Guitarist Ailment?

Subject: Guitarist Ailment?
From: alanabit
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 06:02 AM

I have recently had a a stiffness in the little finger of my left hand and the left elbow seems to be stiffening up at times. I only practice for two hours a day, so it shouldn't be an RSI injury. Is it likely to be a result of recently attempting a piece beyond my modest ability or am I more likely just to have bumped the hand somewhere and not noticed it? The litle bump on my wrist seems to have swollen - though it isn't painful. What advice can you guitarists give me?

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 08:54 AM

Sounds like Repetitive Motion to me. And it can be aggravated by many things besides guitar playing. Typing forinstance. Look at your work as much as at your play. I suspect you'll find something else, quite common place, that is the real culprit. Mine is aggravated by bike rifing.

Don

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Amos
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 09:57 AM

You one of those Midnight Rifers, Don?

Is that the sport you never norget?

If you forr uff, just climb right back up! :>)

A

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 10:08 AM

'easy rifer?'

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 10:10 AM

'rife?' does this mean there's an epidemic?

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: greg stephens
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 10:35 AM

Two hours a day of anything involving rapid hand movements is pretty bad for you, I would say.How's your eyesight, by the way?

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 01:01 PM

gs-- LOL!

~S~

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Sonnet
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 01:44 PM

Seek treatment/healing for RSI. I've just come through the other side of this problem, which was caused by my work as a library assistant. Please don't play through the pain. I had to wear a 'cock-up splint' for the best part of 3 months, and also had reiki and crystal healing. Gradually I've built myself back up, working first for 5 mins at a time without the splint, until now I'm back to a full shift. Patience is something that this has developed with me.

Jay

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Don Firth
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 03:12 PM

Gotta be a little careful sometimes. When I first learned how to fingerpick (alternating bass, à la Travis picking), I practiced it so assiduously that after a couple of weeks I started getting cramps in my right thumb. I had to set fingerpicking aside for a while. But I couldn't give the hand a complete rest because I was performing regularly at the time, three nights a week. For a couple of months after that, sometimes my thumb would cramp up in the middle of a song. Not good. Eventually it stopped and I took up fingerpicking again. But slow and easy for awhile.

You might want to take a good look at your general technique: the way you hold the guitar, and your hand positions. Any position that makes you bend your wrist a lot could lead to problems. In the early part of Scott Tennant's manual Pumping Nylon, he talks about "releasing," or relaxing the hands and keeping them as relaxed as possible while you're playing. In addition to minimizing the chances of RSI, this is the key to speed. The manual is written primarily for classic guitarists, but just about everything in it applies to any style of guitar. It's a collection of calisthenics. Good stuff for classic, folk, jazz, whatever. And anyone who can actually play all the way through this manual has got to be one helluva guitarist indeed! If you don't read music, that's no problem. The manual comes it two flavors: just music or both music and tablature. Two hour video also available. Good to get both manual and video.

Here is a web site that I think every musician, beginning or advanced, should take a good look at. BLICKY.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 03:45 PM

I'd second Don's comments. I mostly play classical guitar, rather than anything else. *IF* (& I stress 'if') the injury is purely from guitar playing, it's not RSI on that little amount of time. It's bad technique, pure & simple.

I'd only differ in suggesting you find yourself a properly trained classical guitar teacher & take a few lessons to get your technique checked out. Despite the extra expense, it would probably be more cost effective than an non-interactive video that can't look at what you're *actually* doing & talk back!

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 06:26 PM

Amos, Why yes I are.

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 06:54 PM

Susan, you have a filthy mind. Or is it me?

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: greg stephens
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 07:06 PM

Or me, possibly.

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Bobert
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 07:41 PM

Well, I think about half you all have filthy minds with the other half envious.... Nevermind...

Alanibit: I think you have two different things going here. The elbow: tendinitis. The finger: ruthritis.

Sorry, but you know what they say, don't cha? Yep, you're only as young as your elbow and pinky finger...

Bobert

p.s. Just funnin' with ya' about the last part...

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Don Firth
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 08:02 PM

I agree with Raedwulf about going to a classic guitar teacher.

I hesitated to suggest it because of the general resistance many folk-oriented musicians have toward "classical" teachers of any kind. But the fact is that classical technique is the most efficient way of playing any instrument—(Wow! I can hear the hear the howls of protest and the heels digging in already!). But—considering the hours of practice that virtuosi like Julian Bream or Itzak Perlman or Artur Rubenstein have to put in to virtuosi in the first place (and then to stay that way), they can't afford not to play the most efficient way possible. And that means being careful not ot play in a manner that will screw up their hands, elbows, shoulders, or anything else.

Why not someone who teaches folk guitar? Because that could be a real crap-shoot. Many teachers of folk guitar are, themselves, self-taught. And many of them simply pass on their own poor technique and bad habits. Don't add somebody else's troubles to your own. In this case, a classic guitar teacher is best. Don't worry, it won't corrupt you.

But do look into the manual and the video. Even if you weren't having problems, the calisthenics are great. Very demanding.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 08:46 PM

I'm a guitar teacher and President of the Piedmont Classic Guitar Society. I've worked with Aaron Shearer for many years and helped him with his Mel Bay "Learning the Classic Guitar" books (I'm mentioned as an editor).

If something hurts- stop doing it and figure out what's causing it. You say there's a "stiffness in the little finger of my left hand and the left elbow seems to be stiffening up at times."

You are probably playing a piece where the stretches are difficult and repeating the stretches. Stop playing the piece. Start doing warm-up stretches (See; Aaron Shearer "Learning the Classic Guitar" Mel Bay Vol.2), if there's any sharp pain wait until your hand doesn't feel pain, if the pain persists see a doctor specializing in RSI treatments.

You need to get better conditioning for your hand(s) and keep your left hand as relaxed as possible. A good teacher might help but it's hard to know what a good teacher is.

-Richie

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: GUEST,wdyat24
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 09:18 PM

Watch out for calcium deposits in your joints.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: Don Firth
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 09:21 PM

I worked through Aaron Shearer's manuals in the early Sixties while taking lessons from a former pupil of his, Bob Flanary. Then I used them in my own teaching. Excellent! I also had the good fortune to be able to take a week-long workshop from Shearer in Seattle in 1976. I don't know of a better teacher.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: fogie
Date: 16 Sep 02 - 06:03 AM

I get dreadfully hacked nails, and bits of metal splinters by the sides of my nails. Oh for a better quality string- but Ive never had anaemia!

Subject: RE: Guitarist Ailment?
From: alanabit
Date: 16 Sep 02 - 02:39 PM

Thanks folks. I got some ointment today and I am going to try to take Greg's advice about laying off the practice for a while. Goes against my work ethic a bit, but I guess there's a reason for it! I am gigging at the weekend, so a complete rest is out of the question. It could well be the new piece I have been attempting. I changed my habits a bit when I took lessons some twenty years ago. I do try to get my left hand in a better position over the guitar, but I guess there is always room for improvement. Thanks again for your help.