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Does my picking technique hurt my hand?

Lindsey

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  • Nov 16, 2019
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    My hand hurts since yesterday from wrist towards pinky at the back of my hand. I recently changed my picking technique. Before that I anchored my pinky down on the guitar. When I looked at this video I did notice that I tilt my hand up a bit, I don’t know if I always do that but I’m not sure if it’s alright.

     

    Ed Seith

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  • Nov 11, 2019
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    I don't think so, but everyone is different, and if your body is yelling at you, it's up to you to figure out if it's saying "I'm not used to this, so I'm going to give you pain until I *am* used to it" or "I fucking hate this and you're going to pay in pain until you stop."
     

    Lindsey

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  • Nov 16, 2019
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    I don't think so, but everyone is different, and if your body is yelling at you, it's up to you to figure out if it's saying "I'm not used to this, so I'm going to give you pain until I *am* used to it" or "I fucking hate this and you're going to pay in pain until you stop."
    You're right. Thanks. I'll keep trying this for a while. I think my hand is fine right now
     
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    Alicia Willis

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  • Nov 11, 2019
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    I used to anchor my pinky ALL the time. (I still do on certain things) but when I made the effort to try and stop, I too experienced that pain. Wasn’t awful just a little nag and it was gone in like week. So I think Ed’s advice is spot on. Changing up anything even a little bit can cause some discomfort but if it’s extremely pain and your body is yelling at you, definitely stop.
     

    OskarF

    New Student
    Nov 11, 2019
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    It looks good. Are you tense when playing? When working on new techniques that are difficult, i often notice my whole body being very tense. Try to be very mindful about that, espsecially all the small muscles in your arms and hands that might be tensing up.

    Other than that, i'll share some of my thoughts on alternate picking technique:
    What really made me get my technique going was when i realized specifically what muscles to activate to pick efficiently, and i remember that it started making sense to me when i noticed how Eddie Van Halen does it because it's very apparent how he is rotating his forearm back and forth when tremolo picking. He obviously has very unconventional technique, but the principle worked really well to apply to my own alternate picking technique, and i honestly believe this is how every fast picker does it, fundamentally, even though it can look very different from player to player.
    You'll know what i mean if you try to just kind of shake your forearm by rotating back and forth (i think it should make sense what movement i'm talking about by looking at Eddie in the video clip i linked), and you'll notice how fast you can make that movement without much effort at all. Those are the muscles you need to be aware of using to alternate pick and the rest of your arm should be relaxed. The more relaxed, the less discomfort/pain you will experience.

    Of course these are just my thoughts and just what works for me and i might be wrong :) But i'd really suggest looking into it and see if it works for you!
     

    Lindsey

    Local Dive Bar Favorite
  • Nov 16, 2019
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    The Netherlands
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    10
    It looks good. Are you tense when playing? When working on new techniques that are difficult, i often notice my whole body being very tense. Try to be very mindful about that, espsecially all the small muscles in your arms and hands that might be tensing up.

    Other than that, i'll share some of my thoughts on alternate picking technique:
    What really made me get my technique going was when i realized specifically what muscles to activate to pick efficiently, and i remember that it started making sense to me when i noticed how Eddie Van Halen does it because it's very apparent how he is rotating his forearm back and forth when tremolo picking. He obviously has very unconventional technique, but the principle worked really well to apply to my own alternate picking technique, and i honestly believe this is how every fast picker does it, fundamentally, even though it can look very different from player to player.
    You'll know what i mean if you try to just kind of shake your forearm by rotating back and forth (i think it should make sense what movement i'm talking about by looking at Eddie in the video clip i linked), and you'll notice how fast you can make that movement without much effort at all. Those are the muscles you need to be aware of using to alternate pick and the rest of your arm should be relaxed. The more relaxed, the less discomfort/pain you will experience.

    Of course these are just my thoughts and just what works for me and i might be wrong :) But i'd really suggest looking into it and see if it works for you!
    I don't think I was tense but I will pain attention to the muscles next time. Thanks!
     
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