Okay, so I've been doing some chromatic excersizes lately, and can never seem to go for mor than 5 minutes without needing to stop and give my hand a rest. I just experience this mild-to-moderate pain (depending on how long I go) in the muscles in my thumb.
Here is a picture to give you a good idea where I feel it at.
I've circled the general area and have arrows pointing to the main points of discomfort.
So what I'm asking is..Is this something that I should be worried about, or is it just the natural practice pains that one gets?
I also get the same feeling when holding a barre chord for too long. The longer it stays held, the worse the pain gets. Ofcourse.
Do I just need to work my muscles?
Am I pressing too hard against the guitar neck?
I just want to be a little informed on the subject, because I don't want end up injuring myself.
As always. Thank you for your comments and replies.
~Jim~
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you are straining too hard.
real playing is relaxed.
massage it out between songs. it'll take a while before the muscle grows strong enough to widthstand 3 minutes of ringing bar chords.
I get the same pain when doing barre chords. I get frustrated because it just never seems to get any better. The thumb cramps limit my playing. :(
Margaret
When my mind is free, you know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue, the guitar's comin' through to soothe me ~
Well, if I find something that works, I'll surely let you know then. =]
I'm just gonna try to strengthen the muscle itsself, and take Jason's advice and massage it.
I'm sure if It's not some sort of injury that it will gradually get better.
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In my case, I really don't think it's an injury. Doesn't feel injured at all and never hurts when doing anything other than barring chords.
Rather, it's a weak muscle that just doesn't seem to get stronger at any appreciable speed. :evil:
Margaret
When my mind is free, you know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue, the guitar's comin' through to soothe me ~
stretching exersizes before and after along with deep massage will help a lot.
#4491....
Don't use a vibrator....someone may see you and misunderstand your motives. :wink:
"A child of five could understand this...send someone to fetch a child of five !"--Groucho Marx
when i was into rock-climbing, my hands got a lot stronger.
haha. I doubt I'll get into rock climbing anytime soon. Though, that's the only muscle that ever gives me any problem when I'm playing.
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I have the same problem. I can't seem to get the chord fretted without pressing on the thumb in some cases. I think that the muscle just needs to be built up.
you should be able to play even barre chords with only the weight of your arm. that is, you should get a clean barre with no thumb on the neck. of course, you will use the thumb in reality but for anchoring, not tension.
Fretted, like others said its just normal muscle pain. It'll really help if you stretch out your hand (especially your thumb) before you play. You can do this by pushing your left thumb towards your left wrist with your right hand. Hold it for a while. In fact, do this with all of your fingers, bend them back towards your wrist...Obviously, if you hear a bone break, don't bend that far next time ;)
haha. My first thought was that it was natural. I just wanted some reassurance that I wouldn't cause something permanent.
Thanks guys.
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Play through the pain, but know your limits. It's like running, you want to push yourself, but not pull a muscle. So warm up, go above and beyond your limits, feel the burn, but don't have a stroke and or/heart attack.
Hopefully that makes sense.
I've been playing 5 years and I still get pains in my forearm, especially now that I have been trying to play faster stuff.
