Death Grip Relief

[duuuude]

Tried something over the weekend to overcome the occasional "Grip of Death" that seems to sneak up when I'm least expecting it. YMMV, but it has helped me so I thought I'd pass it on.

The idea was to keep from letting the back of the neck bury itself in the space between thumb & index finger, which I'm sure could be overcome with proper technique, but I happen to lack proper technique.

What I did was take a smaller hackey-sak and empty about 1/2-2/3 of the beads out & wrap a rubber band around it to strap it to my thumb, letting it rest in my palm between thumb & index finger. This keeps the neck outa the palm of my hand and puts my thumb where it would be had I learned that "proper technique". Somehow it also keeps me from pressing down too hard on the strings due to the slight change in finger position. After an hour of playing I take the bag off and try to duplicate the position naturally and it seems to work for awhile.

Now I'm sure that this is not the "right" way to go about it, but like I said, it works for me. Maybe it'll help one or two others out there as well.
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[John S]

Another tip to alleviate the deathgrip -- put just a little pressure where your forearm rests against the edge of the mando. This will cause the neck of the mando to "push back" against your fingertips a bit, and you'll need less thumb pressure with your fretting hand to sound the notes cleanly.

[John Flynn]

Great topic! I have actively worked to cure "death grip" for quite while, with some success, but I have to constantly work at it. I hope the group keeps the ideas coming.

One thing that has helped me somewhat, although it is no "quick fix," is to learn a tune really well at a moderate speed, really concentrating on using a light touch. Then, when I have the tune "over-learned" as my instructor puts it, I try playing it as fast as I can with good form, proper timing and good tone. What I find is that initially, I tend to increase my grip tension as I speed up, but I will hit a "wall," where I can't go faster and I start messing up. Only by relaxing the grip again can I break through the wall and speed up successfully with making mistakes. When I "get in the zone" with this, its like I am not even thinking about where my fingers need to go anymore and my fingertips are just lightly "dancing" on the fretboard. It takes a lot of work, but it's kinda cool.

[mandocrucian]

Yes, definitely get the neck off of the palm. #LH fingers should lay across the frets at a 45 degree diagonal.

For loosening up both hands, the aikido wrist stretches (plug that in into a search engine) do a really good job, especially when used on a daily basis. #Names of particular stretches to look for are "sankyo", "nikyo" and "kotagaishi".

How are you holding the instrument? This could be a contributing factor to clenching. #My recommendation is the combat stance. Just think of carrying an assault rifle or sub-machine gun through the woods or jungle. Position your mandolin the same way.

If you are standing, consider straight ahead of you to be 12 o'clock. (Clock face is a circle on the ground.) Angle the neck of your mandolin forward so that it is pointing to somewhere between 10 and 11. and elevate the headstock so you'd be firing upwards at a 30-45 degree angle from the ground. #Also, put your left foot forward of the right one by 12" or so. #This is one of the most ergonomically relaxed stances you can play from. It's also more or less the same sort of fighting stance you'll see Steven Seagal, Jet Li, etc. in before they unload on someone.

NH

[Don Grieser]

Another good practice is to not push hard enough to note cleanly (just get a thud). Then increase the speed and volume on your right hand and keep that same thud with your left hand. This will help you separate your two hands. Then you can gradually increase the pressure with your left hand till you are noting out cleanly, paying attention to how much force it takes. Concentrate on keeping the two hands separate (faster/louder doesn't mean death grip with left hand). Don't know if that describes it clearly, but it's a good exercise.

[duuuude]

Great tips, all, especially the "assault mando" approach! I've always had a kinda golf club grip on the neck and try to keep off the palm, but outa nowhere I'll look down sometimes and it'll look like I'm tryin to push them strings through the fretboard. Once I notice it, it's easy to go right back to a light touch, so it's totally unconcious, as is much of my playing BTW, which makes me wonder if all hands are created equal. The roll and angle of the fingers when bending and so forth, maybe I should just go back to keeping my eyes closed.
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[mandolooter]

I like to hold a can of beer in that little vee formed by the thumb and index finger, the coldnest seems to help with it too!

[carolynbeth]

Hmmmmm......great suggestions all, and Niles' wrist stretch recommendations sound like a great idea. Sometimes I find myself clutching the neck so hard my whole left forearm is sore afterwards. Not good.....

Thanks for the tip/topic Duuuuuude!


Carolyn

[elenbrandt]

You just gotta love this thread...physical therapy by-pass devices and the great mandocrucian giving martial arts advice and analogy...does it get any better?

[TonyP.]

It certainly doesn't get any better for me, great stuff. And a great break from picks and strings.

[mandocrucian]

Photo of aikido stance (http://www.aikido-world.com/highlights/technical%20_tips/ai-hammi.htm). #With a slight repositioning of the left hand, the guy on the left is ready to start plunking! Notice that the elbows just hang at the side of the body. If the instrument was flat on your chest/belly, the right elbow would have to be raised up at the shoulder in order to get the forearm in front of the instrument face. (extra unneeded tension). #Also, with this way of holding the instrument, you don't really need a "Tone Guard" to keep the back from being dampened by your abdomen.

In the upper right corner is an animated photo of someone doing the "nikyo" stretch. #A variation of this is to put the blade of the grasped hand #vertically to your nose. #Go slow, so you don't hurt yourself. #In an actual confrontational situation, these grips are designed to break joints.

You can surf this sight over to the technical/training pages on your own, or go straight to the menu of wrist stretches (http://www.aikido-world.com/highlights/technical%20_tips/wrist-list.htm). #I have taught these stretches at my workshops for several years, after realizing that doing these (and a couple of others) help me finally find the elusive "point of optional finger pressure". Qualitative jump in the vibrato (8-string acoustic) department the day the last tumbler clicked into place. ("Man, is my imagination, or am I channeling Richard Thompson today?!" - it took awhile to deduce why the change had occured, and when I figured it out, I started passing it along to my students.)

You ought to do these regularly for the best results, which will occur over a period of time as you learn to adjust your "touch" on the instrument. #I don't know if folks who've gotten the stretch routine at one of my workshops or boot camps have incorporated them into their warm-ups. (You can lead a horse to water....). I'd be interested in hearing what the results have been for those who continued doing those at home.

Niles Hokkanen
PS: The Beginner Mandolin Boot Camp (http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/northern/adult.html#bootcamp) starts this Sunday afternoon (Apr 4-7); there's still room for a few more. Scroll down the page for details of the May 5-7 Rhythm Mando Boot Camp.