Watches/jewellery on fretting hand

Now, whenever I pick up my guitar i remove my watch.
Wearing a watch impedes my ability to shape my hand/wrist for:
Chord shapes
Barre chords
Finger stretching for scales etc.
I guess the reason is because the watch is wrapped around the area of the carpel tunnel?
I have shared this as I have seldom seen any advice/recommendations to remove these items before playing.
Of course it might be just me :smile::guitar:

1 Like

I have a watch and a wedding ring on my fretting hand/wrist and have never even thought about them. They cause me no difficulty whatsoever.

I wear watch with no issue although I wonder if I wear mine slightly further up my wrist because I can see how if I wore it lower then it would be a problem when contorting my wrist to play chords. I think the main reason I wear mine where I do is because it’s a Garmin and it seems like the best place for the heart rate sensor - any lower down my wrist and then there’s a gap under it.

I wear a watch plus a bunch of leather bands that cover around a third of my forearm from my wrist up. Never cause me any trouble. You probably haven’t seen any recommendations because there are none… it’s about doing whatever is most comfortable for you.

I do the same when playing. I either loosen or take off my watch. I definitely have better hand flexibility with it off.

I wish I hadn’t read this thread. Now, the next time I play, I’ll be thinking about my watch and whether it’s interfering with me instead of paying attention to my playing! :rofl:

But it does give me something to blame my ineptitude on!

2 Likes

I don’t wear a watch, but I do have my wedding ring on my fretting hand. 90% of the time I remove it before playing- not because it interferes, but because I’m paranoid that I might scratch up the guitar neck on accident :laughing: there are times that I forget that I have it on and have played with it just fine, but I just prefer to play with no rings/jewelry in general.

I actually am the same way with some belts or jackets with big zippers while playing. I don’t want to scuff my precious guitars. I’m probably a little overly paranoid :wink:

I don’t wear any rings, but I do wear a watch. I’ve never considered removing it to play, but, I don’t think it impedes my movement much at all. It is a Garmin activity/fitness tracker, so I wear it at all times. It has a very rubbery band, though, so it moves with my wrist fairly well.

I always have a wedding ring, watch and belt on, but not found any issues hope this post doesn’t make me too aware of the issue. :grinning:
Michael

2 Likes

Yeah, do what feels the best for you. These guys weren’t bothered by them:

image

1 Like

I don’t mind wear on my guitars, people pay extra for that.

But sure, my chunky wedding ring is totally why I can’t play well…

Which I just don’t understand. Why do people want their guitars to look like somebody took a belt sander to them?

1 Like

That I can’t answer!

I can see developing that as you progress on a much loved instrument but faking it on a brand new one I don’t understand

I think as you develop the less things are disturbing to you. I can play with a wedding ring and a watch, although my ring is probably 10% of a size Rob put a picture of :laughing: and I have a smartwatch with elastic strip so it’s quite flexible in general

For a guitarist I have great hands for bricklaying… :joy:

I do think its easier to ignore distractions as your skills develop in any thing really

2 Likes

Yeah, the same with some of our ā€œidolsā€ having played live when they were not 100% sober and still played good. With rock-solid skills a lot of things just won’t distract you, or if they do you will be able to find a way to accommodate them.

A point well illustrated :smile: Thanks.

1 Like

Don’t they use one of those to play slide guitar Rob? :wink:

I remove my watch, don’t know why. I should maybe try playing with it on.