![]() ![]() ![]() 10 Tips for Healthy Guitar Practicingįortunately, I had 2 great classical teachers who taught me some good concepts. You get a new guitar and play it for 5 hours with no break.Īlways ease in to new techniques, and ease into that new guitar you just got – both a technique and a new instrument require new & different muscles.You are a steel string player and out of nowhere do a gig for 3 hours on nylon string with a much wider neck.Someone asks you to do a bass gig and you never play bass.Out of nowhere, you do a gig bending strings on your Strat and you haven’t done it in years!.“Sudden” changes are not good, they stress muscles you are not used to using. New Technique? New Guitar?ĭon’t start a new technique suddenly or change instruments cold-turkey. So – repeating perfectly normal motions over and over can lead to injury. Imagine how many times you use an index finger in one song! Some songs have hundreds of notes, and this will tax the fingers, joints, tendons – to repeat a motion 1000’s of times. I hear about guitarists doing 2 4-hour gigs a day and then wondering why they have hand problems. Many pro players and adult players especially ages 35-45 have hand problems due to the stresses of life, financial stress, lack of warm up time, before gigs etc.Īnd even if you are playing properly, “overusing” your body can cause injury. In other words – I know when to call it a day. Often I want to “keep going” but I know to stop if the body says stop. If anything ever twinges, feels tight – I stop playing and rest up. I practice many hours a week, but I take time off and rest, and stretch, and sleep enough, and breathe deep and drink enough water. It’s not weight lifting, and a hand injury can totally put your playing out of commission. ![]() Never practice past the point where your body is telling you to stop. Think “long term” planning, and go for slow, boring steady progress. Progress comes from mindful relaxed practice sessions which are broken into several 15-20 minute chunks, and then spread over a months and years. I’m going to show you how to treat your hands and body with love & care – so that you can make music in the long haul. What you are not hearing is the endless stories about musicians with carpal tunnel syndrome that go along with them. Practicing mindfully and correctly is much more important than simply racking up mindless hours of practice time.ĭon’t believe all the BS stories about “so and so’s endless practice.” It’s just a story which is used to sell you stuff. Practicing guitar mindfully and correctly is much more important than simply racking up mindless hours of practice time. Myth debunked: I do not practice 24 hours a day. Practicing for hours and hours might make you feel like you are living up to this myth of the musical super-hero, but you can injure yourself physically by overdoing it, and end up having to stop playing for months. It’s cool to “imagine the life of an artist” but gang, let’s get real. ![]()
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