Practice

[simpleman3441]

Ever practice so much that you avoid using your hands at all the next day for fear of an overuse injury?

[Scott Fraser]

Ever practice so much that you avoid using your hands at all the next day for fear of an overuse injury?

 

No, I wish I could avoid using my hands for a day. I have big tendonitis issues in both arms, as well as rotator cuff (shoulder) issues, which cause a good deal of persistent pain, but it doesn't hurt to play guitar, & I'm not aware of the pain when playing. So I play when time allows.

[stamplicker]

Had this issue a few weeks ago, was working on something so much that I should have just stopped and taken a break, but persisted on... paid for it for the next couple weeks.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmm...had a post here that disappeared. Too blue?

[Larryz]

I try to play/practice a little every day while I can...my left hand palm is getting some kind of growth on the tendons which will stop me from playing some day...so far it's not that painful when I over indulge on the strings on the day before...but I sometimes feel a little pain in the finger tips the next day...I still do not have to avoid using my hands the next day.

[simpleman3441]

Yeah, I figured I was being a little paranoid. I'm just nervous that whatever I did a few years ago might happen again. Wish I could somehow figure out what had caused it before. I suppose I will just have to hope that with the absence of stressors due to school and focus on a lighter touch will prevent any recurance.

 

Let me ask this, now. What would you consider to be a long or even too long of a practice session?

[Scott Fraser]

Let me ask this, now. What would you consider to be a long or even too long of a practice session?

 

I think that really depends on other factors. If you're early 20's, great health, & working up to a serious routine, you can play eight hours a day just fine. In your 50s, with any history of soft tissue problems, out of shape & not steadily practicing, eight hours can hurt you. Then again, if you've been playing regularly all your life, by your 50s you don't need to practice eight hours a day to improve technique & maintain your chops.

 

[Larryz]

For me, I like to keep it around an hour a day and I may go for up to two when playing by myself...when playing with others, 3 hrs seems about right...As Scott says each of us is different depending on age, health, etc., and I think the guitar quality can make a difference on how long you play, especially if causes you difficulty or if it's uncompfortable...but if I don't get to spend at least an hour or so with my guitar, my day is just not complete...

[p90jr]

The summers when I was 11 and 12 I played guitar approximately 20 hours a day every day. The ones after that until I was about 18 I cut back to maybe 16, to get in some socializing time. I never slept as a kid... it's starting to catch up to me but it still prefers to happen during daytime hours. A born musician, I guess.

 

I started having some cramping and carpal tunnel problems (the dreaded fist freezing up like a claw) during long cover gigs, like 4 sets over 4 or 5 hours.

 

The thing to watch out for isn't "overuse," it's bad habits that aggravate the muscles and nerves. I was playing acoustic on those gigs, worn low, and I had gotten into the bad habit of placing my thumb parallel to the neck when I played, which is a weak angle for the muscles and aggravated them, which meant they messed with nerves. Just changing habits (wearing those bulkier guitars a little higher, and getting into the habit of putting my thumb perpendicular to the neck on the back when barring, and putting pressure on the strings from my left shoulder instead of my left wrist) solved that... I never thought you were supposed to make your hand muscles "stronger," that never made sense to me... you're not strangling a guitar, you're applying just enough pressure to let the fret do the work, so I never went for the little finger pressure trainer things, which seemed like they'd make more problems. I had an ongoing argument with an ld friend about that, and I would make him mad by being to play much, much faster than he could. I used 8s on strat length guitars back then, too., while he was following the Stevie Ray thing with 13s or something brutal. Which is another thing, I'm sure I've mentioned here with all the rest of it before: a guy somewhere said he asks any guitar legend he comes across what gauge their strings are, and the vast majority are using super light gauge strings - 8s or 9s... I read that Billy Gibbons uses 7s, which I guess he has custom made. We're playing through amps and preamps and pedals... whatever amount of tone is lost by having lighter strings can probably be made up elsewhere, while giving your hands a break.

 

I use 9s on the Fenders and 10s on the Gibson-length guitars. I think I have 11s on the acoustics and 12s on the semi-hollow jazz box, but I don't bend the strings on those and the action is low. Stretching and warming up is something I've tried to get into the habit of doing before gigs, too.

 

Good topic.

 

I know a few people who developed back or shoulder problems and things from playing... Dee Dee Ramone looked cool with the big heavy 70s P-Bass as low as he could get it, but he was pre-medicated to handle the pain of doing that night after night.

 

 

 

[p90jr]

For me, I like to keep it around an hour a day and I may go for up to two when playing by myself...when playing with others, 3 hrs seems about right...As Scott says each of us is different depending on age, health, etc., and I think the guitar quality can make a difference on how long you play, especially if causes you difficulty or if it's uncompfortable...but if I don't get to spend at least an hour or so with my guitar, my day is just not complete...

