tension in right shoulder

[joe34]

I started using a metronome 2 weeks ago for the first time (about bloody time!) and speeding up with this has caused me to realise i have alot of tension in my right shoulder and arm while playing i didnt really notice it till now but theres always some tension there regardless of what im playing i dont notice it tho till im trying to improve picking speed, i guess ive gotten used to a small amount of tension in general playing.

What are the most common causes of tension in the right arm? my left hand is fine it stays perfectly relaxed regardless of how fast im trying to play, its just my right hand letting me down.

[curiousgeorge]

Probably means you're not using your wrist enough to pick. Focus intently on that. Other than that, have you tried sitting the guitar on your left leg in classical position?

[Arpetude]

the most common causes?


bad technique.

there should be zero tension. either playing a D chord or paganinis fifth caprice you should develop everything so that it becomes physically 'easy' for your body to do those motions etc.

i have supplied a powertab (with picking direction) with an mp3 of me playing an arpeggio etude that i came up with a few days ago. first i play it slow(alt. pick) then fast (sweep picking). when i play it fast (i think 16th note triplet at 140) i am just as relaxed if not MORE than i would be playing slow:) .

this would be good for your metronome binge!

this is not an arpeggio etude, its an Arpetude;)

[Arpetude]

oh yeah,


sorry, i forgot to mention. practice this (any every other lick/sequence)
s-l-o-w-l-y to the metronome. focus on relaxation and well.....cleaness. thats about it . make a note of what tempo you can play a certain lick at. and try to beat your score the next day/week. slowly working up to the desired tempo. the tempo for this one is 140bpm which is extremely FAST. in the mp3 i supplied i just managed to reach that speed but a few (out of the hundred) of notes may be unclean, but i know that tommorow is another day for improvement, and you should remember that too.

Good Luck Joe

[joe34]

Hey thanks for the post arp sweep picking arpeggios are a little above me atm but i get your points maybe i should stick at a speed thats still comfortable for a few days instead of pushing it everyday. What im doing atm is using Ymetronome and having it increase 4 bpm every minute and after about 5 or 6 minutes it becomes a real struggle to keep it going. I take a 1-2 minute break then onto the next exercise or repeat the same one again.

Curiousgeogre im picking from the wrist so i dont think thats it i just tried the classical position and theres definatly an improvement i always play sitting down in the normal position and half slouching over the guitar so guess its time i thought more about posture. I should probably myself a proper guitar stool instead of sitting on a chair with armrest :o

[curiousgeorge]

Hey thanks for the post arp sweep picking arpeggios are a little above me atm but i get your points maybe i should stick at a speed thats still comfortable for a few days instead of pushing it everyday. What im doing atm is using Ymetronome and having it increase 4 bpm every minute and after about 5 or 6 minutes it becomes a real struggle to keep it going. I take a 1-2 minute break then onto the next exercise or repeat the same one again.

Curiousgeogre im picking from the wrist so i dont think thats it i just tried the classical position and theres definatly an improvement i always play sitting down in the normal position and half slouching over the guitar so guess its time i thought more about posture. I should probably myself a proper guitar stool instead of sitting on a chair with armrest :o

Sometimes I play while on the can. I wish it had armrests and a beer holder too!:)

[Arpetude]

Hey thanks for the post arp sweep picking arpeggios are a little above me atm but i get your points maybe i should stick at a speed thats still comfortable for a few days instead of pushing it everyday. What im doing atm is using Ymetronome and having it increase 4 bpm every minute and after about 5 or 6 minutes it becomes a real struggle to keep it going. I take a 1-2 minute break then onto the next exercise or repeat the same one again.

yes!, please by all means SLOW THE POWERTAB DOWN. learn the first arp shape and once you got all the notes down, practice it to the metronome at like 40(slowest tempo) IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT TEMPO YOU HAVE IT AT. just as long as you have that figure combined with the goal tempo you set yourself. but apply that to lots of licks and relax and be comfortable always with the metronome setting. dont fight the metronome. it's there to help!

yeah learn by that way. say i have a metronome figure at one point in time. now that tempo marking could increase in minutes/days or even weeks dependant on how comfortable i am. always play just behind where everything starts to sound unclean etc.

if you learn how to use a metronome you will see big improvements of your playing. i know tons of guitar players and most of them dont play fast. i do and i know how to use a metronome, so did John Petrucci etc. so there must be a connection there;) .

[Mateo150]

Glad to see your finally recording Arp, look forward to hearing your takes on the "strickly" series and of course that monster of a classic your working on. As far as right shoulder tension, that usually has to do with wrist or elbow tension that works its way up to the shoulder. They are all connected with muscles/ligiments, so check it out. Theres also an article, "Discover your Discomfort" by Jamey Andreas that deals with this sort of thing. Check it out. IMO, its impossible to be "100%" relaxed, and people who tell you that probably aren't telling the truth of the matter. As soon as you move your arm, its no longer 100% relaxed. But the right arm should rest on the guitar, and this should take most of the tension off the shoulder and transfer it to the elbow. The elbow should be on the guitar (for an acoustic), and for electric play, I rest my forearm on the guitar, on the fat muscular part. Don't practice with distortion. Use an acoustic or a clean electric sound, turn the volume high so you can hear the nuiances. Its one thing to play fast and sloppy, its another to play fast and clean. Build up on the metronome very slowly, I don't practice speed too much myself, but when I come across faster passages I want to learn, I usually do about 3-5bpm increment increases. Until I can play it very comfortably and CLEANLY, then I move on. I tend to get a little more tense in my right shoulder when trying to play fast as well, just try to guage it and focus your attention on it so it doesn't become built into your playing.

[Arpetude]

Glad to see your finally recording Arp, look forward to hearing your takes on the "strickly" series and of course that monster of a classic your working on.

yeah, i finally got the mic, i am looking forward to the strickly series and have been playing to backing tracks off of guitarbt + recording them for more fun, this is the first time i have ever recorded myself and played it back - it is very strange.:)

its impossible to be "100%" relaxed, and people who tell you that probably aren't telling the truth of the matter. .
it is my job on this forum to convince you otherwise!;)

[speedfret13]

ooga booga ding dong :D

[Mateo150]

ooga booga ding dong :D
ping pong tong long ;)

[Arpetude]

ping pong tong long ;)
eh?

Have you all turned into raging monkeys?

[Mateo150]

You calling me a monkey? A monkey is a creature thats constantly bragging and making cocky displays, screaming about how good they are and how they can do this or that, but really never puts anything up. I mean for a human example, a monkey would brag about how they can play some really hard piece of music, but when it comes time to play it or post it, its just all talk, Now thats a monkey. We were just having some fun, lighten up.

[Arpetude]

hey man, i aint posting no half-piece. i ain't no monkey.

ohohoh ahahaha (meant to be sound of monkey):D

[No_Worries]

don't think i've ever posted anything on any forum - just cause i'm too busy/lazy (take your pick) to do record stuff then upload it onto hosting someplace, it is a lot of hassle though isn't it :(

[Arpetude]

nah man. you just have it as an 'attachment' sort of like sending an attatchement in an e-mail!.

very easy. you only need to host something via a 3rd party website if your file is very large. audio,powertab, etc. are fine.