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!