My hand hurts....

[JoelMax]

And no, its not because of doing what you think :D

Practicing modes, minor scales, solos and other bits and pieces has got my middle and ring finger aching at the knuckles. The top side of my hand is starting to ache too.

Am I playing too much? Too long? Hitting the fretboard too hard playing notes? Maybe not warming up properly?

Any advice or input, appreciated.....
Thanks

[Mr. Slippery]

You might want to stretch your hands a bit, if you knuckles continue to hurt you might not want to push it. You should try to loosen your muscles before you play if you plan on playing for a long time or playing difficult stuff. Try rotating you fingers from the knuckle if you understand what i mean by that. If you knuckles still hurt i would think about giving it a rest, although if this happens fairly often you might have a problem.

[i_finlayson37]

All I can say is pretty much everything Mr. Slippery said about warming your hands up but also when your hands start to hurt that's when you should stop and rest your hands till they feel better. It's bad for your hands in the long run and when they're sore you won't play well anyway.

[BlueOrb]

i had tendonitis, and my doctor told me to stretch before i play and take a day off a week from playing

[joeinthebox1980]

sometimes the position of the guitar can have an effect on your hands... it could be too low or too high.

[Ryan_77uk]

Originally posted by joeinthebox1980
sometimes the position of the guitar can have an effect on your hands... it could be too low or too high.

There is no too low. It must be too high ;)

[OneStepBeyond]

whenever i play too low for like an hour or so the back of my hand hurts for like 3 days

[JoelMax]

I can see if the neck is held higher up, then the wrist doesn't have to bend at a 90 degree angle to get your fingers on the fretboard. Thus relief in the tendons. I also think, maybe I'm hitting the fretboard too hard.

What do you guys do when you first pick up your guitars to start practicing? Like any warm up exercises, or stretching, or anything at all?

I glad to see I'm not the only one with this condition. Its like being in a recovery group :)

[diagnosisgtr]

Usually I stretch out my hands before playing. Push back on your fingers until you feel your wrist start to stretch. Do the same for both hands. Next, take both hands and try to spread your fingers out as far as you can. Hold both of these stretches for around 30 seconds. Next, just warm-up by playing some scales for a few minutes and your hands will feel stretched out and you will play better and faster.