Hand And Wrist Pain Learning Guitar

It is quite normal for new players to find that they experience hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. If you are one of those people don’t let it put you off. Learning to play guitar is quite a physical activity for your arms, hands and fingers. Really it is tantamount to taking up a new and vigorous sport!

It would be unthinkable to attempt to run a marathon until you can run around the block and even running around the block can hurt the first time. Nobody would attempt a marathon without some thought and preparation beforehand.

Taking part in any sport puts the demand on you that you be as fit and alert as you can be and that you are relaxed and in the right frame of mind.

Taking that position foreword then and applying it to your guitar lessons and practice it would be good to have some routine in place that will optimise the value of the session and reduce the incidence of hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar.

To take the most out of a lesson in learning to play guitar take a short walk before you begin if you can. You will be amazed how much more benefit you will get out of the session with a clear mind and your circulation refreshed. It doesn’t have to be vigorous, it doesn’t have to be long. Taking exercise and breathing fresh air delivers a wonderful tonic to the circulation, so important if you are going to spend time playing your guitar.

Now physically and mentally prepared it is important to try and have a clear and tidy space in which to take your lessons. A suitable chair or stool is so important too. You need to be comfortable and at ease to play guitar properly. You need a clear head You should feel stress free and relaxed after all you are going to enjoy this.

Make a point of wearing loose clothing. Tight clothing can interfere with blood flow especially to the arms and hands. Remember that your watch might scratch or mark your guitar if you leave it on.

A lot is talked about stretching and warming up exercises and I have covered some of these in another article, sore guitar fingers! Suffice it to say that before picking up the guitar some stretching apart of the fingers and perhaps a little grip strengthening with a soft ball or the like is enough. The best way of warming up, much as you might jog a while before you start sprinting, is to just quietly and slowly strum a few chords or play some gentle guitar songs to loosen up.

Now you are using and working muscles that have previously not had to adopt the positions or been subject to the stretching that you now ask of them. Is it not to be expected then that at first they react by giving a degree of hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar?

Your fretting hand is held out away from you supporting and fretting the guitar neck which is a stress position, just try holding your arm out horizontally without the guitar, you won’t do it for long! The blood flow to the hands is reduced because your hands are normally held down not up. Reduction of blood flow will cause the onset of pins and needles and will result in aching in the arm and hand.

Significant in obviating hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar, do keep practice sessions short. Take a break and take a walk to the coffee pot occasionally. Stretch your hands rotate your arms and wrists and grab a coffee. This is a learning curve for you, for your arms, your wrists, your hands and your fingers. Practice a little but practice often. Three twenty minute sessions will deliver a greater value than one continuous hour. That is definitely so in the beginning of your guitar playing journey.

Don’t let yourself be beaten by this short lived problem of hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. It will pass with practice and muscle familiarity as you play more and more.

Following a really professional course of instruction such as that produced by Legacy Learning Systems and looked at in detail in our Learn & Master Guitar review will be of benefit to anyone worried about hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. The help and advice given by the award winning guitar professional Steve Krenz who wrote and hosted the course is a must for anyone at any level wishing to learn from scratch or improve their existing guitar skills. Find out more about Steve Krenz at our Steve Krenz review page.

By: GuitarMan

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GuitarAccord.com is a website dedicated to the promotion of guitar learning. If you are looking to start playing the guitar then start by looking at GuitarAccord.com where you will find the best courses available to you today.Read about our top course at Learn & Master Guitar review and about its creator, guitar guru Steve Krenz at our Steve Krenz review