Guitar Lesson: Beware of poor technique!
I was reading a magazine the other day and came across an
article that made me think. Later the same day while visiting a
fellow guitar player I saw him doing the same thing! Here's a
few things you shouldn't do when your practicing and the reasons
why:
The article was written about Vito Bratta the guitarist from
White Lion. He was talking about how after the breakup of the
band how he started practicing guitar while laying on his back,
with his hand in the wrong positions, and such. The sad part was
that he said he heard a loud POP from his wrist while doing this
and his hand hurt. He left it and now has lost mobility and is
unable to play guitar without pain!!
Now I am not a physician and am not officially trained in this
area of medicine, but I speak from personal experience. I used
to practice my guitar in all the wrong ways and caused damage to
my hand. Luckily for me it was not permanent and I can still
play guitar, but it was a rude awakening for me. So, after
reading about Vito not being able to play anymore I figured this
article was due to be written.
When you practice guitar you should ALWAYS make sure you are
sitting upright and holding your guitar properly. NEVER practice
while laying down! And if you start to feel pain when practicing
STOP and take a break!
As a guitarist your hands are one of the most important things
to keep healthy, and if you are pushing yourself too hard and it
causes pain in your hands then you need to STOP and give your
hands a break!
What guitarists fail to realize is that when your hands hurt
while playing it's because you are damaging them! Even when the
pain goes away, it takes a long time to heal. Yet we keep going
back and doing more damage without thinking about it.
A singer will stop singing when their voice hurts because they
realize that if they don't they will blow their voice out and
not be able to sing any more. For some reason we as guitarists
tend to overlook this because it's our hands?!? We need to treat
our hands the same as a singer treats their voice, or a concert
pianist treats their hands. If you make a living playing music
your career depends on your ability to play!
When you practice guitar, take the time to sit up and hold the
guitar correctly. Try to keep your muscles relaxed, and pay
attention to muscle tension that creeps in while playing. If
your hand starts to hurt, take a 5 minute break. When your hand
gets fatigued, take a break. It's not a race to see how fast you
can finish your practice, it's about learning to play better,
and that takes time and patience.
If you seriously hurt your hand while playing or hear any
unusual snaps or pops, seek medical attention immediately. Don't
wait and hope that it will go away on it's own. Better safe than
sorry when it comes to your playing. You wouldn't want to have
spent all this time learning to play guitar just to never be
able to play again!