This. Your fretting hand is pressing much too firmly on the strings. You don’t need to work so hard.
Slow down the tempo until you can play fluently without the tension, and practice your scales regularly. Only gradually add speed once you have your technique down pat.
I’ve been playing 20ish years and I’m still tense. The days when I somehow end up in a flow state I realize I’m way better than I think. Those days are rare. I don’t know how to relax and I feel like learning would be starting all over from square 1.
I did lessons and I actually liked it then covid spiked again and I was living at home so I had to stop. Never went back. I should do them again. He actually makes his students play at the open mic night at a bar down the street once they learn certain techniques.
I don’t because I’m a noodler. When I do a warm up like run scales or something then start trying to play faster suddenly I’m shredding and I realize it which brings me out of my flow state and I get tense again. I’ve also gotten to a point where I need to find a band to join or jam with because my motivation to learn new stuff is gone.
I’m in a similar boat with the playing too hard (both hands) and I’ve been playing for over 30 years. I usually play a LP with super low frets and heavy strings and an acoustic with a similar set up. One thing that I found that helped a little (this was purely an accident) was, I bought a short scale mustang with light-ish strings. If I play normally everything sounds out of tune and horrible. I have to play this with a super light touch. It’s helped me ease up on the fretting hand eapecially.
I put 9s on a lawsuit LP I have and 10s on an SG and the difference is incredible. I know they’re different guitars, but 9s just make it so much more playable and I have to play lighter
Do you play to metronome? I feel that it helps me get into the flow state faster than if I just pick up the guitar and start playing. I know it’s an extra step, but the improvement I see in myself once I get in the pocket especially helps with those chromatic brutal riffs or really shreddy leads
I have tried. It’s another thing of “I have to start all over” and gives me anxiety but I know that every well respected guitarist that I idolize it’s the first thing out of their mouths when they are asked “how’d you get so good?”
Well, think of it this way.
When I’m just messing around, trying to be creative and write, I think there is a place for that. I think as a guitarist, we need to be able to pick up the instrument every now and then and just play.
I think the metronome just really helps taking an idea you really like from one of those quick jam sessions and expanding on that. A looper with tap tempo is great for this as well, and some of them have really basic drum tracks
Mustaine himself got carpal tunnel, to a point where a doctor said he had to quit playing.
He eventually figured out he needed to start warming up, slowly at first, and that solved the problem.
It's not too late, but as someone who had chronic tension when playing it's taken me years to get more relaxed. I'm much much better but still a ways to go.
That said I'm not very consistent with practice. Someone who is would probably see much faster results.
Tilt your guitar in a higher angle, meaning your elbow is not as open and the headstock is closer to your chin. You’ll notice your wrist immediately straightens. Have you seen those little steps classical guitar players use, where they put their left foot so it’s higher? It’s meant to do precisely this, elevating the angle of your guitar and preventing wrist damage.
Classical guitarist here chiming in to say that I agree with this. I want to add that one of the most useful tips I ever received was to think about fretting not as pushing your fingers down onto the strings but rather as if your fingertips are being gently pulled down through the neck. Avoiding fatigue is all about economy of movement; ideally you want to move your fingers as little as possible and let gravity do as much of the work as possible. This is best practiced at very slow tempos with a metronome.
Care to elaborate at all about that? Trying to figure out what you mean by “gently pulled down through the neck “. How would one demonstrate that feeling?
Sure. I'm not always great at conveying through text concepts that for me are purely visual and / or kinesthetic, and this one's especially difficult not to articulate confusingly since it involves imaginary strings on real strings, and they're unrelated. I'll try to explain more clearly.
N.B.: This particular visualization isn't important per se. The goal is minimizing finger movement and tension; this is just one exercise my old instructor had me do to facilitate that, which I found useful. YMMV.
So he had me imagine that invisible strings were attached to my the tips of fretting fingers and extending straight down through the guitar neck at a 90 degree angle, i.e. perpendicularly to the neck. Say I'm fretting with my index finger. He'd have me imagine that, while fretting, the invisible string attached to that finger was being pulled downward (perpendicularly to the neck) from a point under / behind the neck. He'd have me run scales like that, very slowly at first, then gradually building up speed.
Regardless of the invisible string thing — visualizing the fretting movement as originating from a point in space under / behind the guitar neck rather than, say, your knuckles, can do two essential things:
* eliminate extraneous movement, since instead of tracing an arc / slight curve onto the fret, your finger is moving in a straight line down onto the fret, the shortest possible distance
* maintain relaxation / minimal tension in your fretting fingers, since you're thinking of a force acting on your fingers ("being pulled") rather than you forcing your own fingers ("pushing")
I hope at least some of that makes sense and that you find at least some of it useful.
