Anyway around thumb cramps?

[Timmott]

Anyone else get thumb cramps while playing? It only happens to me when I'm playing bar chords for extended periods but it's a pain in the ass none the less. Any way around them?

[thefallacy]

the only way I've ever found around them them is to play more.

[mrbrown49]

Do you play thin necks? I have much less fatigue on fatter necks.

 

Do you sling it low? Try shortening your strap.

 

Do you have a cramped playing (hand) posture?Envision gently gripping a tennis ball and hold your hand that way, with a straight wrist.

[caveman]

For barre chord endurance you need depth from FB to the back. I switched to V necks and haven't had problem since.

[clay sails]

I get cramps with thin necks.

 

My favorite non cramping neck is a PRS wide fat.

 

My pal gets cramps on all guitars because he doesn't relax when he plays.

[WRGKMC]

Take advil before playing then suffere more the next day when it wears off.

 

Seriously though, No pain no gain. Its mind over body if your'e playing your best, but what Mr brown and other goes a long way. I have a few songs That are unpleasant to get through no matter what instrument i use. Luckily i may only have one of those a night.

 

Theres no way I'd want to play a bunch a songs that required nothing but barre chords. Not only because its painful physically, but its painfully boaring mentally.

 

Even though I'll be 53 this month and been slinging a guitar for 45 of those years, and have all kinds of aches and pains in the sholder and feet these days, I alternate my material and look at songs in a set as a block of excercise. I move the elements in the block so I get the best variety of workout possible in a full show vs a single song. You want to mix up the raw weight lifting with good aerobics so the muscles get an even workout. This requires picking material and developing playing techniques that allow you to utilize those muscles. And when all else fails, Advil, Ibuprofin, Asprin, and Tylenol are your friends.

[HC Hipster]

 

Do you play thin necks? I have much less fatigue on fatter necks. Do you sling it low? Try shortening your strap. Do you have a cramped playing (hand) posture?Envision gently gripping a tennis ball and hold your hand that way, with a straight wrist.

 

 

+1

[kulardenu]

Rub Mydol on it , bitch at somebody & it seems to get better...

[Belva]

Fap with your other hand.

SRS I had this problem till I went with a fatter neck profile. I see I'm not the only one who lists this as a solution.

[Doctor49]

Technique

You only need pressure to fret the chord when you need it to sound.

Sounds stupid but think about it. very little needs continual fretting of all six strings unless you are doing folk songs!

Try to relax your thumb unless you need the notes.

Also try to reduce pressure anyway - you don't need g-clamps to fret.

 

Don't believe me - sit down and try to use no thumb and rely on the forearm of the picking hand to steady the body against the frettin g hand on the neck.

[Poster Nutbag]

For me it - beside the neck thickness and such - it was also a matter of approaching it like any other physical conditioning. Pay attention to good form, listen to your body when it says it's had enough, allow enough time for your hand to recover, and gradually work up in intensity and duration. Just like strength training.

 

I was getting pretty bad cramping at the base of my thumb at first with barres until I went to a thicker neck and took my time. And as you get stronger and better, you get better at applying a clean barre without too much force.

[katillac]

 

I get cramps with thin necks. My favorite non cramping neck is a PRS wide fat. My pal gets cramps on all guitars because he doesn't relax when he plays.

 

My least-crampy neck is my guitar with the flattest profile. I'm sure it depends on your hand profile as well. I have medium-length fingers, but I have wide palms. I learned years ago to relax more when I play. My hands would cramp up really bad - even my right hand from holding the pick too tight - and I realised it was because I was so uptight. Part of it was being nervous and part from being hard on myself. If I made the slightest mistake, I'd get really down on myself.

 

Finally, one night, I drank so much beer and tequila that I just said {censored} it, I don't care. I played better than ever that show. The next day, I had an epiphany; I was stressing so much and needed to chill the {censored} out. I also needed to drink more.

[Belva]

 

I also needed to drink more.

 

That worked for me for about 25 years. But it got to the point where I was in serious trouble with the law. Sober now 5 years, 8 months and 16 days, but who's counting...............

[Alecto]

1) Practice more. Work on songs at home, playing along with CD's whatever.

 

2) Fatter necks. For longer gigs, I prefer a fatter neck. Think about it: you play rhythm 77% of the time and solo 33% of the time. Do you want to be more comfortable playing rhythm or soloing?

 

3) Drink more water. Cramping in general is a sign that you're not getting enough water in your daily routine. I'm 6'2" and 195 pounds, and I'm supposed to drink 3 litres of water a day (the equivalent of 6 pints).

[Rad Skronker]

There should be no pain when you play.

If you have pain you are doing something wrong and need to stop and analyze why you are cramping up.

You do not need to squeeze the neck hard when you play bar chords, remember you only have to apply enough pressure with your index finger to hold either the E or A on the bottom and then the B and E strings on top because your other 3 fingers are covering the rest of the bar chord.

 

Practice fretting chords and single note lines with as little pressure applied as you can get away with while still maintaining a good fundamental tone for every note.

 

You should visualize your left hand as skating across the fretboard with relaxed ease, like its on ice. High speed on ice.

 

You want to use functional tension, just enough tension to sound the notes and execute the musical ideas.

everything else is a waste.

 

 

Anyone else get thumb cramps while playing? It only happens to me when I'm playing bar chords for extended periods but it's a pain in the ass none the less. Any way around them?

 

[IamBurnout]

It's not a baseball bat.

 

Utilize proper technique by keeping your thumb behind the neck, and don't fret so hard.

[the_bleeding]

yeah... i used to get those.

Then i ditched my ibanez for an eastwood, and started wearing my guitars higher (made it easier to play faster). And then, by my luck, both of those made my hand cramps go away, even before i knew about this website

[strtdv]

Cut your thumb off.

[thefallacy]

I got heavy hands on both sides. I can ding a fret pretty good with just an open D chord

 

I am too old to learn better