Monday, November 2, 2009

Guitar Bar Chords and Sore Hand Muscles

My books and DVDs focus on music theory for guitar but I frequently get emails from guitar players complaining about sore hands, especially when fretting barre chords. If you're experiencing muscle or joint pain while playing guitar, then I suggest that you find other ways to fret and play things so that your muscles are not being stressed the same way all the time.

For example, I sometimes play barre chords by wrapping my thumb around the neck (Jimi Hendrix style).


This puts my wrist and hand in a totally different position. I find it a relief especially after playing barre chords in the traditional manner for several minutes. When my hand tires I switch back. I couldn't make it through some songs without doing this.



Little tricks like this can help give some parts of your hand a break while you use other parts. Learning how to avoid situations where your hand endures pressure for too long in one place is critical to building your endurance and playing pain free.

Play Until Yer Fingers Bleed!
Mr. Desi Serna
Website: http://Guitar-Music-Theory.com
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Desi. I am so glad that you addressed this way of playing bar chords. When you play it this way does your first finger play both the 1st and 2nd strings because I have a hard time playing them both and getting them to sound correctly. Sometimes I skip the first string.

Michael Graham said...

My problem is that I get a sore and clicking joint in my last knuckle in the picky finger...any tips?,,,other than amputation or movalis?

Mr. Desi Serna said...

Anonymous, in many cases you don't need the first string so you're fine (just make sure it's not ringing). Keeping working at it and I bet you get it in time.

Michael, I would amputate immediately. Do you have a meat cleaver? Or you could try the thumb style barre chord minus the pinky. Just be sure to mute string 5.

Pralai said...

Hi All,

Check out these scholarly articles on Bar Chords By Jamie Andreas.

http://www.shredaholic.com/jamielesson6.html

http://www.cleverjoe.com/articles/guitar-bar-chord-lesson.html

http://truefire.com/list.html?store=music_instruction%A7ion=new_arrivals&orderby=&offset=0&item=3488

Anonymous said...

Desi,
Thanks for the excellent pictoral explanation - A Picture really is worth a thousand words!
I had just been watching live concert footage to see if my posture on barre chords was correct,particulary my thumb position -since I am self taught- and then you post this. Excellent!

Regards, Bill

Anonymous said...

Desi,
Thanks for the excellent pictoral explanation - A Picture really is worth a thousand words!
I had just been watching live concert footage to see if my posture on barre chords was correct,particulary my thumb position -since I am self taught- and then you post this. Excellent!

Regards, Bill