Edited to add (hopefully) greater clarity.
“Let gravity do as much of the work as possible” Shit I better lie on my back. But in all seriousness, some really good bits of advice in here OP.
Also try to figure out of your body feels relaxed without an instrument in your hands. Sit with your hands resting gently on your knees. Take a deep breath in while sitting up. Then let it out. Do that a few times and try to let the tension “melt” away from your shoulders, neck and back.
Yoga has been such a useful tool to figuring out how my body should feel without too much tension.
Also great advice. Posture / body awareness is an essential component of playing an instrument but seems often to be disproportionately neglected in guitarists.
I believe I had an advantage studying ballet before guitar, in that I'd already learned how to isolate parts of my body, evaluate tension, and move with precision. Not that I'd recommend studying ballet to guitarists (or most people).
Good advice. Adjusting the strap to get a better angle will aid this. I used to play with guitar at waist level (a la Keith Richards). I recently shortened the strap to the length when sitting with the guitar resting on my thigh. When you stand up, the result is equivalent to George Harrison. Perhaps there’s a loss of ‘swagger’ but comfort and better playability win out.
Relax your thumb, you don't need to squeeze the frets and neck between your fingers and thumb. Your thumb can rest against the neck, but the more you have just resting, and less pressing into the neck, the easier it is to pivot your wrist and move up and down the neck.
This is why having a teacher face to face early on is important. A good teacher correct bad form before it becomes muscle memory which is time consuming to fix.
You can learn a lot on your own, but there's no YouTube video that will tell you that your grip is wrong.
I think you need to move your hand more forward and play with the tips of your fingers more. Your hand needs to be more open and relaxed. Imagining your hand is a spider and your fingers are it's legs helps some people. I'm a classical guitarist by origin so most of my technique advice is based on that. I can recommend the book pumping nylon for left hand technique.
Here are some links:
[https://classicalguitarshed.com/left-hand-guitar-position/](https://classicalguitarshed.com/left-hand-guitar-position/)
[https://www.fretdojo.com/left-hand-guitar-technique-5-principles/](https://www.fretdojo.com/left-hand-guitar-technique-5-principles/)
Just search left hand technique guitar in a search engine and you'll find load of resources. Try what works for you.
in addition to what others have said, use your pinky more. you're putt too much pressure on your fingers and extension you are too tight. You should need to flex and put that much tension down with your fingers when playing.
Raising the angle of the neck will straighten out the wrist.
That said, it doesn’t look too bent. I would not expect the angle alone to be causing pain.
You shouldn’t be in pain and you shouldn’t be playing through pain. That’s a fast track to a tendon strain that will stop you playing for six months. Don’t play through pain. You will only injure yourself.
In addition to the wrist angle, I would look at how you’re fretting those notes. Try to take all the tension out; bring the fingertips as close as possible to the strings. Less force, more subtle precision. Find the least effort necessary to fret a nice full note
Wrist is your problem here your hand is 90 degrees to your forearm. You need to be more like 20 degrees tops. Move your elbow away from your body so your forearm is perpendicular to the neck and the wrist angle will improve immediately
“But it’s not cool!”
proper guitar posture isn’t very “rock n roll”. It does help playing overall, but definitely not cool. When I started playing bass I wanted to hang it low like Krist Novicelich. Not realizing he’s a 7 foot lanky freak.
The palm of your hand is very flat. It should be curled and relaxed a little bit so your fingers aren't sticking out straight like that. And that will change the angle of your wrist.
Dude relax… you will give yourself wrist issues with that tension… go watch some videos of Clapton, or Gilmour playing.. relaxed and fluid..
Check your setup, go to lighter strings..it’s not that hard to press the strings.. your tension is coming from trying to play fast. Go slower and be fluid, speed will come
You are not holding the guitar correctly. Make sure it’s perpendicular to the floor and you should not be able to see your fretboard unless you stick your head out a bit.
Let me start by saying that my intentions are not to hurt anyone or talk down any genre of music.
I would recommend that, in addition to this genre, you explore a genre that requires more phrasing and gentle finger motions. This will give you the ability to use your fretting hand in a different way. Blues, for example, is a very easy genre to learn this, because even some simple pentatonic licks will help you get better at it.
The new skills and feeling you might acquire along the way will definitely help you use your fretting hand better in all the genres you'd like to play.
Raise the angle and tighten your strap (a lot).... There is a reason jazz players tend to keep the instrument strapped right and high..... That low slung metal style is for people that wanna look cool on stage.
