Originally Posted by: dlwalkeI am a beginner and often want to do something practice-y when it would be inconvenient, rude or impractical to retrieve my guitar.

Over the years, I've seen lots of products and methods aimed at improving finger dexterity and strength (etc.) for guitarists. I've seen lots of people try lots of these devices, methods, etc.

By far, the best thing to do in order to improve your skill at playing the guitar is to simply play the guitar. Finger exercises, squeezing tennis balls, those springloaded contraptions will never substitute for hours of actual playing time.

As a beginner using non-musical devices, you could benefit from some basic strength building and basic coordination and dexterity. But at a certain point you aren't actually training your hands and fingers to play guitar, but instead to squeeze a hand exerciser. And worse, you could wind up doing damage. The manual strength & dexterity used in playing guitar is frequently much more delicate & nuanced than the motions required to use one of those strength building devices.

Obviously it's not always possible to play, so I sympathize with that situation. If one of those devices helps keep you motivated & working on guitar when you can't actually play, then go for it! Just be careful not to damage your hands with that hand squeezer! :))[br][br]And remember, in the end there is no substitute for effective, productive hours logged on your guitar.

Hope this helps!