holding down barre cords for a long period of time hurts on a acoustic..any advise on how to lighten it up a bit?
I may grow old, but I'll never grow up.
Keep doing it :)
In all seriousness, it's just a question of building up your hand strength. It gets easier with time and practice. I found that after spending a lot of time on my acoustic, I actually had to re-learn how to play my electric to an extent due to the fact that I was fretting hard enough to make all my chords sound sharp. My fingers had become much stronger and I had to lighten my touch a bit on the electric.
Just stick with it, stop playing when it gets painful (don't want to stress/strain your muscles!) and watch yourself improve as your strength builds up. :)
If it hurts, you may be pressing too hard. Drop your thumb down to the middle of the back of the neck and let the weight of your arm hold the strings down. As you get better at positioning your arm and wrist, you should use less and less pressure. It will come with practice and experience.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
hand strength takes time.
and my old saw:
when barring chords have your thumb pointing towards the headstock. you are able to aply more effective pressure that way.
All the above and double check that the guitar is 'set-up' properly.
"Things may get a whole lot worse/ Before suddenly falling apart"
Steely Dan
"Look at me coyote, don't let a little road dust put you off" Knopfler
