I have always played with all four fingers on both bass and guitar, when I practice my scales and picking as I get up to 32nd notes my pinkey is the first to go - the muscle between my wrist and pinkey gets a major cramp, maybe I'm not warming up enough?

Rob...I feel you bro. I have been to the doctor for stuff like this. I have the beginnings of arthritis in my pick hand thumb. Some days I cannot hold the pick at all...literally. Some days, I can hold the pick, but can't do scalpel picking. I also have arthritis in my pick hand wrist. Hurts so bad that it wakes me up at night and I have to take anti-inflammatory medication. I also have carpel tunnel in both wrists that acts up from time to time, but the arthritis is worse.

When it hurts, the doctors tell me not to play. But you guys know my practice schedule! 8 hours a day!

You guys have seen me play at some crazy speeds, but that's not the problem. It's mainly cuz, I never ever warm up before I play. I just go at it full blast.

I warm up now, but I wish I would have listened to the pros and warmed up when I was younger.

So, YES!!!! Warming up is crucial.

Also, I read an interview with John Petrucci (Dream Theater) where he said he warms up a couple hours before each show but tries not to go too hard because he doesn't want to blow his hands out.

So, everyone feels fatigue, even John Petrucci. Especially if you are playing very demanding things for hours on end.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing all of that Ursin it is helpful, do you have any suggestions for a good warm up routine? I jammed my picking thumb over the winter and was really worried about the joint, it seems to be better now. Any tips for reducing the chances of getting arthritis are much appreciated.

For my left hand warmup, I do all the Spyders as well as the chromatic form...

Then I'll do some trills and then I'm ready. :)

For my right hand, I alternate pick the strings:

6-5,6-4,6-3,6-2,6-1 and then back up.

I also pick on one string for a while, varying the notes per beat.

Hope this helps!

Rob

Pebber has a vid somewhere on yoututbe...Pebber has so many vids I don't remember exactly which one it was so Adam or FRakh may need to help me on this one.

But in the vid, PB shows some stretching exercises that you do without even touching the guitar. Petrucci also talks about these exact same excerises in one of his instructional vids. And, the doctors have given me these EXACT same exercises. So, I am imagining that they are important!

As for actual hands on guitar warm up exercises, I don't have anything specific that I do, but I usually start slow. I usually run through some scales, like CAGED patterns, very slow. I'll do some trills slowly.

With my pick hand, I'll usually take licks that I am working on and totally take the frethand out of the equation and just pick the strings open the way I would pick if I was actually playing. I start slow and then build up to speed.

Hand issues are no joke. Kind of like loss of hearing/tinitus issues.

Some guys never experience problems. But a lot of them do, they just never talk about it.

For instance, Yngwie has terrible arthritis in both hands. He just never mentions it.

There is also an AMAZING neo-classical guitarist out of Washington state named James Byrd. He can only play guitar for 30 minutes at a time because of hand issues. So, touring is not even an option for him anymore.

I'm glad you brought this up. We all play some pretty demanding things and hand fatigue/issues is a real thing that guitarists never want to talk about.

Here are the vids

Isometrics Part 1A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOR9KnUCpSI
Isometrics Part 2A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G0vXItez7o
Isometrics Part 3A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgYwEqYIpUY

Ursin,
If it sets you at ease any, Les Paul once said that warming up didn't do him a damn bit of good.
Didn't help the arthritis problem in other words.

I know you guys like to do ladders and spiders but I can really feel it when I do scales in all the intervals especially 6ths and 7ths.

I haven't been playing any guitar for the last couple of days because I guess I overworked my arm(palm side).. :(

It's SUPER sore and hurts a bit when I put pressure on it... I guess I just have to rest until it recovers, but is there anything else that can help in the recovery process? This sucks, my body is basically the only thing that is holding back my playing!

If your left hand is that sore, I would definitely rest it for a couple of days. Practice some picking exercises in the meantime. There is still a lot you can work on with your right hand while your left one gets back to normal.