Enquiry about finger shock

[Andrea]

Hello Jamie/All,

Having seen the article about the four diseases of the left hand, I wanted to ask about one of the diseases mentioned - finger shock.

Firstly, how to you detect/identify finger shock? For example, I am working on the Hammers and pull-offs course and I have been practising hammer ons from an open string - using my index finger as the hammer finger whilst resting the other fingers on the next adjacent string. I do notice that my inactive fingers and sometimes my left hand moves slightly when my index finger goes down, but I am not sure if this is what is meant by finger shock. I have tried hard to see what muscles in my fingers/hand/arm are tensing up, but I can't see any trends.

Secondly, how do you overcome finger shock? When I have noticed my inactive fingers moving slightly, as described above, I have often thought that this is because my index finger is coming down too hard on the string it is hammering. However, when I try to use only the momentum of my index finger coming down, I can hardly hear the note being played as a result of the hammer. Furthermore, I can still see my inactive fingers moving. I have tried doing slow no tempo practice but I am not sure what I should be concentrating on. The lower part of my body is relaxed, my stomach is relaxed as much as possible, my shoulders are relaxed but still I see this movement. I have concentrated hard on relaxing my left hand, forearm and fingers. I have been trying to make sure my inactive fingers are relaxed on the adjacent string. Furthermore, I have thought that my index finger is coming up too much in preparing for the hammer therefore creating extra tension but then you are trying to balance that with getting a sound out of the string you are hammering. At the moment, I can't seem to find a successful strategy to move myself forward. Perhaps lowering the action of my strings might help.

I think I am not entirely sure what finger shock is. As a result, I am finding it hard to try and overcome it.

Does anyone have any thoughts/strategies etc. on this subject?

[Jamie]

Hi Andrea,

Firstly, let me congratulate you on your very fine and dedicated work, which generated your equally fine questions!

Yes, finger shock is a tough one. I will try to give you some further insight here....

Hello Jamie/All,

Having seen the article about the four diseases of the left hand, I wanted to ask about one of the diseases mentioned - finger shock.

Firstly, how to you detect/identify finger shock?

Finger shock is subtle, it is a tiny isometric contraction of adjacent muscles, so there is little or no movement. It is mostly detected and felt as an inability to move the or control the finger when required to do so, thus, it is mostly detected and identified at higher speeds. After doing that, we must trace it to its more microscopic manifestation.

Secondly, how do you overcome finger shock? When I try to use only the momentum of my index finger coming down, I can hardly hear the note being played as a result of the hammer.

When doing the necessary work to overcome finger shock, it does not matter whether you hear the note from the hammer. When you do it faster, you will hear the note. We are only trying to control the muscle reaction of tension at a slow speed. The ONLY way to overcome finger shock is "string push downs" as described in The Principles. You must do them extremely slowly, taking perhaps 10 seconds to go from 0 pressure to full pressure with the finger, while observing inactive fingers and constantly monitoring the rest of the body. Then, extremely careful work ups are required.

Also, do not have unrealistic expectations. Even when working correctly, it will take months to a year to make significant progress. I know, I have done it, and am doing it.

Post some videos here, let me see what you are doing.

[GAA43]

This is a very interesting thread,very nicely articulated question and a helpful answer.

One question comes to mind - does everyone always have finger shock to some degree, or is it possible for it be totally nonexistent? I'm imagining that it always exists, it's just a matter of degree depending on the attributes of the player, and the demandingness of the effort.

Jamie, are my pinky issues as observed in my recent videos and the recent lesson identified as finger shock? I assume so.
In my case I've made some big progress in this area, but with still pretty glaring issues doing pull-offs vs hammer ons.

[Jamie]

"Finger Shock" is what is left of uncontrolled sympathetic tension after the grosser manifestations of it have been removed...i.e. finger squeeze and finger rise.

Yes, there is always some, but it is possible to minimize it to a very large extent, and make it a non-factor in our action. No Greg, your pinky trouble is still on the level of good ol' finger squeeze!