Pain in the Back !?!

You mean of the fretting hand? Could either be that you're using muscles you haven't used before much (just like starting to do some fitness excersises after not having done much sport for years) or it could be that your posture is not totally correct and you're putting additional strain on your hand. Usually it is a mix. If the pain is a sharp and intense immediately stop playing and consult your doctor.

It could also be that you're too tense....I sometimes find, especially when I'm working on a new song, that I'm concentrating so hard I forget to relax, and end up with backache....

Like Arjen said, good posture is important....but try and relax too...and don't forget to breathe!!!

:D :D :D

Vic

yeah agreeing here also loosen up , try not to be so tense this is fun not hard work , ( it's only hard when starting out )

cheers

I agree with Vic. Sometimes I'll feel my neck straining or my arms are too stiff...You may not realized you are so tense. When you feel the pain just stop a minute and take a dep breath and close your eyes to relax. Let your arms hang loose.

I wasn't being facetious BTW when I said "don't forget to breathe"...I sometimes find myself holding my breath....and muscles starved of oxygen tend to cramp up or ache...

:D :D :D

Vic.

You might find Jamie Andreas' thoughts useful.

There's an article here called "Discover Your Discomfort" - click here to read

There's also some stuff about posture on the website:

Some posture pictures

Home Page of Jamie's Site - click to visit

Any new physical activity will stress the body in unfamiliar ways, so be careful not to overdo it. As the others said, get your posture right, learn to relax, and try to build the length of sessions up slowly.

I agree with Vic's thoughts about breathing too - I'm a shocker at holding my breath when I'm really concentrating! :wink:

Let your wrist do the work.

I had bicep stiffness on the picking hand side when I was learning tremolo - I was getting tense, and trying to do it with the wrong muscles.

Everything that was said previously is really good sound advice. I got a few things to add/ask.

I'm guessing this is a musculoskeletal-type pain - ie does it feels like a bone, muscle or joint type pain?

Is it sharp, and can you put your finger on it; or is it dull and spread over some area?

Does it come on suddenly or does it start off gradually and get progressively worse?

Does it stop after you stop playing?

Is it worse in certain positions?

If it's a musculoskeletal pain, that is dull, starts off gradually and gets worse, is worse in certain postures but not in others - then it should subside in a few days, and is most probably due to you being unaccustomed to the position you play in. When you play, get up after 15mins and have a good body stretch. Keep getting up every so often to lets your back muscles recover. As a noob (i'm a newbie too BTW) your trying so hard to get everything right, that you're all tense and tight. This should settle and as you realx and get more used to the position, this should get better.

Any sudden onset sharp (or dull pain) should definately be checked by your doc. In fact if this doesn't get better in the next week or two, or gtes worse, then see your doc anyway.

Hope this answers your question.

Mart.

PS This message does not constitute medical advice and following any of the instructions contain herein is done at your own risk and i cannot be held accountable.

PPS I'm a 5th yr med student and hopefully i'll be a doctor next year, so hopefully is my pseudo-professional non-advice is actually correct! :wink:

hey doc !!

here's the deal
the niggle's not very sharp and stays mostly focussed arount the right side of neck ,a little bit of the back and some " feeling" in rite biceps ..

i dont think it's serious ..as when i stretch my back .. i hear sum popping noise like when u do neck exercises or crack knucles ...

but i'll probably c a doctor as this niggle has been around for a while ..it's frustratrating not to pin point any areas though !!

thanx for the concern , u all !

PS : does havin a slight beer belly create playin a jumbo acoustic !?!

That does sound musculoskeletal and is probably caused by mild inflammation of the smallers and deeper muscles close to the vertebrae and ribs. The biceps pain is probably MSS too, and again it's probably due to tension when sitting/playing.

Stretch will not help once the micro-tears have happened, but after they've healed up good as new, then some gentle stretching should help.

Mart.

PS Losing the beer gut can only help!

been there, done that,----- t222222 tense, relax 8)