Ready About To Give Up

[Duff Beer Man]

Well i started playing 4 and 1/2 years ago. It was 8th grand summer and i had spent all my graduation money on a guitar. I started taking lessons from a guy at a local guitar shop and he focused on learning to read music more then anything. Mean while i didnt know i was learning to play completely wrong. He would never say anything to about how my hand rested on the guitar or anything. I stopped taking lessons and started taking guitar class at school took it for three years. Then i started taking lessons again from a different guy. He told me how i learned to play was the wrong way and thats why after like 30-40 min of playing my hand starts to cramp up and hurt like a mother told i took the short cut way (didnt know i was taking the short cut way). Well i ran outta money and had to stop taking lessons from him as well (lessons are 80 bucks a month here). I havent really sat down and played for about 5 months maybe longer. And now i can barely go 10-20 min without my hand cramping up. So im coming to you guys as my last resort. Teach me how to play correctly please, pics vids whatever you got.

[Thoughtless 7]

Watch tons of videos of your favourite artists and watch how they play. I don't think there is a wrong or right way to play guitar, whatever YOU feel comfortable and is best for you. If you don't want lessons, get a tab book of someone you really like and just play from there, thats how i started, then when i got a feel for it i read more into it.

Hope my ramblings help =(

[Blue_Fingers_Jay]

Hey man.

There isn't really a proper way to play, at least in my opinion, as long as you feel good and it doesn't hurt you, it's all good.

And who needs lessons?! Just long at Danny Gatton didn't take any lessons and he's amazing!

You just need to adapt to your style of playing, pick up the guitar and play, try to anchor your hand in a different way, use your wrist to suport your hands above the strings, or your pinky below the strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAz3F5QqzN4 - he never had lessons and he turned out ok...

Remember an instrument should be an extension of yourself, it should feel natural, you don't think about your arms when you walk.

The most important thing, and this may very well be your problem, do you do warm up exercises?!

That avoids pains, problems and improves the way you play!

Just start SLOWLY with some scales, then up the speed slowly, take your time. String skiping helps a lot to warm up your hands, in the winter do more exercises, they might seem boring but eventually they become like a ritual, and you'll see improvements with time.

The two main points are:

-always do warm up exercises

-practice like there's no tomorrow

[crafty]

+1

You gotta warm up and stretch! And of course it's going to hurt if it's been five months since you last played!

I usually do the Hammett warmup, which is using all four fingers on a chromatic scale starting on the third fret, low E, moving up to the fourth fret, A string, moving up one fret for each string. Then reverse it from the top E down. That way you cover the whole fretboard and it really loosens things up.

Now that you mention it, I was watching the Satriani Live in San Francisco DVD the other night and part of his thing is avoiding cramping up. Playing leads for nearly three hours straight will kill all but the most seasoned pro's hands too.

[prs man]

Blue_Fingers_Jay

Thoughtless 7 sounds like solid advice

I took a break from playing for about 6 month then when I started again it was like finding a long lost friend. there is all kinds of guitar players the pros and then those that play for the enjoyment of just playing. I would find songs you want to play and look them up on the internet there is ton of music sites out there just keep looking and you will find it. take things slow and speed will come as you get better.

we all learn at different speeds so what take me 20 minutes might take someone else a hour.

if you can't read music learn to read tabs and then check out http://www.911tabs.com/

I find this site vary helpful

[ibanez_crazy]

John Petrucci's video has the first section dedicated to warm up exercises, stretching exercises, and pressure points in the hands that help from cramping, not to mention one heck of a technical lesson. Might be worth a shot. I think you need to figure out what works best for you as well. Not that Im his biggest fan, but Eddie Van Halen has a very obscure picking style(the whole crooked wrist thing) but it works for him....and who could argue that? Either way, good luck.....hope your guitar dosent become vintage sitting in the closet.

[westhemann]

you are tensing up to much...you must relax.these guys are right about warming up and practicing...but alot of the benefit of that is you learn to relax.

especially in metal,pick hand workouts are essential...i don't know what style you play,but i practice my speed staccato picking religiously...

[Primal]

Probably the best thing that has ever happened to me as far as technique improvement was the month of upright bass lessons I took. Part of those lessons was the left hand position, and it has helped my electric bass playing, as well as my guitar playing. Basically, with a very relaxed hand, touch the tip of your thumb with the tip of your middle finger. When you play, try to keep that hand position wherever possible. It's not always possible, however for chord work it was invaluable to me (finally I could play all sorts of barre chords!). Likewise, ALWAYS have your thumb near the center of the neck whenever possible. This, along with using the tips of your fingers rather than the pads of your fingers, will help tremendously when it comes to avoiding cramps and other hand-related aches and pains.

