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Posted by: dynamite_dude Sep 10 2007, 02:38 AM

A bit frustrated at the mo, just learning the Cowboy's from Hell (Pantera) solo and can do the long stretch descending pattern just fine, however, when I try play that standing up, my wrist is at such an awkward angle that I cannot play it comfortably at all.

This doesn't just apply to this solo/song, but to just playing when standing up. My guitar isn't at my feet or anything, but above my waist, and it still causes my wrist to go to near snapping point when I play standing up.

Any suggestions on how to solve this?

Cheers.

Posted by: Robin Sep 10 2007, 02:43 AM

Make sure the guitar is at a comfortable hight, and then you just practice playing while standing. After a while you wont notice any difference beetween sitting and standing. In the beginning you're just not used to play while standing, its all just a matter of practicing it till you get used to it.

Posted by: Smikey2006 Sep 10 2007, 03:32 AM

basically play standing.. practice makes your wrist adjust and then it feels better..stretch your wrist.. and when your practicing scales and such just try walking around while you do it

Posted by: FretDancer69 Sep 10 2007, 04:03 AM

I cant play some solos when standing up i think that my guitar's neck is too big, i dont know...and when after a while of playing (standing) i get a horrible wrist ache in my fretting hand.... is this the "Adjustment/Getting used to" process?

Posted by: Ayen Sep 10 2007, 04:12 AM

Try adjusting the strap, maybe lowering the guitar below your waist. Practice standing as much as you can as well, sooner or later it's bound to become more comfortable (not just randomly, of course), and you'll be ready to play on stage.

Fretdancer, I usually get that ache too, but it's when im sitting down, and usually have my thumb in the middle of the neck, and fret the strings from above.

Posted by: Pavel Sep 10 2007, 04:32 AM

If you keep your guitar on right leg when practicing sitting, than you will most likely have troubles playing standing because it totally changes the position of right hand when picking.

Posted by: Robin Sep 10 2007, 04:40 AM

I have my guitar on the right leg, but I have never ever(Well, except when I started) had any problems with playing guitar while standing.

I say all this is just a matter of practice.

Posted by: strat_daniel Sep 10 2007, 06:52 AM

Yeah, the aches are just part of the changing process right now. I had a lot of trouble, too, at first. Now I can casually walk around without looking at the guitar. It just takes a little time.

Posted by: Pavel Sep 10 2007, 07:09 AM

The height of the guitar - how low/high you keep it is also important! When you practice sitting your hands are in one position and when you stand - in another position! So it DOES matter.

It all depends on what you play and how much practice you had of both. When i practice at home i play both standing and sitting just to have a bit of both!

Posted by: Anomaly Sep 10 2007, 07:16 AM

It's also important that the neck is angled about 45° to the floor when standing and sitting. I's a lot more comfortable for the wrist.

Though when sitting it's not as easy to position it angled if you don't play with the guitar body being very high so it can hang from the strap that way. But when standing it's very easy to adjust it to hang like that.

And the wrist should't hurt, at least not much. It really helps to warm the wrist a little before playing.

Posted by: FretDancer69 Sep 10 2007, 07:20 AM

i always do that. I dont think its the act of not warming up that gives me the aches, but the position of my wrist... i think...

Posted by: SLASH91 Sep 10 2007, 07:27 AM

Yeah, I used to have your problem dynamite dude, but my wrist doesnt really ache anymore. I keep my strap pretty low btw.

Posted by: Anomaly Sep 10 2007, 07:48 AM

Yeah, probably. Because you stretch the left wrist too far to the left/outwards. This hurts me at least. But you don't need to stretch your wrist too much like that if you keep your guitar neck at 45° from the floor.

My wrist really hurt for quite some time because I over used it in the wrong way. And now it's a lot better and doesn't give me any difficulties playing if I warm up. So, I do have to warm up. It's probably not that important if you're sure you're holding everything right (!) and you start playing slowly and if it doesn't hurt at all.

But I still can't lean on my left hand's palm (with the wrist being bend, though not bend like when playing) because it starts to really hurt long before I put my weight on it. So now I lean on my left hand with a straight wrist - with just the fingers on the surface or lean on my fist.
But when doing something like this which isn't really leaning straight on http://yoga.iloveindia.com/gifs/yoga-poses.jpg I've heard that then you do need to keep your whole palm on the floor (and finger extended ) otherwise that can hurt your wrist too. It doesn't hurt me if I do it either way (with whole palms on the floor or just on my fingers), but I'm going to take the advice.