 

I think I get depressed and crabby if I don't play an instrument for an hour a day... I think my brain is dependent on it, now.

[Larryz]

+1 P90

[simpleman3441]

So I have like 15 guitar oriented books out from the library that I'm devouring at the moment. Really hoping to make some significantly productive changes to my habits. "On Practicing" by Ricardo Iznaola is rather short little book I found that is very rewarding. It justifies some of my own thoughts, but also in expands beyond them in seemingly obvious, but incredibly helpful ways. Short read, but very poignant. I particularly enjoyed what he says on inner and outer poise. My faults in that department are almost certainly the root of my past injuries. My favorite quote from the book: "We cannot accelerate the growth of a tree by pulling on its branches."

[simpleman3441]

I never thought you were supposed to make your hand muscles "stronger," that never made sense to me... you're not strangling a guitar, you're applying just enough pressure to let the fret do the work, so I never went for the little finger pressure trainer things, which seemed like they'd make more problems. I had an ongoing argument with an ld friend about that, and I would make him mad by being to play much, much faster than he could.

 

I wish I had a friend like you to tell me I was wrong. Early in high school, some girl made a comment about my lanky arms and after that I was all about the gym. Everything was about getting bigger/stronger and that mentality (including "NO PAIN, NO GAIN") carried over to my guitar playing, too. Definitely not the right mentality. It took my injury to bring these issues to the surface and I'm only starting to have results fixing those habits. Still, I think that, at the root of my personality, there lingers some residual effects from this which affect my inner and, in turn, my outer poise.

 

I used 8s on strat length guitars back then, too., while he was following the Stevie Ray thing with 13s or something brutal. Which is another thing, I'm sure I've mentioned here with all the rest of it before: a guy somewhere said he asks any guitar legend he comes across what gauge their strings are, and the vast majority are using super light gauge strings - 8s or 9s... I read that Billy Gibbons uses 7s, which I guess he has custom made. We're playing through amps and preamps and pedals... whatever amount of tone is lost by having lighter strings can probably be made up elsewhere, while giving your hands a break.

 

I believe Dan Erlewine shares in his book Guitar Player Repair Guide that the big names generally prefer higher gauge strings and higher action. I will have to check later and maybe share a quote.

 

I broke a string while playing for the first time I can remember last night and today put on a set of 11's. Certainly have much more punch/volume/sustain to them, I think. I didn't feel like I was fighting them to ring out more. I even experimented with higher action, at first. A particular sweep exercise I've worked on recently was much more articulated and thus easier to play. I made an immediate increase in speed on that exercise, but other similar exercises seemed to suffer from the higher action. After bringing the action down a wee bit, I think I have found the slightly higher gauge to be conducive to a more relaxed "inner poise." All of this is very subjective and I'm really not certain if I'm imagining things at this point...

[simpleman3441]

"I realize there are many guitarists whose style requires low action in order to execute certain passages fast enough. And many hot country pickers that don't do much string-bending can have a slightly lower action than players that do bend. But more often than not, when you get the rare chance to play a top professional's axe, you'll find the action higher, and the strings stiffer, than you might have guessed." - Dan Erlewine

 

It sounds ass-backwards and is completely contrary to everything I've thought about guitars up until the last few days, but I've really been enjoying these 11's and have found it much easier to play effortlessly. I really feel that the change in tone and volume is significant. To be completely open, I haven't done much bending as of yet. I initially noticed some additional fatigue and am giving my hands a while to get used to the new feel. The few bends that I have tried seemed, at first blush, to be just as easy and potentially more so due to the shorter distance needed to reach pitch.

 

Coincidentally, I found out about an hour ago that Dan Auerbach uses 11's. His playing is rather basic, so this can't speak for playability, but being that his sound is one of my all time favorites, I'd like to think that this is affirmation of my recent suspicions.

[SEHpicker]

"I realize there are many guitarists whose style requires low action in order to execute certain passages fast enough. And many hot country pickers that don't do much string-bending can have a slightly lower action than players that do bend. But more often than not, when you get the rare chance to play a top professional's axe, you'll find the action higher, and the strings stiffer, than you might have guessed." - Dan Erlewine

 

It sounds ass-backwards and is completely contrary to everything I've thought about guitars up until the last few days, but I've really been enjoying these 11's and have found it much easier to play effortlessly. I really feel that the change in tone and volume is significant. To be completely open, I haven't done much bending as of yet. I initially noticed some additional fatigue and am giving my hands a while to get used to the new feel. The few bends that I have tried seemed, at first blush, to be just as easy and potentially more so due to the shorter distance needed to reach pitch.

 

Coincidentally, I found out about an hour ago that Dan Auerbach uses 11's. His playing is rather basic, so this can't speak for playability, but being that his sound is one of my all time favorites, I'd like to think that this is affirmation of my recent suspicions.

 

+1 simpleman:thu: