Originally Posted by: DreamWashedHi,
I've been playing guitar for about a year now, but even after constant practice I can't seem to play bar chords for very long without having hand pain after a few minutes. I know for most people it's their wrist that hurts, but in my case it seems to just be the muscle between my thumb and index finger that gets very sore. I was thinking maybe I don't have proper technique?
Any suggestions would be really appreciated
Hi DreamWashed.
A little tip that may be of use to you, especially if practise time is limited.
I hold a small softish ball between the thumb and first finger of left hand
( tennis ball or the like) and squeeze it, hold the pressure for a moment or two and repete. I do this when I cannot actually use the guitar. (on bus or whatever). It will help that particular muscle group to develop.
One other thing I would check is are you applying too much pressure to the Barre?
Try relaxing your grip until the strings lose the clean ring then gently apply more pressure until they ring clean.
I suggested this as I found when I was trying to play Barre chords I had a Death grip on the neck of the guitar, without realizing. A little adjustment of the position of my finger got the strings sounding true without all the amount of pressure I was applying!
Hope you find this useful.
Mike