"anchor" your pinky?

[HangDawg]

I think it's whatever you're comfortable with. And when I hear people who in my opinion, aren't the greatest guitar players, tell other people to not do something I could scream. You need to do what it takes to play efficiently for your style and your personal dimensions. Not all guitar players are created equal and some may need to do things a little different.

 

[Doug H]

In general I don't think it's a perfered technique, or something anyne should aspire to. I think it's just something some guitar players do to orient their picking hand. In my opinion, the more versatile the better, but if you can play guitar you can play guitar, I don't think it matters much how you go about it.

I have a friend that doesn't anchor at all, which led me to notice that I did, At the tme it felt more like a weakness than a technique (anchoring that is), and picking without any anchor was a bit awkward for me. I sort of went on a bender for a while to float my picking hand. I don't pay much attention anymore. I tend to rest my hand/fingers/palm on the guitar a lot.

 

[mshilarious]

Dawg, it's got nothing to do with how good anyone is, it's about how long they are able to play. Forget about guitar, let's talk about typing again. If you use improper typing techniques for 8 hours a day, you are at a very high risk of developing repetitive motion injuries. Doesn't matter if you type 30 wpm or 80 wpm, you can hurt yourself with bad technique and then you are typing 0 wpm.

 

[punkin]

Well, I do play alot... I won't admit to 8 hrs a day but 3-4 at least.

I find my biggest problem is with the picking hand elbow actually. I've been seeing a doc for this for a few months. The anti inflammatorys seem to help. The doc would suggest that I take a break. Let the swelling go completely down then do some stretching exersizes.

 

[Cyrokk]

Are you warming up?

90% of muscle strain due to playing guitar is lack of warming up.

Cy

 

[punkin]

You know...that's probobly my biggest problem. I usually just get right into playing or working on projects as soon as I sit in. The most warm up I get is helping to tote the amps and drums in.

Doc told me same thing. On a couple of occassions ( I should try this more often), I took a warming pad (those bean or rice filled sacks) put it into the microwave, then did a bunch of scales and arpeggios. It seem to help once I really got to playing. On breaks between sets, I reapplied the heat which reall seemed to help. Overall good results. The problem is remembering to do this and not get sucked into talking with the audience or waitresses.

sjl

 

[Cyrokk]

In the 20+ years I have been playing, the only pain I have felt is between the first and second fingers of my fret hand. The only time I ever felt that pain is if I dived right in to playing stuff without warming up.

Starting on a four note/four fret exercise (like 1-2-3-4 or 4-3-2-1 or any other combination) and playing it on all six strings slowly starting at the 12th fret and going down the neck and back up, gradually increasing speed, is a quick and effective way to get the blood flowing in the fingers. Doing a couple of these takes less than three minutes and gets your hands in the condition necessary to play for hours on end with no pain apart from the slight strain that just comes with the instrument.

It's a bit hard to believe, but exercises like this will keep your fingers going for as long as you play guitar (or at least for 23 years like me ).

Cy

 

[punkin]

10-4

I'm a believer... I just need to get it into my routine

 

[mshilarious]

punkin, definitely warm up, but also go see a good guitar teacher, classically trained, specifically to look for a defect in your technique. The source of your problem could be somewhere else than your elbow even though that is where the problem shows up. I am not qualified to guess what your problem might be, but please seek some help. Anti-inflammatories are a band-aid; you need to find the source of the problem.

 

[punkin]

Will do MS

thanks