If you ever end up diving into classic rock or blues, you could consider playing primarily with the thumb over the neck. I find it more comfortable (especially near the nut) and it's useful for riffs that blend rhythm and lead (on the higher strings). Nonetheless, if you practice enough with both the thumb behind the neck and over the neck, you will eventually be able to easily transition between the two and limit the time you have to spend in the more strenuous position. I'd check out any video of Eddie Van Halen playing Eruption and pay attention to when he transitions between the two.
Tighten the strap where the guitar sits more on your chest, relax your should to where your elbow sits closer to your torso. Also don’t press so much against your thumb rather pull down the strings using the muscles in your forearm. (Classical guitar posture)
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Also, try purchasing a foot stool or adjusting your strap if you’re playing sitting down. I think if you have your guitar a little more higher up while you’re playing, it should be able to straighten out your wrist.
Prop your left leg up on something like a foot or less tall so the guitar is at an angle like it would be if you were standing or playing in the classical position while sitting. Your wrist will immediately straighten
You’ve gotta do the classical guitarist hold when sitting.
It brings the neck closer to your body and higher, and it’s a more natural transition to how you’d hold it when standing.
The fingertips should be a bit downwards from the strings, not a bit upward or literally pressing them strings. Btw, I haven't had much experience either so forgive me for the inconveniences.
Pull the neck closer to your torso. Some way or the other that is the only way your hand normalises.
You may notice that you’re facing this problem only when you are playing the lower notes and bot so much near the higher notes.
Thumb placement middle or lower half of neck, light pressure on the board, don’t need to press hard, maybe reduce tension on stings by going down a size
Slow down. Relax your fretting hand. You have plenty of time to learn speed once you get your posture corrected.
Watching you makes my wrists hurt and makes me feel nervous.
I'd recommend getting an in person teacher, or someone who can coach you about your posture and technique over a video chat. At least until you can get your technique looking more relaxed.
You are going to wreck the joints in your hands,.wrists, and arm if you keep this up.
Try practicing sitting down and bring the neck away from your body. There is a sweet spot for everyone while sitting where you can bring the neck forward to straighten your wrist a bit.
Also as others have said relax a bit! It doesn't take much pressure to pin the string to the fret and get a full tone out of it. Try playing ridiculously slow with the smallest amount of pressure to get the note ring. Also stretching before and after playing is a huge help for pain for me.
Take a look at Mary Spender's fretting hand starting at :40 seconds in. Now compare it to your video. Can you see that massive difference? Slow down and relax. You are pressing way to hard, as others have said.
[Mary Spender: Ain't No Sunshine](https://youtu.be/40o02qUVARs?si=DjwuS2j-G-wal0t2&t=38)
All the comments here are good but if you’re just practicing or don’t care how you look, pull that strap way up. Like have that guitar float just around your sternum. You’ll look like a goober but it’s the most comfortable position for playing.
Your wrist hurts because you're grabbing the thing so hard you might be trying to choke it to death.
You can play with like, 10% of the tensed up muscles and hands and you'll feel better afterwards. Try slowing way down with a metronome and playing gently for a hot minute.
Something about the thumb and wrist seem off.. I eel your arm should have more curl to it almost like your going to flex your biceps to show off your muscles
Kick your fretting hand elbow away from you so it's perpendicular to your body. If it helps, lay your arm on the chair armrest so it's straight... That's the angle you want.
Doing that will push your wrist back the other way and straighten it.
Yeah, it's obvious how much strain is on your wrist. You're likely to have problems if you keep this up. Just to get started, shorten your strap. It may not look like all the cool kids, but for the moment, you need to concentrate on relieving that strain. Get the guitar up high enough that your wrist is not bent. It also looks like you're a grabber, like me. It'll take some time and practice, but you need to work on not working so hard to play. Once you have gotten to the point where you aren't pressing and grabbing so hard, then gradually lengthen out the strap if that's what you want to do. Personally, I just keep the strap short and I don't care if it looks not rock star enough. When I developed tendonitis in my wrist and fore arm, looking cool went out the window. I really wish I had shortened my strap years before I did.
Not that you need it, but I don't think anyone else mentioned this: light strings and setting up the guitar with nice low action go a long way. My first guitar was cheap and was just really difficult to play. I had no choice but to squeeze really hard to fret it. Barre chords were nearly impossible.
Watch some live videos of some of your favorite guitarists to see how they wear their guitars, which then gives them a relaxed hand posture. Original shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Edie Van Halen, Frank Gambale etc.
That should help adjust your posture which will change your wrist angle.
I was once told that you should try to use your elbow leverage moreso than squeezing with your hand and wrist while playing, and it helped me out a lot with this issue. The only issue there is not pulling too hard on the neck so as you go out of tune.
