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Finger Independence...

Started by KevinG Mar 23, 2004 at 9:56 PM 11 replies 1.1k views

Original Post

Mar 23, 2004 at 9:56 PM

Hrm...so I''ve decided to increase my typing speed, so I got a typing program from a friend and went at it...but there was something that struck me as odd--in one of the tutorial movies (in 3d with shitty models! Wheee!) the announcer kept blabbing about how when you typed the ''1'' key, all of your fingers should be on the home row. Now, I dont know about you all, but I dont have ANY finger independence--if I move even one of those fuckers all of them move (and I''ve never been able to do that "live long and prosper" thing). It seems that strong finger independence does help increase typing speed, though, as I''ve seen from a couple of friends (not many, though)...and even though I type about 65 WPM moving my fingers wildly about the keyboard, I think I could type faster if I actually learned to move my fingers correctly. ...so does anyone here know of any exercises to build finger independence? I''ve googled on it and I''ve found nothing much at all. I remember watching the Tonight Show a couple of years ago and there was some guy with a silver ball he was practicing with, but that''s the extent of my knowledge of the subject. I cant think of a decent signature right now...try back later...MUCH later.

Gott der Maschine

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:01 PM

Odd as this may sound, if you have a guitar readily available, pick it up and look online for guitar exercises. I play classical guitar and one of the key elements of playing classical effectively is finger independence. I own a book called Pumping Nylon and it has some of the best exercises around, I'm sure you can find something online, if not, I'll post the exercises for you.

Tyler "Gott der Maschine" Roehmholdt

[edited by - Gott der Maschine on March 23, 2004 11:02:16 PM]

andromeda

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:02 PM

''1'' with the rest on the home row? Hell, I can''t do that. And I consider myself a fairly good typist too (average about 85-90 WPM).

I''m not sure exactly what kind of finger exercises you should do, but if you just keep practicing, your speed is bound to improve.

pi_equals_3

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:03 PM

Another instrument requiring finger independence is piano. I''m sure there are a bunch of exercises out there.

On another note, if the whole finger independence thing doesn''t work out, I''d say it wouldn''t affect your typing speed to move your hands around a little bit, as long as you weren''t typing so fast you wore your other fingers out...

pinacolada

112

pinacolada

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:08 PM

You know that thing that Spock does, where he makes a big V out of his four fingers? When I was a kid, I taught myself to do that by taping the two pairs of my fingers together, and practicing the movement over and over. When I took the tape off I could do it like a pro.

So yeah, that''s my advice, tape groups of your fingers together and just do tiny exercises. Using tape will get you to isolate certain muscle groups that don''t usually get a lot of practice.

KevinG

Author

KevinG

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:11 PM

Hrm, how exactly do those exercises with the instruments work? Do they work by primarily by strengthening the muscles in your hand (i.e., does finger independence come from muscular strength in ones hand), or do they work by some other method (I dont see how pure repetition would help in this case)?

quote:

You know that thing that Spock does, where he makes a big V out of his four fingers?

Yeah, I was refering to that above. I think he said "live long and prosper"...but dont trust me--I'm no star trek fan. I've never been able to do that...gah.

EDIT: quote and stuff

[edited by - KevinG on March 23, 2004 11:14:42 PM]

pi_equals_3

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:14 PM

quote:
Original post by KevinG
Hrm, how exactly do those exercises with the instruments work? Do they work by primarily by strengthening the muscles in your hand (i.e., does finger independence come from muscular strength in ones hand), or do they work by some other method (I dont see how pure repetition would help in this case)?

If you find an exercise geared towards playing a particular instrument, like guitar or piano, it will probably be geared towards both, but since it isn''t very difficult to press most keyboard buttons, you''ll want to work primarily for dexterity and muscular memory.

Densun

151

Densun

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:21 PM

Can you stick your middle finger up? If so, you''re one your way. And you must be able to point. How about doing that thing Dr. Evil (from Austin Powers) does with his pinky finger? The ring finger is the most difficult to isolate.

Naaga

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:37 PM

Interesting note: after reading the thread and thinking about this finger independence thing, I started playing around with my fingers to see how independent they are. Results: the fingers on my left hand (primary hand) are far more dependent than my right hand (off hand) fingers. I can straighten out a single finger on my right hand without much difficulty, but my left hand hurts the more I try it. Strange.

Drevay

110

Drevay

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:50 PM

I average on about 80 wpm. I can go up to about 100 wpm if I''m really concentrating or into what I''m typing. I suggest for you to independently flow around the keyboard. My fingers always find the home position, and I never keep them there all of the time. I keep them in that "general area", but that''s about it.

Anyway, good luck with that.

Extrarius

234

Extrarius

Mar 23, 2004 at 10:51 PM

I type at 100+ WPM when I know what I want to type (as opposed to thinking about it and editing it 100x while writing it) and I don't do anything like keep fingers on the home row. In fact, I don't even keep them on their own side of the keyboard. I use each hand to cover about 70% of the keyboard (with an overlapping 20% in the middle depending on whichever hand is closer at the time).

I, personally, feel awkward hitting '1' while the rest of my fingers are on home row. It seems to take a lot more time than just moving the nearest finger there and moving the others along with it 1. I guess maybe if you're used to it might be faster. I keep my hands spread out over the keyboard and it apparently(while typing this post anyways) I only use the first three fingers on each hand to type normally.

[edited by - Extrarius on March 23, 2004 11:54:58 PM]

RuneLancer

Mar 23, 2004 at 11:07 PM

Huh, I never had any trouble doing the Spock thing... didn''t even know it involved some difficulty. Then again, I first did it when I was about 4 or 5, so I suppose my brain was still just a beta release at the time.

Personally, I keep both thumbs on the space bar (though not exactly "on" it; the "active" hand(s) are always about an inch over it) and I use all remaining fingers, save for the pinky, to type. My left pinky is usually sitting about an inch over the shift key (guess what I use it for?) and I sometimes use the right one to hit enter.

As for the rest of my fingers, I favor my left hand and type roughly 60% of my letters with it. In fact, I can often do something else with my right hand (scratch, for instance) without it affecting my typing speed at all, depending on what I''m typing.

I''d suggest playing Dance With Intensity. It''s a freeware DDR clone for PC which allows you to play with the keyboard. Once you get good enough to play harder stepfiles, you''ll acheive finger independance in no-time at all.

ArchWizard

104

ArchWizard

Mar 23, 2004 at 11:15 PM

quote:
Original post by KevinG
Hrm, how exactly do those exercises with the instruments work? Do they work by primarily by strengthening the muscles in your hand (i.e., does finger independence come from muscular strength in ones hand), or do they work by some other method (I dont see how pure repetition would help in this case)?

Playing an instrument lets you strengthen the muscles in your hands and conditions you to learn to use your fingers independently. A piece of advice for keyboards of either kind: repetition is helpful for improving speed, since frequent usage will allow you to develop familiarity. With enough practice you can turn this into an intuitive understanding of the layout of a keyboard, which means that you don''t have to think much about where the keys are. If you don''t have to think about it, you can type much more quickly.

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