Pain ,is it good?

FAirly recent returnee to the fold,restarting from scratch .Ploughing my way through 1&2 tutorials. Struggling a bit by doing just 10 mins a day. THis weekend had a bit of a Eurica moment when I discovered that if I pick anew lesson (early bird gala) at the moment .,practice the awkward bits till the fingers scream.Stop, recover and practice the whole tune untill the shoulder screams .stop, recover then practice untill the wife,children ,neibours E.c.t. Scream at me.Then stop .Seems to work so far, my question is ,is this the pattern for my life from now on?

Originally Posted by: biker-mouse

FAirly recent returnee to the fold,restarting from scratch .Ploughing my way through 1&2 tutorials. Struggling a bit by doing just 10 mins a day. THis weekend had a bit of a Eurica moment when I discovered that if I pick anew lesson (early bird gala) at the moment .,practice the awkward bits till the fingers scream.Stop, recover and practice the whole tune untill the shoulder screams .stop, recover then practice untill the wife,children ,neibours E.c.t. Scream at me.Then stop .Seems to work so far, my question is ,is this the pattern for my life from now on?

Each time you push yourself further, you might feel a little finger and wrist discomfort, but nothing as bad as during the first days (months) of learning a specific technique.

But the shoulder pain should not be happening. Try revisiting your posture (even playing standing up, if you have a strap, to see if it changes anything and try to replicate that while sitting down, not hunching, relaxed shoulders, arms close to your body, etc).

And I'm afraid there is not much we can do regarding the wife/kids/neighbours... buying some earplugs and sharing them around?

What you are feeling in your shoulder may be due to your age and physical condition. When I took up the guitar at age 55 the "system" as I refer to it between my finger tips to my lower back, was not accustomed to the posture, the stretching etc and I had significant discomfort for several months. Now no issues other than occassional finger tip pain which seems to be somthing that comes and goes for no apparent reason even though I have significant callus build up.

However, what is discomfort to one, may be pain to another.

Good luck.

Sixty year old restarted,the shoulder I think is playing up when I practice chords.Ive got one of those freebie sheets that come with new strings and I challenge myself to go through them ,apart from all the f bar chords.i find when I start I'm all contorted and trying to push my fingers through the neck of the guitar .once I have them sorted I seem to be able to relax,c7and g have been a pain but are improving.B is improving ,but a as for F.maybe laterAs they say,practice,practice ,practice!