Beginning Guitarist Hand and Wrist Problem?

Question:

Beginning Guitarist Hand and Wrist Problem?

I was trying to learn Crazy Train by Ozzy, but when I tried to play the intro I couldn't spread my hand far enough. Then my hand started to cramp up and hurt. How can I get my hand to stretch farther and to stop hurting when I play my guitar?

My hand usually hurts when I need to use my pinky finger as well. I also think that when I stand up, my wrist is at a different angle so It harder to play while standing up. Any tips?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You forgot to mention one most important factor.....how long have you been playing....a lot of kids want to start out playing power chords before their hands and fingers are ready....do you do finger exercises? I'm talking about the ones where your fingers are perpendicular to the stings, thumb in the middle of the back of the guitar, and you go from the first fret to the fourth fret counting one, two, three, four, lifting the fingers the first time and leaving them on the second time.....do this on all the strings from the first to the sixth. There's another one that's very helpful, you do the same thing only this time count one through four, and then start with two, and count two, three, four, one.....and then start with three and count three, four, one two. This is better explained in person I hope that your not too confused. This helps streach out your muscels and gives you the streach that you need to make the chords that your talking about....my guess is that you haven't been playing that long and your hands are not properly prepared.....and need to do the pre work before you attempt songs that are too difficult for you yet. Do this exercise slowly speed is not the point here....getting your muscels in shape is. In my years of teaching guitar I can't get this into my students heads, speed is not the important thing.....getting it right is.....if you try and play too fast and your not ready your gonna screw it up....I'm positive that you won't get through a song without making a mistake. If your hands and muscels hurt that bad it's either that your not playing correctly, or you haven't been playing that long and your making chords that your not ready for yet !!!!! Go to the guitar center and see if you can find some more books on guitar exercisers, scales etc. Good luck to you....bye peopl elke ozzy osborne write song for me , so think if its mine and it wount hurt too play i think you just need to get use to it... the more you play, the less it will hurt... just practice more and your hand should sort of stretch or get adjusted to the guitar grip. You need to do stretching exercises and finger exercises.also the angle of your wrist is different when standing.Try sitting but playing the guitar with the lower part of the body resting between your legs,this allows the neck to be higher,which should help with the transition,also practice standing up while playing.As for the exercises....If you can find a recent issue(I don't remember which 1)of Guitar magazine,the 1 with the article of Steve Vai's 10 hour workout in it.This is an excellent source of limitless finger exercises and technique to improve your playing dramatically.If you can't find that issue,go to your local Guitar Center,Sam Ash,Mars Music,etc...and ask someone behind the counter for a book containing exercises,preferably 1 that also contains some info on theory.Then devote at least 15 minutes a day to doing the exercises.1 more thing always seek ways to improve your technique as well.Good luck. just practice everyday..
when i just started playing the guitar i used to
have cramps and wrist problems with difficult chords and tabs..
but as i practice my hands and fingers eventually
reached the strings and chords a lot easier..

it just takes practice and patience.. Tilt the neck of the guitar up higher and get your wrist in a more forward position. If you don't have large hands you should have the meaty part of your thumb more under the neck, instead of behind the neck.

I hope that explanation makes sense. I could show you in 2 seconds, but it's kinda hard to explain. It doesn't make a difference if you're standing or not. You must endure the pain and hardship for about a year. Your hand muscles aren't use to it yet.
The answer to this is practice!

(NO PAIN NO GAME!)

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