filling my time off due to pain

I must take some time off from playing due to my severe wrist pain that has been developing over the last couple weeks. I have an appt with my primary care dr on Monday who used to be a physical therapist also. I know he will know what to do. Whatever it involves, I know the first step is some extended time away from playing both the guitar and ukulele. I have chronic pain issues to begin with, so I'm wondering if that has also played into this problem.

So, can anyone recommend how to still make the most of this time off physical playing? I can still go through some music theory lessons on here but was thinking I'll still go through the rest of the Fundamentals 2 courses and just watch for now. I will have to go through them again once I can play again, assuming I will be able to play again. (let's hope!) I have also joined 30 Day Singer, the sister site of Guitar Tricks, and am loving the sequential, structured program on there as well. I plan to do some good, old fashioned 'listening' to music as well and do some exploring of genre's.

Am I forgetting anything? Is there anything else I can add to my list of to-do's? I have a new music theory book for guitarists arriving on Thursday so I plan to dive into that, too. (I'm a lover of pages....so I have many songbooks and theory books now!)

Thanks for any tips. It is very much appreciated

Sounds like a good opportunity to start practicing singing. Although the same over use pattern can develop there. Don't over strain your voice trying to sing barr chords... (a little humor to lift the load of your being laid up).

:-)

Good luck

Originally Posted by: SusanMW

So, can anyone recommend how to still make the most of this time off physical playing?

SNIP

Am I forgetting anything? Is there anything else I can add to my list of to-do's?

Sounds to me that you have thought it through and have it all pretty much covered both usefully and pragmatically insofar as you can. What you already have planned will soak up loads of time. Hitting F2 without the playthrough is a good idea, if it might frustrate you a little in not being able to play.

Other possibilities.

String change & cleaning? Guitar maintenance/mods if you're into that. Can't recall if you have any other guitars than your Ibanez and uke. With electrics, string changes, cleaning, setup, saddle and pickup heights, saddle radius, intonation, truss rod adjustments, polishing frets, fitting new pickups, pots capacitors, shielding cavities etc..

Deeper famil with using your recording kit and app. Can't recall if you have a hardware DI. i.e. U-Phoria or Scarlett.

Ohhhh, those are all good thoughts, thank you!

I do have an Ibanez electric guitar too. I just changed the strings on my acoustic but I can see what the electric is looking like, too.

I didn't even think about my recording stuff. I am looking to get a new laptop soon so it can handle more video and audio editing that I do. So I can start working on some tutorials for certain programs and get more familiar with things. And organize some files. Although, lately my editing is just trimming the beginning and end when I start and stop the camera. The sound is fine now that I know how close to hold the microphone to my guitar and my voice. :) It is fine for my goals right now, which is just to share stuff on YouTube with friends, family, groups, etc. Helps with encouragement. :)

Thanks again, I feel like I have a good handle on how I'll pass this time. :) (Down time in COVID years is foreverrrrrrrr.)

Yikes, I'm so sorry to hear that your pain is that bad, Susan! What a bummer, since it seems like you've been making great progress.

Yes to deep listening. I've been doing more of that -- focusing only one listening without multitasking at all, and it's amazing how much richer the experience is.

Are you interested at all in songwriting? Because you don't actually need to play to write a song. You can compose the melody/lyrics by singing it out loud into a recorder, and then when you're feeling better, you can put the chords to it. I write most of my stuff walking my dog or driving, with nary a guitar in reach.

How about playing around with piano instead? You can use one finger and go plunk plunk if necessary, just to play with melodies, and if you wrap your wrist, that should work okay? If you're working on theory, this would be a way to do that without it being completely out of context.

And let's not neglect inspiration, either -- there are some wonderful documentaries on music and musicians out there, and books, too, to inspire and provoke. David Byrne's How Music Works is a good read with lots of intriguing concepts in it. If you're into country at all, the Garth Brooks documentary on Netflix (The Road I'm On) is breaktakingly good -- a more courageous documentary by/about an artist I've not seen. And there's lots more, depending on your style and inclination.

Get better soon!

Oh, I forgot to add, depending on which wrist is in pain (assuming it's just one), you can still practice with the other hand. If it's your strumming hand that's out of the game, you can still practice chord changes and fretting. If it's your left, there's fingerpicking and strumming. Two hands not required.