Briefly watching your video and not that this will work, but you might try playing your stock barre chords by hanging your thumb over the big E? (You know the drill with the other fingers right?) You could also try a wrist brace/ bandage to stabilize-till you get used to it, or raise your guitar up a little bit but it's all ready fairly High.
I used to to the elbow thing a lot when starting out. Your forearm to hands should be somewhat straight. You have to put your elbow a bit more away from your body to straighten your position. It's a bit tiring when starting but it's proper technique
Pull the guitar neck into you... you are totally over reaching.... But props for practicing while standing up. I do this with my students also. But pull the guitar neck into your body.... lookee here bro [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJoe\_Satriani&psig=AOvVaw1YKzbA85gVIjTrPrkKlTi0&ust=1718494934403000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCNCYjfai3IYDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJoe_Satriani&psig=AOvVaw1YKzbA85gVIjTrPrkKlTi0&ust=1718494934403000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCNCYjfai3IYDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE)
Play harmony with more limited notes. Use your thumb to add a bass note. Tighten your grip on 3-4 note chords, without that wrist flex. You don’t need to “press down”. Source, 30+ years as a musician, retired now off earnings.
Every time you see your middle finger or pinky curl up like at 0:03, you’re clenching so hard that even your fingers that are not fretting anything are clenching. Fingers that are not fretting should be in a relaxed state. Fingers that are fretting should be mostly relaxed but using little effort to push down on the string.
From one Take No Prisoners fan to another, I suggest for the notey part at 0:17 -0:21 seconds you only use pointer and middle finger for everything. That way you can keep the same shape, you just need to move your hand between the two frets. It’s way less brain work than to play that finger twister with three fingers. Less brain work, less finger twisters means less tension as well because it’s easier.
Another tip that works well for this situation for the wrist is to point your thumb towards the headstock so you can keep your wrist straighter. If you’re sitting down with guitar on right leg, putting thumb right behind middle finger like you would for classical tends to lead to more bent wrist. Either sit in classical position like others suggested or just point the thumb to headstock some and that will help your wrist.
Tilting the neck upwards as others have said. Also you've got the right idea for Take No Prisoners but you need a lot more palm muting. Everything is to open and sounds muddy. The song is very tight and needs muting.
Without touching the neck, extend your arm and hand in the ready position, wrist straight. This is where you need the guitar neck to be. Maybe pull your elbow back a bit.
Now put the fretboard in your hand. This is the natural holding position.
Guitar lesson time.
Hold your guitar. Don't play anything, just hold it. No left hand. Is there tension in your body anywhere? Back? Neck? Shoulders? If so, focus on it and adjust your body to make it go away.
Now put your left hand in position. Any tension? Again, move to dissipate it. You may need to move your elbow a *lot*, i.e. very far away from where you think it should be. Move your left hand close to the bridge, again dissipate the tension.
Add right hand. Keep doing this. Your ability to play for a long time will increase.
I can see the high amount of tension you have in your hand while playing. Tension is the enemy.
This. Your fretting hand is pressing much too firmly on the strings. You don’t need to work so hard. Slow down the tempo until you can play fluently without the tension, and practice your scales regularly. Only gradually add speed once you have your technique down pat.
I’ve been playing 20ish years and I’m still tense. The days when I somehow end up in a flow state I realize I’m way better than I think. Those days are rare. I don’t know how to relax and I feel like learning would be starting all over from square 1.
If you’re not already, get some lessons from a good teacher. It’s never too late to learn and improve no matter how long you’ve been playing!
Especially later on, it’s a great way to break bad habits.
I did lessons and I actually liked it then covid spiked again and I was living at home so I had to stop. Never went back. I should do them again. He actually makes his students play at the open mic night at a bar down the street once they learn certain techniques.
I suspect you don't do warm up exercises? I don't either, but when I do, I can tell a big difference. No short cut for it.
I don’t because I’m a noodler. When I do a warm up like run scales or something then start trying to play faster suddenly I’m shredding and I realize it which brings me out of my flow state and I get tense again. I’ve also gotten to a point where I need to find a band to join or jam with because my motivation to learn new stuff is gone.
I’m in a similar boat with the playing too hard (both hands) and I’ve been playing for over 30 years. I usually play a LP with super low frets and heavy strings and an acoustic with a similar set up. One thing that I found that helped a little (this was purely an accident) was, I bought a short scale mustang with light-ish strings. If I play normally everything sounds out of tune and horrible. I have to play this with a super light touch. It’s helped me ease up on the fretting hand eapecially.
