left wrist pain

[MatthewL329]

hey all,

I've been working on parallel scales 2 octaves apart on my six string in standard tuning, and I find that when I play a lot on the low end of the low E string with my left hand, my wrist gets stiff and sore.

what is the proper position for playing the lowest notes on the guitar with the left hand so that we don't hurt ourselves and / or develop carpal tunnel syndrome? are there any excercises I can do to get my hand up to strength so it can assume a new position comfortably? I'm holding my guitar kind of like Stanley Jordan does. I find that if I tighten my guitar strap any more, I have to crank my right wrist like crazy to get my fingers parallel to the frets, so I'm thinking that's probably not going to work...

thoughts?

m

[BCroad]

For me, I adjust the strap to be exactly like it is when I'm sitting down. That eliminated any problems I used to have. But it is an individual problem for sure. I'd take a little time off if it is out of control pain.

Good Luck,

Bryan

[traktor]

I don't know the answer for sure because I don't play that kind of instrument.

However, I'd guess that whatever you do, if your wrists are generally straight you'll have less problems than if your wrist is bent.

My logic is simply this: Pick up a heavy weight with one hand, in any posture. Try it with your wrist straight and with your wrist bent. If your wrist is straight you can lift more weight more easily than if your wrist is bent. IMHO that's because the muscles (on the forearm) which clasp your fingers together, can operate the ligaments better when these same ligaments don't have to go through a tunnel of wrist wrapping.

It seems like the same logic as lifting weights at the gym. Good posture, good form, grow stronger and fewer injuries. Collapsed posture, bent form, more effort and more injuries.

My two cents.

[rjgoos]

I had a lot of left wrist pain, when playing my Stick standing.

I now use a lap bar, and play seated.

I guess it changed the ergonomics, that this isn't a big problem any more.

I can say one thing about wrist pain...once you're injured, it's hard to tell what works and what doesn't. If you have bad shoes, and your feet hurt, your feet will still hurt when you put on good shoes...at least for a while. You may need to take a break and heal up a bit before trying to figure out what prevents the problem. You may indeed discover an answer, but if you may not realize it, if you keep playing while you're injured. Did that make sense?

I do have a problem, though...

I use a four-finger technique with both hands, and I do get some pain in the little knuckle on my right pinkie, due to impact against the fretboard.

I probably tap too hard, but if that doesn't fix it, I may have to go to a three finger right hand technique, as recommended in some books (and not recommended in others).

Jay

[lemur821]

Matthew, it will probably help if you make your neck a little more vertical and lift your elbow more. If you aren't making stretches you can probably slant you neck a little more. You're cranking your wrist to get your hand in the right position, but what you should be doing is moving you elbow away from your body in order to achieve both a straighter wrist and a proper hand position. A steeper neck angle is the way to go if you can't bend yourself like that.

A guitar teacher, especially a classical guitar teacher, could probably help you with your posture a lot. Although they don't specialize in tapping, they know how to achieve a flexible, correct hand position.

[mrINFINITY]

Everyone in here has given you excellent advice matthew. I'd just like to add that it helps while you're playing to actually keep your thumb on the back of the neck directly behind the string your actually playing on. That means that your thumb actually travels up and down the back of the neck as you run up and down scales. This is a little trick that alot of classical guitarists use to keep their wrists straight all the time and have more endurance :) Just to give you a little better idea of what i'm talking about:

D----------------2-4-5--
A-------2-3-5-----------
E-3-5--------------------
^ * ^ *

^ = pick up your thumb, *=put your thumb back down in correct position.


ps. I had slight wrist pain when i played for extended period of time for several years until a classical guitar teacher of mine showed me this. It really works!

[mrINFINITY]

ok, that example didn't quite line up right :P, let me try this again

D----------------------2-4-5--
A-----------2-3-(5)-----------
E--3-(5)-----------------------

lift your thumb on each note with ()'s around it. and put it back down on the note immediately following.

Of course it's impossible to have your thumb perfect all the time, but if you keep it in good position most of the time playing will almost feel effortless.

[MatthewL329]

thanks for the advice, guys. INFINITY, I think yours is going to be most applicable to what I want to do with my touchstyle playing...

[fernandopadilla]

hello! I understand to you perfectly... difficult to explain only with words... I prefer to send photos of the correct position where you I can send?.... it is related to the position of the thumbs and a special form to place the strap of the guitar

[MatthewL329]

fernando,

please send pictures to

matthewcross (AT) gmail (DOT) com

:) thanks

matt