In this module and the previous module, I’m finding that my bicep and tricep ache! I’m holding the pick lightly, and I think I’m pretty relaxed when strumming, but it starts to burn by the end of a 10 minute song practice. Is this just because strumming is new and these muscles need to build strength? Is it because I’m holding my guitar wrong? Is there something else I can do to relax my arm?
Has anyone else found that strumming hurts?
Hello Ali & Welcome!!!
The only arm pain I can remember is in my fretting arm & that’s been from barre chords… if I spend more than 15 or 20 minutes playing barre chords the forearm gets pretty sore & later it’s stiff.
I don’t remember any posts about strumming arm pain… maybe someone else will have something to help you!
Good luck!!!
Tod
Welcome Ali.
I had strumming arm pain when I first started playing. I had a dreadnought size acoustic guitar which lifts your arm quite high. It’s a very unnatural position for your arm. I can’t think of any other activity that forces your arm into that position for an extended time. It went away with time, but I eventually bought a smaller guitar which is much more comfortable to play.
What size guitar do you have?
The experts (ie not me) may be able to help better if you post a video.
@Jacksprat, that’s a good point - it isn’t a huge guitar, it’s just a basic acoustic guitar.
@Prof_Thunder suggested that I post a video - this is me trying to figure out how to hold my guitar while strumming. (The guitar strumming video is playing in the background). https://youtu.be/OMbzLVy6qJ4
In making the video I noticed that I can’t seem to get comfortable. I prop my foot up on a few books, because otherwise it feels like my guitar is sliding. I can’t figure out if the guitar should sit below my breast or if the guitar just rests against my chest. And then towards the end of the video, after only 3 or 4 minutes of strumming, my bicep is starting to ache!
Hi Ali,
just checked your video. I’m by no means an expert, but I noticed a few things. For one, you often shift your posture and guitar around. One aid in this regard at least to hold your guitar in place would be a strap. That would also help with the following:
Which directly raises a question: How high do you rise your leg? Unfortunately, this is not visible in your video. Your upper leg should be more or less parallel to the floor, otherwise you push the guitar too high. This in turn would make it uncomfortable for your strumming arm to reach around the guitar body. From the looks of the vid, this might be the case or the guitar itself is a little too big for you. But this is only an assumption.
Your arm has to reach far “out” like away from your body and it seems to rotate right below your shoulder joint more than mine does while strumming (of course, we’re all different and the latter might be totally normal though 
). I suspect the first point might cause the pain and possibly can be fixed with proper posture.
Try to bring the guitar body as close to your body as possible, but not parallel to your front but at a slight angle. The body of the guitar should slightly lean on your right side and the neck should point slightly away from your body. That makes reaching around a little easier and might help reduce tension and pain. Hope that helps. 
Thank you - this is helpful! I prop my leg about 4 inches from the floor, which does make the top of my leg paralell to the ground. I’ll look into getting a strap - I think that will help a bit. I’ll adjust the positioing of the guitar too - appraciate you taking the time to view this video and offering your perspective!
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I’m also not an expert by any means but I spotted the same thing as Lisa said. Your arm is reaching out a long way, therefore it takes more effort to strum, I think that is what causes the ache.
I’m hesitant to suggest a remedy given how little I know. Lisa’s suggestions seem a good place to start.
As I mentioned before, I’m not an expert so I can’t give any advice. Perhaps one of the approved teachers like @LievenDV or @Richard_close2u
may be able to comment. The guitar is quite large - a dreadnought?
Hi - it’s this guitar: Woodland Cedar | Simon and Patrick
I don’t think it’s unusually large - but maybe it is! I didn’t even know what dreadnaught meant until you replied to my question - and I don’t know if this one is that!
@alichrishall
Hello Ali.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and the Community.
You’re experiencing common teething troubles for beginners- how to comfortably hold everything and move the right bits of your body in comfort.
Kudos for posting a video. It doesn’t quite give a full picture as it is a close up but it does give plenty of information … seeing the seat, your overall sitting position, your legs etc. would have been even more helpful but see if you can figure it out from the advice you’re getting.
The main issue that I see is that your elbow is pushed beyond the edge of your guitar body and the point of contact is a small part of your upper arm - the part where the biceps and triceps are, where you say the pain is.
Ideally you need to find a way of holding the guitar so that the bend, the crook, of your elbow, folds over and around the edge without your upper arm balancing on the edge (where the side meets the front). This means that the arc that your hand and wrist move through as your strum are not causing your upper arm to continually press against the hard edge of the guitar body. There is free movement that comes naturally from the rotation of the elbow. This will allow your whole upper body from your head, through your neck, shoulders, arm and hands all the way to your fingers, to be more relaxed. And being physically relaxed enables you to be comfortable and play better music.
Something a little like this.
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Hope ya can get this figured out Ali.
I’ll add my 2 cent.
And it’s likely the wrong thing to do.
However, to get my guitar in postion I’m comfortable playing. I cross my legs. One over the other. Then rest my guitar on the more elevated leg. It don’t matter which for me. I go back and forth as to whether left over right or right over left. But I’m constant about resting the guitar on the more elevated leg.
fwiw, I’d guess this method is not recommended by JG. Or maybe anyone else either for that matter. It’s just how I play and I find it generally a comfortable way to hold my guitar. And me personally, I’m all about comfort and my guess would be that I have bad posture when I play. But this works for me when I’m just sitting around playing for the ‘fun’ of it.
Good luck.
I’ve done this at times. It’s fine to do I think.
Hi @HappyCat and @chris_m - thanks, I also sometimes cross my legs. It’s a good reminder to do what feels comfortable - I am also learning to play guitar for fun, and I want to make sure I don’t go and injure myself in the process!
@Richard_close2u thank you for the detailed response. I’ve taken on board your suggestions, watched a few videos of people strumming acoustic guitars, and am finding my way to a more comfortable and easy arm position. I really appreciate you taking the time to analyse the video. So grateful for this little online community!
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