Sore thumb

[Gator Wing]

I'm working on rhythm with the guitar teacher. He gave me strumming patterns. Start at a whole note, then half, then quarter, then eigth, then triplet, then sixteenth. Then work it back up - sixteenth back to whole. I was doing about 30 minutes to an hour of just this rhythm practive at 70 BPM. On the third day my thumb, at the joint where the thumb attaches to the palm was incredibly painful; also at the elbow. Took my celebrex for a few days and the thumb feels fine, but the elbow is still sore. Haven't practiced since last Saturday night, giving everything a rest. I noticed that I hold the pick with my thumb bent, and the wrist turned in (back towards the elbow). I'm going to try to straighten both out. And I was holding the strings deadened (muted) with my left hand so as to not disturb the other family members.

 

Is this pain unusual or not? Is it likely to reoccur?

[stanner]

its all about the pain

[Lisa]

This sounds a little strange.... It's really hard to tell what's going on without seeing how you are holding your arm and hand. Are you moving your thumb more than your wrist?

[DC]

Stop clinching.

 

Honestly, you need to relax more than anything. But at the same time, if you're doing something harmful, your body will let you know. I learned how to play by playing along with songs. Maybe you're attempting the wrong sort of repetition. Guitar teachers aren't always the brightest folks out there and many times have you do things they've never done when they learned. (Take it from me, I taught for years...)

[Gator Wing]

Originally posted by Lisa:

This sounds a little strange.... It's really hard to tell what's going on without seeing how you are holding your arm and hand. Are you moving your thumb more than your wrist?

 

 

No. In retrospect I think I'm pressing too hard on the pick, and with the thumb bent, placing too much pressure at the joint. When I lay the thumb straight across the first finger it seems to alleviate pressure at the joint (picture closed fist, then put the pad of your thumb on the tip of the first finger, so that the knuckle points up, the thumb is bent - that's the way I've been holding the pick). Maybe it was just too much practice for this old body.

[gtrmac]

Listen to your body. You probably need to alternate this excercise with other ones to keep the muscles from tightening up. You may also need to adjust your position to get a more relaxed strum. I have found that there should not be excessive pain in playing unless you are doing something wrong. Come to think of it I don't even believe in excercises anyway. I believe in always playing music, excercises are for the gym.

[Tedster]

I've had a similar thing, usually while playing (it it's been a long night of hard strumming acoustic)...from my thumb being concave. I hold my pick with my thumb and between my index and middle fingers, always have. And I have to keep a death grip otherwise it'll go flipping into the sound hole. But that's during a gig of a few hours with little stoppage. Kinda like if you don't gig for awhile and then play acoustic all night and even though you thought your calluses were in good shape, your left hand fingers get all torn up.