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Post by jack1982 on May 12, 2024 8:54:01 GMT -6
I kind of took the week off from guitar playing - I think spending 3 months on "Going to California" has left me a little bit burned out lol. I'm starting to get my enthusiasm back now though, still can't decide what to start on next. But soon! Hope you guys all had a good week ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by bluesbruce on May 12, 2024 16:18:04 GMT -6
Actually played the acoustic guitar with my fingers 3 or 4 days this past week, just like in the olden days. Also tried using a thumb pick (in hopes of not having to grip the pick, which seems like a prime offender in aggravating my wrist and thumb. I've kept all the sessions very short (15 minutes or less). I've lost all my calluses, as well as any dexterity that I had. I'll continue to advance slowly, see how it goes!
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Post by grampalerxst on May 13, 2024 12:49:18 GMT -6
Hey guys,
I'm late again but hope everyone is doing well. I took my dad out to the cemetery yesterday to mark Mother's Day and just never really got back on the computer.
A very enjoyable week of guitar for me. It's amazing how fun the instrument is when I can see real improvements week-over-week rather than the old rut I was stuck in where even year-over-year it was not obvious I was making progress. Still no active plans for bigger projects or even recordings. Tbh, I'm concerned about getting down one of those rabbit holes and suddenly reverting to my old self and infinite plateaus and losing all this rejuvenation.
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Post by grampalerxst on May 13, 2024 12:54:42 GMT -6
Actually played the acoustic guitar with my fingers 3 or 4 days this past week, just like in the olden days. Also tried using a thumb pick (in hopes of not having to grip the pick, which seems like a prime offender in aggravating my wrist and thumb. I've kept all the sessions very short (15 minutes or less). I've lost all my calluses, as well as any dexterity that I had. I'll continue to advance slowly, see how it goes! Are your problems in your picking hand or fretting hand? What you had described before sounded a lot like the situation I dealt with in the Spring of 2022 so I guess I assumed it was your fretting hand. I basically had to put the guitar down for 2-3 months and it cleared up on it's own, and knock on wood never came back. I was taking lessons at the time and my instructor was giving me copious exercises to work through which looking back I think was the source of the discomfort in the base of my thumb. Needless to say I don't spend much time with those exercises any more, and when I do I keep the repetitions low. I also put the guitar down immediately if I feel anything at all in that area.
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Post by bluesbruce on May 13, 2024 16:36:43 GMT -6
Are your problems in your picking hand or fretting hand? What you had described before sounded a lot like the situation I dealt with in the Spring of 2022 so I guess I assumed it was your fretting hand. I basically had to put the guitar down for 2-3 months and it cleared up on its y pown, and knock on wood never came back. I was taking lessons at the time and my instructor was giving me copious exercises to work through which looking back I think was the source of the discomfort in the base of my thumb. Needless to say I don't spend much time with those exercises any more, and when I do I keep the repetitions low. I also put the guitar down immediately if I feel anything at all in that area. My problem has been in my picking hand (my right), but it is my understanding that tendon problems are actually much more common in the fretting hand (but may occur in either). Like you, it has been forever to get better. My problem really seems to mostly relate to a bad habit of gripping the pick too tightly, and such habits are hard to break.
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Post by grampalerxst on May 13, 2024 18:06:43 GMT -6
My problem has been in my picking hand (my right), but it is my understanding that tendon problems are actually much more common in the fretting hand (but may occur in either). Like you, it has been forever to get better. My problem really seems to mostly relate to a bad habit of gripping the pick too tightly, and such habits are hard to break. It's probably similar, I'm sure mine came from excess muscle tension from trying to get stretch between my fingers that overtook my whole hand down to the base of my thumb during those exercises. Fortunately maybe when it came to picking I always held the pick too loose resulting in a lot of drops. That's why I ultimately wound up playing with the "shoulder" of the pick--holding it sideways helped me hang on without clenching it, which tends to lock my wrist with sympathetic tension. Hopefully with some concentration you'll work past the troubles.
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Post by wannaplayblues on May 16, 2024 9:43:33 GMT -6
Sorry I'm late to this, this week. Last week was ok - got Blues Lead Guitar Solos - Three Nights In Chicago done and recorded. This week has been slow playing wise and I don't think I'll get a recording done. In other news, there's a Jam group I've found on Facebook that meet once a month on a Sunday. I'm trying to pluck up the courage to go along next month. It's something I'd love to do on a regular basis. It's about a 45min drive away too, but if it goes horribly wrong I won't go back and it's unlikely I'll bump into anyone after it ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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