wrist question

[triple_F]

i've read in a lot of different books that your wrist should be straight on your fretting hand. however, i find that the closer i get to the thick E string, the harder it is to keep my wrist straight and the more my wrist starts to really bend. i also find it even harder to keep my wrist straight when going up to the higher frets (12th fret and beyond). how can i solve this?

[Kevin Taylor]

Never heard that one before, unless you're specifically talking about classical guitar.
Otherwise, all I can say is don't worry about it.
Your wrist and fingers will naturally find the best angles over a period of time.

Classical's a different story. The strings are further apart and there's a lot of chords and stretching involved. The technique is usually leaning more toward keeping your thumb on the back of the neck and keeping a bit of a stiff posture. (just my opinion though... I play classical sometimes but never took any formal training in it)

[Trinivalts]

My wrist gets tired pretty fast when I'm useing barre chords and the more tired it gets the more weaker my grip on the strings are, thus the sound gets worse and the buzz gets even more audiable.

[Akira]

Straight wrist? Sounds like BS to me.

Experiment with moving your wrist around to find a comfort zone i.e. try bringing your wrist more under the neck (for those big stretch chords) or bringing your palm into the neck (useful for holding a C major chord as an example).

[ren]

I was originally classically trained, and it is true that classical teachers say you should play with your wrist as straight as possible, with totally in line being the best option. To do this you have to pretty much play with the guitar on your chin and your fretting hand at eye level. This approach has advantages in reach at lower frets, but is near impossible up the top end of the neck without moving the guitar to your forehead...

It's a compromise - obviously, if you try to shred while playing with your guitar hanging around your knees, you're putting more stress on your wrist and tendons and increasing the likelihood of injury.

If you're not in pain doing whatever you are doing, you're OK as far as I'm concerned. You don't get carpel tunnel overnight....

[Grambo]

My thumb is all over the back of the neck whilst playing - my wrist always aches when playing lots of bar chords

[Trinivalts]

My thumb is all over the back of the neck whilst playing - my wrist always aches when playing lots of bar chords

Exactly the same problem for me!

[Akira]

My thumb is all over the back of the neck whilst playing - my wrist always aches when playing lots of bar chords

Hmm, have you tried moving your thumb around whilst playing a barre chord?

You could maybe try having the thumb adjacent to your barring finger, or to the centre of the chord position (if that makes sense). I'd advise to try different positions.

[Grambo]

okeydoke, i'll try that.