Wrist problems

Seeing how later down the road I am going to be playing mostly standing up , I am trying to hold my guitar really comfortable. Basically I am having trouble keeping my wrist straight when holding the guitar and I have the guitar around my torso and a little higher when I am used to and would like to lower .

Basically to avoid having a crooked wrist I find having my palm hold the guitar while fretting . Basically guys I'm at my wits end trying to figure what I am doing wrong .

I have good standing posture and a decent light strap but I think overall my problem is where to position my guitar , keep my wrist straight so I can fret chords/barre chords and notes easily and don't feel any pain .

I was going to post a video but it's too much work to try and position it right for recording . So I'll most likely just take a few images from the front while playing a simple chord as well as take a few images behind the neck that way you can see what my problems are with my guitar posture as well as the way I am holding the guitar .

But any suggestions and examples you can give to help me would be great . Lol I don't wanna be stuck on guitar fundamentals 1 holding the guitar lesson for a whole summer hehe.

Its hard to judge without seeing pictures. Whatever you do, DO NOT "play through pain"... you can really f#@k up your wrist, cause carpal tunnel syndrome and get an injury with may take very long to heal ending your guitar playing for a long time or even permanently.

There are various methods of fretting, and I don't want to stir up a hornet's nest or start a lengthy debate, so what I'll start with is this: see if you can watch a channel like Paladium or something, maybe just browse YouTube and check out players that play the kind of style you're after, but make sure you're watching videos of them playing live. For rock, so guys like Slash, Neil Schon, etc, you will notice that most of the time they wrap the thumb of their fretting hand around the fretboard, forming a more natural "grip" position with their hand rather than the more traditional, classical position of having their thumb pressed directly behind the fretboard at all times. They will move their thumb behind the fretboard when they need to in order to fret chords properly, then then move it right back, especially when playing lead.

What I think this technique does is allow them to keep their wrist relatively straight. Regardless, even though they may look like they are "gripping" the fretboard, I guarantee you they actually have a very light, relaxed touch.

Try to keep your wrist straight when you can, and make sure you're not death choking the fretboard. Try different positions with your thumb, allowing it to wrap around the fretboard so that the neck sits more in your palm, and see if that helps (while it might, it may be difficult or near impossible at first to fret some chords like that... but give it a chance and see how it works for you). Tension is not your friend, and pain is a red light telling you to stop. If you feel wrist pain as you play, stop. If your wrist is sore after playing, you need to stop for as many days as it takes so that it no longer hurts. If you push it, it will get a lot worse fast.

Let us know how you make out, as I'm sure other people would be interested in what works for you and what doesn't.

Originally Posted by: Slipin LizardWhatever you do, DO NOT "play through pain"...

This is very good advice! Playing guitar shouldn't hurt. I have a few friends who unfortunately played through pain, and their problems became permanent. This was with tendinitis though, not wrist pain, but better to be safe than sorry.

As Slipin Lizard said, it's hard to tell without pictures/video, so please post those so we can help you out a bit more.

Lately, I have shortened my strap and raised my guitar, and what a difference that makes. If Tom Morello can have it up high, so can we :). If you really want to have it low, it's a good idea to play barre chords etc. the Jimi Hendrix way, with your thumb fretting the bass note.

Thanks guys for the tips . I had a strap but found it way too heavy and so I took it back and it exchanged for two much lighter ones .

Anyways I'll snap some photos later today so we can get started on getting this problem fixed .

I find that easier on my wrist and easier on reach to keep the body down where I'm comfortable with it, and tilt the neck upwards a little.

Okay guys here are some photos of behind the neck and in front
These two photos from the front and back showing where my wrist is while playing a Am chord



during these photos I've managed to keep my arm pretty straight I think

I pretty much can't play with a straight wrist or I won't be able to reach certain frets. Damn these short fingers!

Ok, the photos help... from my observations and personal experience, when you need to make a bar chord, you're going to need to slide your thumb in behind the fretboard like you are doing for the first few photos. When your doing open chords or soloing, you may want to adopt a position more like what you are doing in the last photo, where you allow your thumb to wrap around.