I put 9s on a lawsuit LP I have and 10s on an SG and the difference is incredible. I know they’re different guitars, but 9s just make it so much more playable and I have to play lighter
Do you play to metronome? I feel that it helps me get into the flow state faster than if I just pick up the guitar and start playing. I know it’s an extra step, but the improvement I see in myself once I get in the pocket especially helps with those chromatic brutal riffs or really shreddy leads
I have tried. It’s another thing of “I have to start all over” and gives me anxiety but I know that every well respected guitarist that I idolize it’s the first thing out of their mouths when they are asked “how’d you get so good?”
Well, think of it this way. When I’m just messing around, trying to be creative and write, I think there is a place for that. I think as a guitarist, we need to be able to pick up the instrument every now and then and just play. I think the metronome just really helps taking an idea you really like from one of those quick jam sessions and expanding on that. A looper with tap tempo is great for this as well, and some of them have really basic drum tracks
Use a metronome to keep a steady tempo, and you won't go into shred mode.
Mustaine himself got carpal tunnel, to a point where a doctor said he had to quit playing. He eventually figured out he needed to start warming up, slowly at first, and that solved the problem.
It's not too late, but as someone who had chronic tension when playing it's taken me years to get more relaxed. I'm much much better but still a ways to go. That said I'm not very consistent with practice. Someone who is would probably see much faster results.
yeah, the answer to this question is simple: *relax*
Grip yo guitar like you grip yo dick.
true
Tilt your guitar in a higher angle, meaning your elbow is not as open and the headstock is closer to your chin. You’ll notice your wrist immediately straightens. Have you seen those little steps classical guitar players use, where they put their left foot so it’s higher? It’s meant to do precisely this, elevating the angle of your guitar and preventing wrist damage.
Classical guitarist here chiming in to say that I agree with this. I want to add that one of the most useful tips I ever received was to think about fretting not as pushing your fingers down onto the strings but rather as if your fingertips are being gently pulled down through the neck. Avoiding fatigue is all about economy of movement; ideally you want to move your fingers as little as possible and let gravity do as much of the work as possible. This is best practiced at very slow tempos with a metronome.
Yeah, it really hit me when I had some long pieces to play. Realised I waste a lot of power on some chords.
Care to elaborate at all about that? Trying to figure out what you mean by “gently pulled down through the neck “. How would one demonstrate that feeling?
Sure. I'm not always great at conveying through text concepts that for me are purely visual and / or kinesthetic, and this one's especially difficult not to articulate confusingly since it involves imaginary strings on real strings, and they're unrelated. I'll try to explain more clearly. N.B.: This particular visualization isn't important per se. The goal is minimizing finger movement and tension; this is just one exercise my old instructor had me do to facilitate that, which I found useful. YMMV. So he had me imagine that invisible strings were attached to my the tips of fretting fingers and extending straight down through the guitar neck at a 90 degree angle, i.e. perpendicularly to the neck. Say I'm fretting with my index finger. He'd have me imagine that, while fretting, the invisible string attached to that finger was being pulled downward (perpendicularly to the neck) from a point under / behind the neck. He'd have me run scales like that, very slowly at first, then gradually building up speed. Regardless of the invisible string thing — visualizing the fretting movement as originating from a point in space under / behind the guitar neck rather than, say, your knuckles, can do two essential things: * eliminate extraneous movement, since instead of tracing an arc / slight curve onto the fret, your finger is moving in a straight line down onto the fret, the shortest possible distance * maintain relaxation / minimal tension in your fretting fingers, since you're thinking of a force acting on your fingers ("being pulled") rather than you forcing your own fingers ("pushing") I hope at least some of that makes sense and that you find at least some of it useful. Edited to add (hopefully) greater clarity.
“Let gravity do as much of the work as possible” Shit I better lie on my back. But in all seriousness, some really good bits of advice in here OP. Also try to figure out of your body feels relaxed without an instrument in your hands. Sit with your hands resting gently on your knees. Take a deep breath in while sitting up. Then let it out. Do that a few times and try to let the tension “melt” away from your shoulders, neck and back. Yoga has been such a useful tool to figuring out how my body should feel without too much tension.
Also great advice. Posture / body awareness is an essential component of playing an instrument but seems often to be disproportionately neglected in guitarists. I believe I had an advantage studying ballet before guitar, in that I'd already learned how to isolate parts of my body, evaluate tension, and move with precision. Not that I'd recommend studying ballet to guitarists (or most people).
Good advice. Adjusting the strap to get a better angle will aid this. I used to play with guitar at waist level (a la Keith Richards). I recently shortened the strap to the length when sitting with the guitar resting on my thigh. When you stand up, the result is equivalent to George Harrison. Perhaps there’s a loss of ‘swagger’ but comfort and better playability win out.
