A challenge the majority of students experience is that they face hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. If you are one of those people don’t let it put you off. Think of it in the terms that whilst for you as a whole person learning to play guitar is a relaxation, for your fingers, hands, arms and shoulders it is much like taking up a new and vigorous sport!

By thinking of learning to play guitar in terms of it being a sport you would prepare for it accordingly. Recognize that pain is your body's way of telling you it has a problem and you should to listen to that voice.

Taking part in any sport puts the demand on you that you be as fit and alert as you can be and that you are relaxed and in the right frame of mind.

Maintaining that train of thought but applying it to your new activity of playing the guitar it would be right to have a routine that has you properly prepared before each practice session because that would potentially reduce the prospect of your having to endure hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar.

Any kind of exercise, but certainly a walk before playing the guitar is both good for the circulation and effective in clearing and sharpening the mind. There is no need for this to be vigorous exercise but movement and fresh air is just so good for you and it revitalizes the body and the mind

Try and arrange to have a clear and tidy place in which you can be with your guitar. A comfortable chair or stool is so important too. You need to be comfortable to play guitar properly. You need to feel good about this. You should feel stress free and relaxed after all you are going to enjoy this.

Think carefully about what you are wearing Shoulders, arms and wrists need to be totally unrestricted. Ideally you should avoid wearing a watch, particularly on your fretting wrist.

A great deal has been talked about stretching and warming up exercises and I have covered some of these in another article, sore guitar fingers! It is enough to say that before picking up the guitar some stretching apart of the fingers and perhaps a little grip strengthening with a soft ball or the like is enough. Quite the best way of warming up, much as you might jog a while before you start sprinting, is to just quietly and slowly strum a few chords or play some gentle guitar songs to loosen up.

Now you have begun using and working muscles that have previously not had to adopt the positions or been subject to the stretching that you now ask of them. Is it surprising then that at first they react by giving a degree of hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar?

Your fretting hand is held out away from you supporting and fretting the guitar neck which is a stress position, just try holding your arm out horizontally without the guitar, you won’t do it for long! The blood flow to the hands is restricted because your hands are usually held down not up. Any restriction of blood flow will cause the onset of pins and needles and will result in aching in the arm and hand.

By ensuring you keep practice sessions short you will reduce the incidence and severity of any hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. Put the guitar down and walk around from time to time. Stretch your hands rotate your arms and wrists and grab a drink. This is a learning curve for you, for your arms, your wrists, your hands and your fingers. Practice a little but practice often. Three twenty minute sessions will deliver a greater value than one continuous hour. That is definitely so in the beginning of your guitar playing career.

Absolutely the most critical thing of all is – Don’t give up!! It will get better and the pain will go away as you practice more and more. But take it easy and take it one step at a time.

Following a really professional course of instruction such as that on offer from Legacy Learning Systems and looked at in detail in our Learn & Master Guitar review will benefit anyone worried about hand and wrist pain learning to play guitar. The help and advice given by the award winning guitar teacher Steve Krenz who wrote and hosted the course is invaluable for anyone at any level wishing to learn from scratch or improve their existing guitar skills. Find out more about Steve Krenz at our Steve Krenz review page.