[Blue_Fingers_Jay]

Speaking of exercises, some of Paul Gilberts videos have great warming up exercises, and he was a great technique.

I had a scare once, due to not warming up, I even had to stop for some time. I would pick up the guitar and start do play normal speed, really messed up my wrists, be careful.

[GregP]

+1 to most of what's here, but +1 also to doing what's feeling right, within reason. I mean, my touch-typing posture is crap, and normal keyboards wear me out rather quickly. But with wrist support (supposedly "cheating") and an ergonomic keyboard (not "cheating" but not standard) I can go forever. I know it's a poor analogy, but the point is that if you find yourself using postures or techniques that aren't technically 'correct' but they produce less pain, who cares what the 'proper' way is? Follow your body's geometry. Let it do what it wants to do.

To follow up on the analogy a bit, though, you might want to look into an ergonomic guitar of sorts. There are lots of nonstandard options-- fanned frets, body shapes that lend themselves to correct hand placement... shorter scale lengths... Robert Irizarry's blog has lots of info: http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.blogspot.com/ -- today's article is about a twisted fretboard! What an ergonomic keyboard does for my typing, an ergonomic guitar might help you with for your issues.

My strongest advice for now, though, is: by all means, take even more time off and give yourself "physiotherapy"... do warmup and stretching exercises, but limit how long you go for... build up condition but don't push it.

Greg

[Duff Beer Man]

Speaking of exercises, some of Paul Gilberts videos have great warming up exercises, and he was a great technique.

I had a scare once, due to not warming up, I even had to stop for some time. I would pick up the guitar and start do play normal speed, really messed up my wrists, be careful.

I think this is one of my big problems, i dont do any warm up exercises when i start, just jump into some mettalica or whatever. Thats going to change. Also i have a few gilbert exercises written down on paper that im going to start doing. Im also starting to learn his song called scarified, one of the coolest songs i heard in a long time. Im taking it nice and slow.

[Sambo]

I'd first check with your doctor/physiotherapist if you've actually damaged anything in your hand. Don't wanna have broken yer scaphoid and not know about it (that's bad!).

But then, the petrucci rock discipline is good for actual technique and building up strength, and also, try gripmasters (www.gripmaster.net). Work well... start at the lowest tension one and work up.

S

[biliousfrog]

Something that nobody's mentioned yet is your guitar...you didn't say what it was.

There's the obvious stuff like:

high action. If the strings are too high, you'll have to exert much more pressure to hold the strings down which will put a strain on your fingers, hand, forearm & even neck.

Heavy strings. as with high action, the strings will be harder to press down. I played solid for about 10yrs & moved from 9-42's to 10-46's, I then stepped down to occasional play for a few years & went back to 9's because my hand's weren't up to the task of playing 10's anymore....I've now moved up again.

Guitar shape. A flying V isn't going to rest on your thigh like a strat. If you're playing an odd shaped guitar you might be using some of your fretting hands strength to control the guitar, this also applies to neck heavy guitars.

also:

Playing position. It looks cool to play with the guitar around your knee's but your picking arm will have to stretch further causing neck & back problems & your fretting hand will have to bend towards you causing fatigue from the thumb & forearm. There's not as much of a problem when sitting but a comfortable position is still important.

Guitar neck. Thinner neck's aren't more comfortable. If you're learning to play the guitar you need a neck that's going to support your hand until you've built up strength. Thin neck's don't offer any support for the thumb or palm of the hand whereas chunky necks do....they won't offer the speed benefits but you wouldn't learn to drive in a Ferrari would you?

I learnt to play by listening to records & working things out. I'd buy the occasional magazine for the tab but I couldn't afford lessons...& personally, I think that it helped me to develop my own style, not the style of someone else. With tutorials & video's readily available on the internet I can't see why anyone would want to take lessons.

[Primal]

Related to billiousfrog's playing position comment, if you like to play sitting down, try holding the guitar classical style rather than on your right thigh (ironically, this is how most V players hold their guitar when sitting down). It really helps reduce stretching, and puts the neck in the PERFECT spot for playing.

[Duff Beer Man]

I play an epi les paul custom right now. Has 9's on it. Bought it off of musicians friend never done any set up work on it, felt fine out of the box. Oh and thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[Saber]

Here's a very sensible series of online lessons that's great as a starting point.

Guitar Lessons

Follow the links to continue with Part II, Part III, etc.

[GregP]

Something that nobody's mentioned yet is your guitar...

<murmurs something about being chopped liver>