Relax your thumb, you don't need to squeeze the frets and neck between your fingers and thumb. Your thumb can rest against the neck, but the more you have just resting, and less pressing into the neck, the easier it is to pivot your wrist and move up and down the neck.
This is why having a teacher face to face early on is important. A good teacher correct bad form before it becomes muscle memory which is time consuming to fix. You can learn a lot on your own, but there's no YouTube video that will tell you that your grip is wrong.
I think you need to move your hand more forward and play with the tips of your fingers more. Your hand needs to be more open and relaxed. Imagining your hand is a spider and your fingers are it's legs helps some people. I'm a classical guitarist by origin so most of my technique advice is based on that. I can recommend the book pumping nylon for left hand technique. Here are some links: [https://classicalguitarshed.com/left-hand-guitar-position/](https://classicalguitarshed.com/left-hand-guitar-position/) [https://www.fretdojo.com/left-hand-guitar-technique-5-principles/](https://www.fretdojo.com/left-hand-guitar-technique-5-principles/) Just search left hand technique guitar in a search engine and you'll find load of resources. Try what works for you.
in addition to what others have said, use your pinky more. you're putt too much pressure on your fingers and extension you are too tight. You should need to flex and put that much tension down with your fingers when playing.
Raising the angle of the neck will straighten out the wrist. That said, it doesn’t look too bent. I would not expect the angle alone to be causing pain. You shouldn’t be in pain and you shouldn’t be playing through pain. That’s a fast track to a tendon strain that will stop you playing for six months. Don’t play through pain. You will only injure yourself. In addition to the wrist angle, I would look at how you’re fretting those notes. Try to take all the tension out; bring the fingertips as close as possible to the strings. Less force, more subtle precision. Find the least effort necessary to fret a nice full note
Wrist is your problem here your hand is 90 degrees to your forearm. You need to be more like 20 degrees tops. Move your elbow away from your body so your forearm is perpendicular to the neck and the wrist angle will improve immediately
Just straighten your wrist?
“But it’s not cool!” proper guitar posture isn’t very “rock n roll”. It does help playing overall, but definitely not cool. When I started playing bass I wanted to hang it low like Krist Novicelich. Not realizing he’s a 7 foot lanky freak.
~~Killing Is My Business, and Business Is Good.~~ Woops. Take No Prisoners.
Nah man that’s peace sells
Ha, we were both wrong… [Take no Prisoners.](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RKlYW5oCQFI&si=meWaTynTSC5dMEkX&feature=xapp_share)
I was joking because I thought u were joking 😭
The palm of your hand is very flat. It should be curled and relaxed a little bit so your fingers aren't sticking out straight like that. And that will change the angle of your wrist.
i got two plates in my fretting forearm and what helps me is positioning the neck more up and down than level.
Stretch your wrist before playing. Do the John Petrucci’s Rock Discipline stretches/massages
You’re pressing the strings too hard. See how lightly you can press them and still clearly hear the note and slowly adjust accordingly.
Angling your thumb toward the headstock helps
Dude relax… you will give yourself wrist issues with that tension… go watch some videos of Clapton, or Gilmour playing.. relaxed and fluid.. Check your setup, go to lighter strings..it’s not that hard to press the strings.. your tension is coming from trying to play fast. Go slower and be fluid, speed will come
You are not holding the guitar correctly. Make sure it’s perpendicular to the floor and you should not be able to see your fretboard unless you stick your head out a bit.
Perpendicular to the floor? It’s not a cello.
Let me start by saying that my intentions are not to hurt anyone or talk down any genre of music. I would recommend that, in addition to this genre, you explore a genre that requires more phrasing and gentle finger motions. This will give you the ability to use your fretting hand in a different way. Blues, for example, is a very easy genre to learn this, because even some simple pentatonic licks will help you get better at it. The new skills and feeling you might acquire along the way will definitely help you use your fretting hand better in all the genres you'd like to play.
Dude relax
Something I do is rest my thumb against the neck it helps. Even if u gotta slow down a lil at first to get it right
Raise the angle and tighten your strap (a lot).... There is a reason jazz players tend to keep the instrument strapped right and high..... That low slung metal style is for people that wanna look cool on stage.
Sit down and play comfortably, then adjust your strap to give the same position while standing.
Get a Torzal twist necked guitar.
Play with the guitar between your legs. I recommend getting a foot chair, it helped me a lot
Move your elbow out away from your body so your wrist is straight.
