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Wrist trouble, technique questions


PSA

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Posted

I think I have a technique problem because playing is uncomfortable. But the funny thing is that it never used to be until I stopped playing for a while and picked it back up again. Is this common? Also, my fingers are not at a right angle from the fret board. is this bad? my hand tends to roll towards the headstock. What can I do to solve thais? And it's not really painful, just sore - my wrist is, I mean. I only have trouble with some barre chords and things lower on the neck. But I don't know if it's bad technique or because of my ganglion cyst, or from a bit of carpel tunnel syndrom, because my fretting hand is also my dominant hand. Another factor is that I'm a woman and thus not so... wide. And my guitar feels too big for me. Could this be causing the problems? I used to have similar issues when playing bass, so it's not unlikely, but getting another guitar is not really an option right now, besides, except the ergonomic difficulties, I really like this guitar a lot.

 

Yeah, I should find a teacher.... but any suggestions till then? I'm not sure how long that will be. I don't really feel like I'm really hurting myself, so is it okay to practice? Maybe I should switch to lighter strings for a while? I'm using 11's on a long scale neck, and I really like 11's or 12's for jazz, but they are pretty heavy.

 

Thanks in advance for the help, guys!

 

PSA

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Posted

How much are you bending your wrist to reach around the fretboard? Your wrist should remain straight or nearly straight, and your fingers should curl around to reach the front of the the fretboard. If you are bending your wrist to any degree, then that could be causing your problem.

EDIT: I'd like to add that I don't think it's normal at all for your wrist to hurt when playing.

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Posted

Originally posted by r0g3r

How much are you bending your wrist to reach around the fretboard? Your wrist should remain straight or nearly straight, and your fingers should curl around to reach the front of the the fretboard. If you are bending your wrist to any degree, then that could be causing your problem.

 

 

And even then, it shouldn't be a problem if you do it right.

 

I'd say that it's more a question of biting off more than she can chew. She mentioned that she'd given up playing for a while. If she's returned to it recently (past couple of months) I'd say that it's more likely that she hasn't given the muscles time to acclimatize through stretching exercises, etc. before going into the deep end with barre chords on heavy strings.

 

The key is to keep as many muscles as possible as relaxed as you can at all times.

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I personally specifically had a problem with pain in my wrist, back when I was around 15 or so. I was trying to learn "moto perpetuo" by paganini, and I was bending my wrist to reach around the fretboard, and my wrist kept hurting. I asked a more experienced player I knew what I was doing wrong, and he told me what to do to correct my technique. My writst has never hurt since.

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Posted

Originally posted by r0g3r

I personally specifically had a problem with pain in my wrist, back when I was around 15 or so. I was trying to learn "moto perpetuo" by paganini, and I was bending my wrist to reach around the fretboard, and my wrist kept hurting. I asked a more experienced player I knew what I was doing wrong, and he told me what to do to correct my technique. My writst has never hurt since.

 

 

I can see it becoming a problem for someone of your style, where the emphasis is on leads which entail bending, horizontal vibrato, etc. which would put the forearm in some awkward positions and cause the tendons to lock.

 

However, take a look at the playing postures of any classical/flamenco players, or many jazz players. The straight wrist thing is common practice for rock, but as I was saying, if you learn to control the muscles properly, it shouldn't be a problem until you're well into your 80s.

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Posted
Originally posted by ralphster007



I can see it becoming a problem for someone of your style, where the emphasis is on leads which entail bending, horizontal vibrato, etc. which would put the forearm in some awkward positions and cause the tendons to lock.


However, take a look at the playing postures of any classical/flamenco players, or many jazz players. The straight wrist thing is common practice for rock, but as I was saying, if you learn to control the muscles properly, it shouldn't be a problem until you're well into your 80s.



Playing with the wrist straight is proper technique in all styles of guitar:

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Of course, like any rule, there are times when this one must be broken. Barre chords, for example, will force you to bend your wrist. In general though the wrist should most often be straight, or near straight.

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Posted

i agree with ralphster's diagnosis - it sounds like your hand just hasn't gotten used to playing again. you should still be very careful and not do anything stupid like pull an 8 hour day. maybe try and keep it down to 40 min max at one sitting and try and play for the same amount of time each day, increasing your time everyweek. you wanna be really careful you don't overwork your hand and end up with tendonitus like me. putting ice on your hand after playing will prevent inflammation and could reduce the soreness as well...
r0g3r - straightening out my wrist was the best thing i ever did for my playing

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Posted
Originally posted by evan_02

r0g3r - straightening out my wrist was the best thing i ever did for my playing



Cool, I wasn't meaning to be overly argumentative with ralphster either. I think he has a valid point as well. I just think it's really important to your long term health as a player to excercise good technique.

Also, I had fun assembling that impressive collection of straight wristed dudes :)

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Posted

cool, thanks you guys. how does that all apply to bass players - the straight wrist thing? is it possible on bass?

also, has anyone had a ganglion cyst in their fretting wrist? is this the source of my pain, and if so, what can I do? mine is sort of in te joint I think - I have a slightly decreased range of motion and pain with large joint movements. it's a tumor-looking thing - a hard, filled sac that grows off the tendon sheathing and fills with the tendon lubricant. I've heard they usually come back if you get them removed, too.

also, does anyone use a support glove like piano players have? where can I find one? I was thinking about using one for the normal benefits and just to get used to holding my wrist correctly. I got the idea from Dansm (off his site). here's a link to what I'm talking about...

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~desmith/guitar/acoustic/hand/injury.htm

there's a pic about half way down.

thanks again!

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Posted

when i was going through physical therapy for my tendonitus i had to wear a brace....you can get them at someplace like CVS
edit:you probably don't have a CVS where you are....

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Posted

Nope, no CVS. You have to have a perscription for EVERYTHING here. Nobody even knows what ibuprofen is and when I finally got some my mom forbid me to use it because it's "too strong." Next thing you know you've got some nurse shoving paracetamol up yer ass. What the hell is paracetamol?! I think it must be the dutch word for sugar pill. :D

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