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Cramp in fingers


LITTLEWING
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I know we've had this topic a few times before, but during last night's gig my left hand index fretting finger cramped down halfway thru a song and slowly went away to only somehow transfer to my right index playing finger leaving me to rely on the second and third for one number. Bloody embarrassing although most punters don't really pay that much attention if the low end isn't quite right for a bar or three.

Anybody got any ideas? Never seems to happen at rehearsal.

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Stupid answer, probably not backed up by science... hydration and bananas.

I never looked into it, but it did the trick for me. Bananas are supposed to be high in potassium which I was told was good for cramps.

Back in the day, doing long tours with a glam tribute we used to finish on Hot Love, and the singer did all the introductions and assorted banter over just the Bass and drums doing the main riff... could go on for ages, and I was often on the edge of cramping. Playing an army Base in Germany, and one of the guys looking after us gave me the above advice. Desperate, I just did it without question and the problem went away.

Could totally be a placebo effect, but a couple of bananas a day on tour, and remembering to stay hydrated and I was good for as long as the singer went on.

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Make sure to warm up (and down afterwards) before a gig, or practice session. At a gig, five to ten minutes before you are due to play, take yourself off to a quite corner and do some gentle hand/finger stretches. If you wish, take your unplugged bass with you and after the stretches, do some chromatic scales [u]SLOWLY[/u] on the higher ( fret 5 or above) frets.

Also make sure you are not fretting or plucking too hard. The atmosphere at a gig could have you doing this without realising it.

Here are some clips on hand/finger stretches :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_FZichHw1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_0aVxFxBa0

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I had this - a physiotherapist acquaintance got me on her table after I described symptoms similar to yours, and deduced that the problem was between my shoulder blades - many years of poor posture had left me (quite literally) lopsided - took about 40 minutes of fairly intensive (and painful) pushing and pulling of my back, rib cage and other various bits to get me somewhere near straight again.

Almost immediately I felt the benefits - it was like having a new hand!

These days I'ma bit more careful what I do with my body.

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1451846828' post='2943989']


Also make sure you are not fretting or plucking too hard. The atmosphere at a gig could have you doing this without realising it.


[/quote]

Quite likely to be this, I think it unlikely your technique is wrong with both hands so to be getting cramp in both hands when playing would suggest it is a stress thing (I am assuming you don't get cramps during everyday actions?) relax when you play, trust yourself that you know what you are playing...if you are gripping the neck that hard that you are getting cramp you are probably strangling all of the tone and feeling out of what you play.....once relaxed you will feel better, play better and sound better

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Good advice so far... re. the stress point in the previous point, and I don't think it's been mentioned so far, is the importance of being able to hear yourself clearly. A deficiency in the volume and there is a tendency to over-play to make up the difference...

Seek out Gary Willis' advice in this area... he plays at high volume, letting the amp do all the heavy lifting but playing with a super-light touch. He has a great exercise where you play a note, reducing the finger pressure until it 'frets out' or buzzes. Almost always, it's a fraction of the normal pressure a player uses. This can be applied to a line too. Takes a bit of focus but worth doing.

All the previous stuff on posture and hydration is super-important too.

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Yep bananas are meant to be good for this, as are cranberries/cranberry juice. Ready salted crisps also, plus plenty of water - these two go hand in hand as the salt in the crisps makes you thirstier, so plenty of hydration.

I suffered for years with bad cramp in my calves at night - started adding salt to my food, as previously didn`t, plus a bag of ready salted crisps every day, now I rarely get this anymore. Plus I do drink a lot of water now.

Edited by Lozz196
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