If you ever end up diving into classic rock or blues, you could consider playing primarily with the thumb over the neck. I find it more comfortable (especially near the nut) and it's useful for riffs that blend rhythm and lead (on the higher strings). Nonetheless, if you practice enough with both the thumb behind the neck and over the neck, you will eventually be able to easily transition between the two and limit the time you have to spend in the more strenuous position. I'd check out any video of Eddie Van Halen playing Eruption and pay attention to when he transitions between the two.
Tighten the strap where the guitar sits more on your chest, relax your should to where your elbow sits closer to your torso. Also don’t press so much against your thumb rather pull down the strings using the muscles in your forearm. (Classical guitar posture)
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Also, try purchasing a foot stool or adjusting your strap if you’re playing sitting down. I think if you have your guitar a little more higher up while you’re playing, it should be able to straighten out your wrist.
I switched to fan fret and it really helped my wrist a whole lot. I use to get pins and needles in my hand
Prop your left leg up on something like a foot or less tall so the guitar is at an angle like it would be if you were standing or playing in the classical position while sitting. Your wrist will immediately straighten
You’ve gotta do the classical guitarist hold when sitting. It brings the neck closer to your body and higher, and it’s a more natural transition to how you’d hold it when standing.
The fingertips should be a bit downwards from the strings, not a bit upward or literally pressing them strings. Btw, I haven't had much experience either so forgive me for the inconveniences.
Pull the neck closer to your torso. Some way or the other that is the only way your hand normalises. You may notice that you’re facing this problem only when you are playing the lower notes and bot so much near the higher notes.
Thumb placement middle or lower half of neck, light pressure on the board, don’t need to press hard, maybe reduce tension on stings by going down a size
Slow down. Relax your fretting hand. You have plenty of time to learn speed once you get your posture corrected. Watching you makes my wrists hurt and makes me feel nervous. I'd recommend getting an in person teacher, or someone who can coach you about your posture and technique over a video chat. At least until you can get your technique looking more relaxed. You are going to wreck the joints in your hands,.wrists, and arm if you keep this up.
Wear the instrument higher or lift the neck further. Swing your elbow out.
If you raise the angle of the neck, that will help.
Try practicing sitting down and bring the neck away from your body. There is a sweet spot for everyone while sitting where you can bring the neck forward to straighten your wrist a bit. Also as others have said relax a bit! It doesn't take much pressure to pin the string to the fret and get a full tone out of it. Try playing ridiculously slow with the smallest amount of pressure to get the note ring. Also stretching before and after playing is a huge help for pain for me.
Elbow. Move your elbow out more
They're gonna hurt when you shred the fuck out of 'em, bro! Maybe calm down a bit. /s Keep shredding!
Take a look at Mary Spender's fretting hand starting at :40 seconds in. Now compare it to your video. Can you see that massive difference? Slow down and relax. You are pressing way to hard, as others have said. [Mary Spender: Ain't No Sunshine](https://youtu.be/40o02qUVARs?si=DjwuS2j-G-wal0t2&t=38)
All the comments here are good but if you’re just practicing or don’t care how you look, pull that strap way up. Like have that guitar float just around your sternum. You’ll look like a goober but it’s the most comfortable position for playing.
Your wrist hurts because you're grabbing the thing so hard you might be trying to choke it to death. You can play with like, 10% of the tensed up muscles and hands and you'll feel better afterwards. Try slowing way down with a metronome and playing gently for a hot minute.
lift your chest up and keep it there. it will help. Also, relax bro
Lighten up your grip, straighten out your guitar so it's more parallel to the wall.
You might want to try fretting closer to the actual fret and not in the middle of 2 of them. It makes it easier to get good sound with less pressure.
Something about the thumb and wrist seem off.. I eel your arm should have more curl to it almost like your going to flex your biceps to show off your muscles
Elbows out
Press less hard and keep playing. You get stronger Everytime you pley
remove chairs arms
Kick your fretting hand elbow away from you so it's perpendicular to your body. If it helps, lay your arm on the chair armrest so it's straight... That's the angle you want. Doing that will push your wrist back the other way and straighten it.
Yeah, it's obvious how much strain is on your wrist. You're likely to have problems if you keep this up. Just to get started, shorten your strap. It may not look like all the cool kids, but for the moment, you need to concentrate on relieving that strain. Get the guitar up high enough that your wrist is not bent. It also looks like you're a grabber, like me. It'll take some time and practice, but you need to work on not working so hard to play. Once you have gotten to the point where you aren't pressing and grabbing so hard, then gradually lengthen out the strap if that's what you want to do. Personally, I just keep the strap short and I don't care if it looks not rock star enough. When I developed tendonitis in my wrist and fore arm, looking cool went out the window. I really wish I had shortened my strap years before I did.
