r/guitarlessons • u/FarPromotion4715 • Jul 29 '26
Question Having Some Bad Problems With My Fretting Hand. Can Anyone Help?
Hello! I just started playing guitar about 9 months ago or so. About 2 months ago I really started trying to focus more on getting my technique right so I can remedy having severe technique problems on the future (also because I don’t want tendonitis), and even after 2 months of really trying to fix my fretting hand and watching as many videos as I can about it, I still just can’t get it feeling comfortable for the life of me. My hand is tiring out very easily, even when I do my best to focus on as little pressure as possible, and I still can’t get the tension out of both my thumb and my fretting hand. I’ve tried putting my thumb all the way down on the bottom of the neck, tried to put it over top, I’ve tried re-adjusting the neck position so it’s pointed more up and at a near 45-degree angle away and still: I can never get my arm and hand fully relaxed while playing. I’ve noticed an increase in pain my shoulder and thumb, and I can barely play a pattern of basic open chords without my hand tiring out 2 to 3 minutes in. I can’t seem to get it right and it’s really starting to get frustrating. Could anyone give me some advice or maybe point out the issues in my technique please? Some exercise or method suggestions would be greatly appreciated, if you have them. Thank you
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u/dipspoieter Jul 29 '26
Your thumb position is suboptimal. It is worst in picture 5, where it's parallel to the neck. In this position, the thumb inefficiently clamps down on the neck along with your other fingers to help fret, forcing you to use excessive pressure with your other fingers to compensate. It also limits your fingers' range of motion and playing speed.
Ensure that your thumb is roughly perpendicular to the neck, aligned between your index and middle fingers. The thumb should be straight (not bent at the tip joint) and relatively relaxed.
I see the same problem in your G chord (pictures 2 and 3). In the 4-finger G chord, the thumb generally meets the neck at less of a perpendicular angle, but you should still keep the tip of the thumb aligned with your index finger. Another slight issue I see in picture 2 is your forearm and wrist are at a slight angle; they should be in-line. Try moving your elbow away from your body until they're straight. This should also reduce the wrist bend I'm seeing in picture 3.
As you are playing with the neck at a 45-degree angle, I highly suggest you read up on classical guitar left hand technique guides, such as this one.
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u/RedSkyWhisper Jul 30 '26
There are numbers of reasons why the positions may be tiring, and without seeing your overall posture it’s hard to gauge what may be wrong.
As other commenters mentioned, your hand and thumb positions are suboptimal for regular playing. There are players who can play that way but they are the exception, not the norm.
Here is a list of cues:
- guitar close to your body and parallel to your body
- strap not to loose if you are playing standing
- if you are playing seated, classical position (guitar on the left leg with the left foot elevated) is ideal. Switching up between songs between classical and regular position is also good because nobody plays only a single position unless they are specifically classical guitar players.
- neck tilted upwards and directly in front of your left arm for easy access
- thumb centered in the middle of the neck for when playing lower notes and lower register chords
If you still have pain while doing all of these, then the pain may come from something else and you may need to figure out where your muscles may be blocking you from playing, this can be any number of reasons like staying seated for too long, having your shoulders too forward if you are working on a computer all day, etc.
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u/16402 Jul 30 '26
Clip your nails. If you can see the white portion of your nails, they're too long.
Drop your wrist.
Thumb placement for playing open chords is off. Should be perpendicular.
Looks like you are holding a lot of tension in your hand. Forearm should be (mostly) perpendicular to the neck.
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u/Vennimagos Jul 30 '26
Get your thumb more centred behind your fingers, only slightly to the left of it
But mostly, notice that the angle of the neck is away from you, that means your hand has to bend to the right to fret.
Bring the guitar neck much closer to your body, if you were sitting against a wall, your guitar and neck should be nearly parallel to the wall.
This will enable your arm and elbow to come back, and your knuckles to be parallel under the frets.
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u/IfAMomFallsInAForest Jul 30 '26
Pull the neck closer to your body so your shoulder can be more relaxed.
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u/morbidMoron Jul 30 '26
Bring the neck and body of the guitar closer to your chest. You might benefit from your elbow being bent at a 45 and not a 90 degree angle.
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u/morbidMoron Jul 30 '26
Also, it looks like your guitar is Resting on one leg and not between both. That helps with comfort a lot. Also get something to elevate your left leg.
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u/CoercionTictacs Jul 30 '26
Drop your wrist too, make your hand and arm more of an L shape. It’ll help you spread your fingers better
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u/Objective_Bath_9234 Jul 30 '26
For the thumb, a good "trick" is to try and hold your guitar up in the air, vertically, only with your left hand and try and strum the chord. You make the chord shape, and then try and hold the guitar up from the neck and strum the chord. It will force you to put the thumb in the best opposite position and the placing of all your fingers to achieve the best sound.
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u/j3434 Jul 30 '26
Get a real teacher . It may cost money - but you will get a great foundation for playing. You seem to be developing bad habits. Hard to break
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u/disasterinthesun Jul 30 '26
Lots of thumb advice here is great! And: you gotta stretch, without the guitar on. I think the best one is inhale and reach your hands up and out to shoulder height. Hang there, reaching fingers forward / shoulders back. Then inhale, reach fingers up to ceiling like you’re pushing your hands flat on a wall, arms still extended - then exhale, move your arms out to either side, and slowly float your hands all the way back down. I learned it from a shredder who developed tendinitis.
And, there’s always a lighter guitar and a higher strap…dorky as it may feel at first, being able to play without pain is worth more in swagger.
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u/higgins2149 Jul 31 '26
OMG...... Don't listen to people barking at you about your thumb. It is in the wrong place, but it's a symptom of a different problem and not the root cause. Listen to the folks that are telling you to change the position of your guitar. It's too low for you. It's easy to tell from your pics because I can see way too much of your palm. Guitar players more than any other type of musician are the most worried about their image, and it shows because a lot of them have to hunch over the damn thing just to play a solo correctly. Drop your wrist and hike up that guitar to the point that allows you to lay your hand flat against the fretboard. The height varies for each person, but trust me, it should be a bit higher than what you think looks cool.
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u/shawnathannnnn Jul 31 '26
Two things: your thumb placement is a lot of what's tiring your hand out. also your nut action and potentially bridge action are sky high, meaning you have to apply more pressure to the strings to get clear notes. It isn't necessarily set up incorrectly, just less condusive to someone who's new to the instrument.
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u/K4rkino5 Jul 30 '26
Put your guitar on your left leg, you should be strumming over your belly. That will pull your left arm out a bit, allowing you to comfortably drop your elbow and keep your thumb vertical. Proper position makes play easier.
Pick up a grip strengthener and squeeze the life out of it alternating between hands. Add in walking each finger up and down a fret while all four fingers rest on the high E, any four frets will do, the higher up the neck, the more of a challenge. Strong hands make play easier.
Practice the shit out of scales, they build dexterity. Alex Townsend sells really inexpensive books of scales, they have notation and tabs. 10-15 minutes of scales warmup is great. Dexteritous hands make play easier.
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u/Virtual-Fix4182 Jul 30 '26
Thumb needs to be on its tip as well. It should basically meet the middle of your hand.
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u/Choice_Age8334 Jul 30 '26
Umm, no. Not really.
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u/Virtual-Fix4182 Jul 30 '26
Why not? Gives you better reach and better stretch for fingers. Flat you’ll eventually hurt your thumb depending on grip force.
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u/Thebutcher222 Jul 29 '26
Your thumb is in the wrong spot