitar is keeping your hands in shape and ready to play. Not only do proper warm-ups loosen up your hands and make is possible for you to perform at a high level, but they will also help prevent repetitive motion injuries that are so common with musicians.

These stretching exercises work well in tandem with the previous stretching exercises that we have already done here at GuitarLessons365.

Those other exercises were made to be done without a guitar in your hands and by the responses I have received since that video went live, it is now being used by everyone from guitarists, pianists, typists and even in rehab programs for US soldiers injured in combat.

These new stretching routines are designed exclusively for guitarists. Through these 7 simple exercises you will work on the flexibility between every adjacent finger on your fretting hand.

Take your time to let your stretching capabilities develop. I suggest doing the first stretching video first, then follow it with this one with a guitar in your hands. Listen closely to the instructions as well, you don't need to start out doing everything the same way I am in the video.

Download the TAB PDF for this lesson below.

Effective Finger Stretches For Guitarists TAB PDF Download

Have fun, and please remember not to push it too far in the beginning. Everybody's hands are different and some will naturally be able to stretch further than others.

Cheers! Carl..

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Effective Finger Stretches For Guitarists

10 Comments

  1. chasecar on March 26, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    question about applying the warm-up/stretching exercises. For me, it sometimes takes a while to get through all of the warm-up exercises. If you are only alotting 5-10 minutes per practice session how would you recommend breaking up these exercises.

    • Carl Brown on March 27, 2012 at 11:21 pm

      I would just do one for each group of adjacent fingers really quick and play some large chords if I didn’t have much time. 🙂

  2. Mark on May 25, 2012 at 6:49 am

    so difficult is there other excersises, easier than this?

  3. zara on September 11, 2012 at 1:56 am

    is it okay if i practice this on an acoustic first then electric?

  4. Blake on April 5, 2013 at 10:21 am

    This is my very first time playing and I am struggling! I know it will be a struggle when I first play, but I can hardly stretch my fingers to all of the frets let alone my index finger stretch from one fret to the next. Help! I honestly don’t know what I’m doing!

  5. Jonathan on July 27, 2013 at 10:15 pm

    Another good stretch that is not so complex is called the spider, it starts of with the same chord, but 1-2-3-4 going down, then you switch to 4-3-2-1, and continue doing it up the frets as high as you can go, sort of like a tongue twister for your fingers.

  6. Pornsura on September 6, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    This lesson is very helpful !!!
    Thank you very much for your kindness.

  7. Mboomjockey on December 23, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    Hey Carl, before I discovered your guitar site, I did my own stretches. I know this lick is from a song, maybe can help me name it. It starts on A 4th fret, D 6th fret, G 8th, then E (low) 5th fret, A 7th, D 9th fret, then E(low) 7th, A 9th, D 11th fret, Then E (low) 2nd fret, A 4th , D 6th sliding to the 7th. Then repeat. Its a great exercise. All single picking by the way.
    Great site Carl.

  8. GĂ–KAY TIBIK Simona Fingerstrong on April 20, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Superb method for stretching and getting more ready for chords.

  9. Monica Fearon on March 4, 2020 at 8:51 am

    Where do you place your thumb in your fretting hand for this?

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