Hi kl31,kl31 wrote:If i'm playing bar chords, i need to pull back with my left arm and not use thumb as pressure. but pulling right arm back requires pulling right arm back to provide a counter force so my guitar doesn't end up behind me. alas, this creates an unbearable amount of fatigue in my right arm that also increases fatigue in the right hand.
what can I do to mitigate the right arm fatigue?
does he specify pain from incorrect posture or simply pain from fatigue? I'm mainly talking about pain from the latter, kinda like leaving the gym with sore muscles (not delayed onset muscle soreness).Paul Janssen wrote:The other think that Kevin Gallagher mentioned in reply to one of the comments was "pain = stop. just do a little at a time and don't force anything. give your body time to figure it out and don't rush it.". Good advise IMHO.
I've had an amazing guitar teacher for the first 1.5 years of my guitar training. I always asked him about how to make my barre chords more efficient, and every time he says that my posture, grip, and finger positioning are perfectly fine. The main issue I experience with barres is that I can't get all six strings to ring without buzzing. I can only get 4 adjacent strings with the last two usually buzzing/muted. Given his response, I think the more likely explanation for my bar chord troubles is due to the dimensions of my fingers. Specifically, the distance between the joints. The notes that buzz are always on strings that are right underneath the fleshy part of my fingers instead of the joints. And i really haven't found a good way to work around that without applying excess pressure. Nevertheless, I've definitely noticed my posture and grip tek suffer after not having a teacher to keep it in check. It's gonna be at the top of my mind now.Luis_Br wrote:You are certainly puting by far too much left arm weight over the bar. Practice pressing the bar only with index finger, no thumb, no wrist, no other fingers and no left arm pressure either. Also urgently find a good teacher or you will probably hurt yourself.
Also try to practice pressing individual strings in separate within the bar. Practice pressure only for top string from upper joint while keeping other joints of the same finger relaxed, or only lower strings from knuckle, or only intermediary strings from middle joint (always pay attention to keep other finger joints relaxed, as well as thumb, wrist etc.). Try to achieve good independence from each pressing part of the bar, it will enhance your control and feeling for the bar. In several passages, you don't need a full bar, you need only to press some of the strings. This independence will allow effort economy. But even when you need a full bar, if you have more individual control for each finger knot/joint pressing, you will get more control to find the solution for your problem. Pavel Steidl has some nice exercises for this, he teaches it in his masterclasses. I don't remember if I saw this at youtube or in a real live masterclass from him. Maybe searching youtube for his masterclasses you find something.kl31 wrote:I've had an amazing guitar teacher for the first 1.5 years of my guitar training. I always asked him about how to make my barre chords more efficient, and every time he says that my posture, grip, and finger positioning are perfectly fine. The main issue I experience with barres is that I can't get all six strings to ring without buzzing. I can only get 4 adjacent strings with the last two usually buzzing/muted. Given his response, I think the more likely explanation for my bar chord troubles is due to the dimensions of my fingers. Specifically, the distance between the joints. The notes that buzz are always on strings that are right underneath the fleshy part of my fingers instead of the joints. And i really haven't found a good way to work around that without applying excess pressure. Nevertheless, I've definitely noticed my posture and grip tek suffer after not having a teacher to keep it in check. It's gonna be at the top of my mind now.Luis_Br wrote:You are certainly puting by far too much left arm weight over the bar. Practice pressing the bar only with index finger, no thumb, no wrist, no other fingers and no left arm pressure either. Also urgently find a good teacher or you will probably hurt yourself.
Indeed. By adjusting the angle of your left elbow, which is to say how close or far off from your body it is, the pressure required to hold certain chords change dramatically. All barre chords require a certain amount of pressure from thumb/arm but that relatively small change can make all the difference.George2ec wrote:Making a barre chords is more a trick than force...