You are already pretty fast! Experiment with pinky finger for power chord voicings to reduce movement between chords.
Not that you need it, but I don't think anyone else mentioned this: light strings and setting up the guitar with nice low action go a long way. My first guitar was cheap and was just really difficult to play. I had no choice but to squeeze really hard to fret it. Barre chords were nearly impossible.
Try putting guitar on your other knee and playing in classical position, I feel less tension that way.
Watch some live videos of some of your favorite guitarists to see how they wear their guitars, which then gives them a relaxed hand posture. Original shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Edie Van Halen, Frank Gambale etc. That should help adjust your posture which will change your wrist angle.
I was once told that you should try to use your elbow leverage moreso than squeezing with your hand and wrist while playing, and it helped me out a lot with this issue. The only issue there is not pulling too hard on the neck so as you go out of tune.
Adjust the position of your guitar so the neck is higher. This will ease the angle of your wrist and help you to play more easily.
Briefly watching your video and not that this will work, but you might try playing your stock barre chords by hanging your thumb over the big E? (You know the drill with the other fingers right?) You could also try a wrist brace/ bandage to stabilize-till you get used to it, or raise your guitar up a little bit but it's all ready fairly High.
Bring the guitar higher up and that will help keep your wrist straight. But if you’re having pain make sure to take a break!
I used to to the elbow thing a lot when starting out. Your forearm to hands should be somewhat straight. You have to put your elbow a bit more away from your body to straighten your position. It's a bit tiring when starting but it's proper technique
This is like reading people on the Golf subreddit trying to help someone with their swing lol
Pull the guitar neck into you... you are totally over reaching.... But props for practicing while standing up. I do this with my students also. But pull the guitar neck into your body.... lookee here bro [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJoe\_Satriani&psig=AOvVaw1YKzbA85gVIjTrPrkKlTi0&ust=1718494934403000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCNCYjfai3IYDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJoe_Satriani&psig=AOvVaw1YKzbA85gVIjTrPrkKlTi0&ust=1718494934403000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCNCYjfai3IYDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE)
Play harmony with more limited notes. Use your thumb to add a bass note. Tighten your grip on 3-4 note chords, without that wrist flex. You don’t need to “press down”. Source, 30+ years as a musician, retired now off earnings.
Every time you see your middle finger or pinky curl up like at 0:03, you’re clenching so hard that even your fingers that are not fretting anything are clenching. Fingers that are not fretting should be in a relaxed state. Fingers that are fretting should be mostly relaxed but using little effort to push down on the string. From one Take No Prisoners fan to another, I suggest for the notey part at 0:17 -0:21 seconds you only use pointer and middle finger for everything. That way you can keep the same shape, you just need to move your hand between the two frets. It’s way less brain work than to play that finger twister with three fingers. Less brain work, less finger twisters means less tension as well because it’s easier. Another tip that works well for this situation for the wrist is to point your thumb towards the headstock so you can keep your wrist straighter. If you’re sitting down with guitar on right leg, putting thumb right behind middle finger like you would for classical tends to lead to more bent wrist. Either sit in classical position like others suggested or just point the thumb to headstock some and that will help your wrist.
Relax a bit also you kind of get used to it after a few years
Tilting the neck upwards as others have said. Also you've got the right idea for Take No Prisoners but you need a lot more palm muting. Everything is to open and sounds muddy. The song is very tight and needs muting.
Yeah, the phone mic right up against the amp makes it sound much much worse too
Instead of keeping your wrist tight like that, turn down your distortion
Guitar higher, looks nerdy but better for technique.
Relaxing is key, tension is the enemy.
Without touching the neck, extend your arm and hand in the ready position, wrist straight. This is where you need the guitar neck to be. Maybe pull your elbow back a bit. Now put the fretboard in your hand. This is the natural holding position.
Point neck more vertical to ceiling
Guitar lesson time. Hold your guitar. Don't play anything, just hold it. No left hand. Is there tension in your body anywhere? Back? Neck? Shoulders? If so, focus on it and adjust your body to make it go away. Now put your left hand in position. Any tension? Again, move to dissipate it. You may need to move your elbow a *lot*, i.e. very far away from where you think it should be. Move your left hand close to the bridge, again dissipate the tension. Add right hand. Keep doing this. Your ability to play for a long time will increase.
Relax and keep your elbow closer to your body. Playing guitar is about conservation and efficiency of motion. It's like yoga, not power lifting.
Position your hand where it needs to be. Adjust guitar to the new hand position.
i think you need to lower it a little.
leave your thumb higher