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jubjub721

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Jan 10, 2004
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936
Location
wichita
for some reason my hand has been cramping up really fast. i cant seem to find a comfy position to play. after about 5 mins of play my hand hurts

iv been playin for three years. is there somthing wronge with what im doing? os there anything i can do to help it?
 

spectorbassguy

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Feb 19, 2004
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Location
Central Iowa
Relax! I find that when I play something particularly tough, I tend to tense up and my hands will cramp. It always helps to make a conscious effort to relax. ;)
 

MingusBASS

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Apr 17, 2004
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Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Lets just hope it's not bad technique that has finally caught up with you...

Do you play extremely hard? If so try to ease up on your touch. Its not about how "strong" your hands are its about how they can work efficiently. Usually the harder you play the more tense your hands are likely to be. Your speed will be greatly diminished by the tension.

but yeah... Relax

Andrew
 

dlloyd

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Mar 16, 2004
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Location
Scotland
jubjub721 said:
for some reason my hand has been cramping up really fast. i cant seem to find a comfy position to play. after about 5 mins of play my hand hurts

iv been playin for three years. is there somthing wronge with what im doing? os there anything i can do to help it?

Left hand?
 

JB1

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Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
1,292
It's always a good idea to have a warm-up before playing.

Also do some exercises when not playing (stretching etc).

This will help either hand. If it's your right (and assuming you a plucker), as mentioned above, you may be playing too hard. Ease off & if you lose any volume, bring the input up on your amp. Viola!
 

dlloyd

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Mar 16, 2004
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Scotland
JB1 said:
It's always a good idea to have a warm-up before playing.

Also do some exercises when not playing (stretching etc).

This will help either hand. If it's your right (and assuming you a plucker), as mentioned above, you may be playing too hard. Ease off & if you lose any volume, bring the input up on your amp. Viola!

+1

I used to frequently get cramping in my hand, in the muscle labelled below as the m. flexor pollicis brevis...

Hand.jpg


It's from gripping too hard. I still get it from time to time, which is an indication I don't have my technique quite up to scratch. Apparently, you should be able to take your thumb away from the back of the neck without affecting your fretting ability too much... doesn't quite work like that for me :)
 

mike not fat

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Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Messages
488
Getting your hands and arms warm ist important.

I also had pain in the left hand in the past. Things were getting better by :
- begining to stretch slowely my hands, arms, wrists and shoulders
- starting to play slow parts to get warm, and then increasing the speed or difficulty of the songs
- finishing by some stretch exercise (hands, arms, wrist, shoulders)
- applying a pomade to fight the inflammation of the hand and forearm tendon (the problem was mostly a tendonit).

Avoiding to play during some days, and continuing to stretch and use pomade also helped.

Also check the action of the strings. The higger they are, the more strength and tension you'll need to play.

Hands are fragile so be careful. Hope it'll get better.

MNF
 

dlloyd

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Mar 16, 2004
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Location
Scotland
mike not fat said:
Getting your hands and arms warm ist important.

Running some hot water over them before playing can also help if you have't got time to warm up conventionally.
 

JB1

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Aug 2, 2004
Messages
1,292
Or 'Cracking one off' - good for the bloodflow......

....but not necessarily in the hands :p
 
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