pretty sure this might have been answered/helped but on mobile boards are a lil hard to navigate
i’m new to guitar, only been learning/practising 3 days with justin’s beginner lessons. i have bad thumb pain. i have barely any finger pain at all. maybe it’s because it’s early in my journey, maybe because i’m a violinist?? idk
anyway, thumb pain in index finger/thumb fleshy pocket is intense. i assume pain is from stretching it out etc. any advice??? is it just Too Bad, Deal With It kind of territory or can it be soothed a lil??
same here…justin said it was in fact do to muscle stretch from holding thumb behind the neck. apparently this thumb muscle will come in handy down the road for chords.
I’ve had general wrist and finger pain for a few weeks around week 5 and 6 which is much better now. I started wearing a wrist brace at night and that has helped too. I’ve found it quite surprising just how much muscle and tendon work there is in playing guitar. I think it will pass, it’s just really annoying. Good luck on your journey.
I think, what you experience is quite normal due to unusual usage of your hand. Be aware of it, observe it and take a brake if needed. Check, if you are pressing strings too hard, in this case you give a lot of needless pressure on your thumb. Try to grab a chord, then try to identify your muscle tenseness and relax actively. Concerns also neck, shoulders, arm, wrist. We tend to build up tension where it’s not needed. Record videos of you playing and control posture of your whole body. Don’t strain your structures too much, won’t help in the long run.
Agreed with everyone else here, 100% normal as it’s a type of gripping that muscle just isn’t used to. It’ll get better over time but, as others have said, don’t overdo it and let it build slowly. This can be frustrating as all you want to do is play, but you’ll knock yourself out of more time if you strain it .
Sounds like you are getting right into it, so that is great.
Working new muscles does cause soreness. Stretch and take breaks. Try not to squeeze so hard, you will eventually learn that it isn’t necessary.
But to some degree, you have a lot of new muscles to develop, so there will be some pain. One day, you will shred a lick of barre cords and pop a beer cap with your bare hands!
@caelondian somewhere in Justin’s beginner course there’s a description of how to ascertain the minimum pressure needed to play a clean note/chord, speeds up that learning process