Again, I don't want to set off any fireworks here, so please understand that there are players, particularly guys that "shred", playing very fast, that will definitely keep their thumb behind the fretboard in the more traditional position. However, these guys often have a very different sound & style that allows them to BARELY put any pressure on the string to make it sound properly... we're talking flat, "fast" necks, light gauge guitar strings and super-overdriven tone. If you're looking at more traditional rock players like I mentioned before, you'll notice that when soloing they tend to allow their thumbs to wrap around, especially when bending, as it really adds support, but also I think its just an over-all more comfortable position.

With a little practice, you should be able to easily fret open chords with the wrapped thumb position that allows your wrist to be straighter than with your thumb directly behind the fretboard. Here's pics I took with my i-Phone to show you what I mean:

This is the traditional "thumb behind the fretboard" position. I find this makes my wrist pretty sore easily (notice how I have to bend my wrist around to get my fingers into position):


Hope this helps. Really do watch for well known rockers to be using the "thumb wrap" technique... you'd be amazed how many guys play like that, so I think there is really something to it.

Okay thanks Slipin Lizard for the tips . I also agree I found your 2nd and 3rd photo the most comfortable positions . The only issue I see though with the thumb wrap position in your second photo is barre chords I don't know if I could form a barre chord especially E-Shape with that position.

I will definitely try doing open chords and such the same way you have shown in photo 3 .

But yeah if you can show me a photo of how you do a barre chord in E shape style with either your thumb wrap technique or the technique from your 3 photo and explain how as well . That would go a long way :)

Merwood,
I didn't notice anything wrong with the hand positioning in the photos. The last one I wouldn't be able to play anything and I wouldn't think anyone could play with a straight wrist unless you're fretting the bass note with the thumb.
Pressure you are exerting is most likely something to look at. Thumb behind the fretboard or where ever you need to place it the fact is to much exertion will lead to all kinds of wrist problems and even tendonitis. Looks like you got some good advice from SL though.

All the best,
Joe Pinnavaia
http://www.joepinnavaia.com

Originally Posted by: Merwood
But yeah if you can show me a photo of how you do a barre chord in E shape style with either your thumb wrap technique or the technique from your 3 photo and explain how as well . That would go a long way :)

For the bar chords, or really any chord where you really have to reach & stretch your fingers across the fretboard, you're going to have to slide your thumb back behind the fretboard and curl your wrist a bit to allow your fingers to stretch out. The trick is to not put too much pressure like Joe says, which is why I included the third photo where I'm not using any part of my hand to brace against the fretboard. The point there is just to show that just getting the strings down in many cases will give you enough pressure to properly fret the notes.

Joe, just so you know as far as people "not being able to play anything" with the thumb curled around like I have it, first of all, believe me, the picture is showing how I'll fret the chord and the chord will sound cleanly. Second of all, like I said in my two previous posts, please check out lots of rockers/guitarists like Neal Schon, Slash, Keith Richards, BB King etc. All these guys play with their thumb wrapped around most of the time. I know a lot of instructors insist on the traditional classical technique of keeping the thumb behind the fretboard, but for rock/pop music that includes a lot of lead notes & bending, there are TONS of guys that play with their thumb wrapped around. I know you'll respond, but please, before you do and we get into a big debate, go look on YouTube and watch some live vids of well-known rock guitarists, and you'll see what I mean. Even Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen play wrapping their thumb around, and then sliding it back behind the fretboard when they need to stretch for some chords or big reaches during solos. You'll notice Eddie when he plays simpler rock chords keeps his thumb wrapped around. Please take a look around so you know that what I'm saying is true. Thanks!

No argument from me - I agree just in reference to the photos that Merwood posted the last one with the wrist like that I would have difficulty with playing. Everyone's hands are capable of different things - for me I never played in that style and now that I'm on to some of Carl Verheyen's playing he uses his thumb in single note playing to incorporate large interval leaps. A real challenge for myself.
A lot of younger players are not used to that style as well. I come from a more fusion background and Allan Holdsworth was anything but traditional!