Hi everyone,
I’ve been getting some wrist pain while practicing barre chords recently. I think I’m gripping the neck too tightly, but when I try and loosen my grip, I just mute some or all of the strings. I’ve attached two photos. Is anyone else struggling with the same problem?
Hey Michael,
From what I can see;
Better still, I’d suggest a visit/revisit to Justin’s great lesson on barre chord technique at
All the best
Cheers, Shane
Thanks — that’s exactly the feedback I was hoping for. I’ll go back and rewatch that lesson. Thanks again!
you want the pad of your thumb to be on the centre middle of the neck behind your index finger so you are almost pinching the neck between them
Good advice. Thanks!
Hi Michael,
Placing the thumb directly behind the index finger is something (which I learned in Justin`s lessons) that is no longer taught as the only truth, a lot depends on how your hand is put together (differs from the average),… admittedly your thumb seems a bit out of the way and the closer behind the fingers to the fretboard the easier it should be…so go for the ideal of behind the index finger but don’t keep trying at all costs,…
Greetings ,Rogier
The key thing is to rotate your index finger so that the boney part is right next to the fret and pressing on the strings. You’re using the fleshy part of your finger and when you press harder you simply squash the flesh more.
Also try to squeeze the body of the guitar a little with your other elbow. This creates a sort of reverse pressure and might help.
The main thing to do of course is to study Justin’s lesson as Shane has suggested.
I’m assuming your right handed. Try this. Make a standard open E chord with fingers 2,3 and 4. Without using your thumb, apply pressure to the fretboard by pulling your left arm back. Brace the body of the guitar with your right arm so the fretboard is in a stable position. You should be able to strum a clean chord without using your left thumb at all. You will be pulling reasonably hard. So now add your thumb to apply pressure. You should be able to find a more comfortable position that allows you to make a clean chord using a combination of arm pull and thumb squeeze.
Barre chords are not easy. Making a barre chord above the 12th fret, as in your photo, adds to the difficulty because it is an awkward position. Can you make the same chord lower (towards the headstock) on the neck?
Read this. An oldie but a goodie.
Thanks very much to everyone who replied! I’ll take all of this under advisement, as they say.
Hey guys, I am not a beginner player and have done bar chords for years now but since I’ve switched to a strat with a bigger radius (9.5) than I was used to (7.25) I have been feeling pain around my thumb’s middle joint.
Are there any room for technical improvement to possibly reduce pain? My action is also higher than it used to be and I think it is also forcing me to press harder on the strings where I used to get away with a lighter press.
The smaller the fret board radius the easier barre chords are to play so practicing will help strengthen your thumb but don’t over do it. It’s like any strengthening exercise you can do major damage by over working the tendons.
Get you strat set up like you’re used to this will make a huge difference. Also check the string gauge is the same on both guitars. The new strat may have heavier strings.
The good news is the bigger radius will make string bending easier.
Yes I have already spent quite a lot of time on setting up myself and with a luthier. It has an ideal action for my lead playing now, I have set it up in a way that is easy for me to bend but have been struggling a little with bar chords now, action is definitely higher than my previous guitars because I used to play Schecter and Ibanez which are known to be kind of shred guitars that can take very low actions. I can’t go much lower with a strat because that causes amp-hearable buzzing in my case. I currently have something like mid-action for a strat I believe, not so low but not so high neither.
Probably some time will heal things. It has been like 2 months but I’ve been mostly practicing leads/solos and bar chords not so much.