Those are great ideas, Faith. This is why I love this forum.. :)

I hadn't even thought of songwriting and that's definitely something I want to get into. I have Lisa's songwriting toolbox program but haven't started it yet. I have her Ear Training program too. I have a STACK of poems that I've written in the last ten years about my chronic pain issues and adventures so I've always wanted to turn some of those into songs. Or something. Maybe just work parts of them into songs.

Documentaries are a great idea too. I have been watching a lot of them on Amazon Prime but will definitely check out the Garth Brooks one on Netflix. I'm not really a big country lover, but I do love him!

Originally Posted by: faith83

Oh, I forgot to add, depending on which wrist is in pain (assuming it's just one), you can still practice with the other hand. If it's your strumming hand that's out of the game, you can still practice chord changes and fretting. If it's your left, there's fingerpicking and strumming. Two hands not required.

Ahhh, I had thought of that too! My bad hand is the left/fretting one so I tried just fingerpicking patterns with my right but then that gave me problems too. :/ I dug out my brace from years ago. But may need another....argh...

Glad the thoughts were helpful, Susan!

I meant to add that if you want to practice one handed and it's your strumming hand that's still functional, and if you aren't wild about spending all your time in Em, you can tune your guitar to drop-D, perhaps more melodious...

Not good with banal "get well soon" type gestures, but you have my sincere empathy Susan.

Chronic pain is no fun at all. I do hope a solution or some treatment is forthcoming so that things improve for you quickly.

From your You Tube vids, I think you're doing extremely well all things considered and that you only started 6 months ago. Keep your spirits up!

Thank you so much, will do! I recorded House of the Rising Sun on ukulele the other day, fingerpicking and strumming it and it turned out pretty good for a beginner...You can see it here if you're interested... I already had the chords in a guitar songbook...but the GT tutorial on here actually helped me out with the flow of the song... :D I'm going to keep working on improving the singing while I'm off and mentally practice the guitar version.

Also, Faith....I did some work yesterday to find my 'vocal range' and discovered I'm a contralto. So I've been making lists of singers who are contralto's and will keep an eye out for songs. :)

Originally Posted by: SusanMW

Also, Faith....I did some work yesterday to find my 'vocal range' and discovered I'm a contralto. So I've been making lists of singers who are contralto's and will keep an eye out for songs. :)

Who's on your list? (out of curiousity)

Some that I found were....

Stevie Nicks (LOVE)

Toni Braxton

Pink

Melissa Ethridge

Brandi Carlile (also really love)

Patsy Cline

Joni Mitchell

Etta James

Alicia Keys

Bonnie Tyler

Dido

Cher

Karen Carpenter

Taylor Dayne

Nina Simone

Shawn Colvin

Florence Welch

Cool list, huh? I definitely feel like "these are my people"...ha!

Nice list! This is more or less my vocal range as well. (Stevie is a major influence for me as well!)

A few additions, if I may...

Kathy Mattea (have you heard her reinvention album, Pretty Bird? It's stunning and I think you'd love it. $9 on Bandcamp and more than worth it)

Marianne Faithfull

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Linda Ronstadt

Jessi Colter (who originally made me want to be a singer/songwriter when I was a little girl)

John Denver (you know I had to add him and yep, he's a male and a tenor but his range probably fits yours as it does mine, like a velvet glove)

Ohhh thank you so much for those! I'm definitely adding it to my list.

Susan, I deal with chronic back pain that often prohibits me from playing/practicing so I appreciate what you're going through. I hope your doc has some good suggestions.

I like your idea to study theory during your down time. I have this and recommend it:

Edly's Music Theory for Practical People. = https://www.edly.com/mtfpp.html

Originally Posted by: matonanjin2

Susan, I deal with chronic back pain that often prohibits me from playing/practicing so I appreciate what you're going through. I hope your doc has some good suggestions.

I like your idea to study theory during your down time. I have this and recommend it:

Edly's Music Theory for Practical People. = https://www.edly.com/mtfpp.html

Thanks for that suggestion! I just ordered the No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists book so I'm eager to see how that helps me. It should be arriving tomorrow.