Hi,
I´ve been playing for 3 years and I can fret all the Barre Chords, 7th Chords etc.. just fine. But when I´m playing a song that almost only contains Barre Chords my left hand gets very tired after a minute and even starts to hurt a little bit (in the area that´s connected to the thumb). Same thing happens when I´m playing octaves on the A and G String. Power Chords are actually better. Am I just pushing to hard or is my hand position maybe wrong?
Thanks in advance (But please don´t tell me to use only power chords).
It could be either/both.
You only need enough pressure to fret the notes cleanly - which is a lot less than most people use.
Your wrist should be relatively straight. If it's cocked at an angle, you can do a few things to straighten it out - what works depends on exactly where the problem is coming from. You can:
- raise the headstock
- move your elbow out more from your body
- change the neck angle - if the headstock is to near/far from your shoulder, that will affect your hand position
- make sure you're not 'tipping' the guitar (a lot of people do this - so they can watch their hands)
- turn your hand slightly - for a right handed guitarist, the turn is counter-clockwise - so you barre with a bit more of the side of your finger.
Also, do drills that strengthen the side of your hand. Walking fingers 2-4 and 3-4 across the fretboard helps.
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