Posted by: Victafor Sep 15 2007, 03:31 AM

when i sit down, the guitar is closer to me! and its more comfortable. But when i stood up, it was real hard for sweeps and stuff

so what i did was just tighten the strap closer to me

Posted by: Soul_Decision Sep 20 2007, 08:32 AM

When sitting down, try playing with the guitar on your left leg. I did this and I have no problem playing the same stuff standing up

Posted by: Skyla_Lit Sep 20 2007, 08:05 PM

Wrist pain - THAT I can understand but what about pain in the left shoulder while playing standing up??

15 minutes of walking around with the guitar and it starts to hurt like hell

Any ideas what to do about that??

Posted by: fkalich Sep 20 2007, 08:23 PM

another option, dedicate yourself to the guitar so much, that you get so great at it that you can take the attitude...."You guys can stand if you want, I am going to load my couch in my pickup truck and put it on stage, if you don't like it, or the audience does not like it, all I can say is, I found a gig when I was looking for this one!".

Now you would have to be pretty darn good to pull that off, but I thought I would just mention it as an option.

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 20 2007, 08:25 PM

I'd use as wide a guitar strap as you can find Skyla_lit. Mine is about 2- 2 1/2 inches wide - it helps spread the weight over a wider area of your shoulder and with a Gibson it really does help .

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: Skyla_Lit Sep 20 2007, 08:45 PM

Guess I'll go for the wider guitar strap since playing sitting on a couch all day long might result in other kinds of pain popping up

Let's just hope the widest strap won't be wider than my shoulder)

Thank you guys!!

Posted by: Robin Sep 20 2007, 09:16 PM

Just do like Steve Harris, nit your own gigantic and soft strap.

Posted by: Skyla_Lit Sep 20 2007, 10:20 PM

I'll probably have to if I don't find a perfect fit......

Maybe I should start designing guitar straps for female guitarists and sell them with aaaaaaaaaaall those women playing guitar out there I'd have just enough money to buy me a new shoulder

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 21 2007, 01:33 AM

I have to say the new fkalich is even funnier than the old one!

Posted by: Jeff Curtis Sep 22 2007, 03:39 PM

try petrucci style very high

Posted by: Vinod Sep 22 2007, 07:56 PM

Take your Left leg somewhat front will make it easier.

Posted by: visi0n Sep 22 2007, 08:05 PM

I had the same problems too, while sitting i could do the most solos/arpeggios, but while standing i had difficulties with it, i practice now more standing than sitting, and it goes only better with the time practice will make difference

Posted by: Fsgdjv Sep 22 2007, 09:06 PM

Skyla_Lit kind of touched this topic, but I'm wondering about this, so..

When I play standing, I get that pain in the left shoulder, and I'm wondering if it's that my shoulder gets tense because of the weight or if it's just the weight? And if it's tension, can I do anything about that?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I found it more appropriate than to start anoter topic about almost the same thing

Posted by: The Uncreator Sep 22 2007, 09:57 PM

That was kinda like pain in the tips of my fingers to me, overtime it went away. Try readjusting the position of the guitar so the weight is evenly distributed, or even purchasing a more comfortable strap.

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Sep 22 2007, 10:15 PM

Yeah, Petrucci style is very useful !!! Look how he put the guitar on the leg

Posted by: The Uncreator Sep 22 2007, 10:20 PM

Well silly, gods dont have shoulder pain!

Posted by: Resurrection Sep 24 2007, 12:25 AM

Glad I found this thread - I was about to start a very similar one myself. I've never had any problems with wrist or shoulder pain, but over the last few months I have been noticing that I've been playing GMC lessons much better when seated. When I'm sitting down I hold the guitar in a "classical guitar" position on my left leg, very much like Pavel does in a lot of his lessons. This keeps the neck at a fair angle to the ground and allows me to keep my left hand thumb low on the neck for fast passages without too much strain on the wrist. I don't have the longest fingers in the world and I've been finding that lowering my left-hand thumb position has improved my accuracy a lot. Until recently, any time I stood up I could never quite recreate that comfortable position. However, a few weeks back I tried raising the guitar height and eventually found a height at which I could get the neck angle and hand position I wanted. I was surprised at how much I'd raised the guitar from a height that I thought was fine for 20+ years!

Although it might not look the coolest, wearing the guitar high has proved to be a great idea for me and I can play much better in a standing position now. Actually, I'm wearing the guitar at about the same height as the first of the 2 Petrucci pictures that Juan posted earlier, if that helps anyone.