finger cramps when playing barred chords

[oahnuj]

Somtimes when playing barred chords for quite a few minutes, i tend to have cramps in between the thumb and the index finger. This is very irritating as i will need to rest for awhile before continueing.
Any suggestions?

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

Don't forget to warm up before playing. Also, play songs which have a combination of barre chords, open chords and suspended chords so that you're not perpetually playing barre chords. Unless you intend to be the next Johnny Ramone.

Also, invest in a capo, if you are using barre chords to transpose. Shubb capos are the ones to get now :wink:

However, I have to ask.. is this an electric or acoustic situation you're currently in?

 

[suckasucks]

strengthen your fingers, relax them too. tension will give you cramps, or worse, tendonitis. or you could always try playing grip chords, like hendrix or frusc. prefer them to reg barre chords, mainly because of the ability to play short melodies over rooted basslines.

 

[sleepykitty]

grip chords?
is that when the thumb is wrapped around to fret the 6th string, while the index holds a 'mini-barre'? i may be wrong though

 

[suckasucks]

yeah. some people could wrap around the 6th and 5th even.

edit : i think thats the name for those chords, i oculd be wrong but i dont think so.

 

[oahnuj]

oh its a electric guitar...erm..its a barring chord excercise that i am practising on, so yah maybe dats why i got finger cramps..oh its juz barred no grip.

 

[Mobius]

Are u barring too hard? U just have to exert enough strength to ensure tat there is no fret buzz ...

 

[weijin]

stretch your fingers before playing?
i remember i used to have this problems before but after playing for one month or so. can play for hours without having cramps.

cheer on mate!

 

[fgl]

get a narrower neck ? Warmoth can custom make.

or go for frequent Thai massage on yr left hand?

gets some softies, get some

 

[markedymark]

fgl,s on a "get some" fetish recently

 

[Gr3y]

check your thumb position, that is the immediate reason y ppl cramp up their hand.. both thumb wrap and classical method are okie but it all depends on your finger lenght.. if you have those like vai n paul gilbert.. wrap all you want! if not.. look at joe satch.. stick to the correct way man..

next you might wanna get a gripmaster, thats what i use. Ppl tell me its a useless piece of shit and it doesnt really helps as a guitarist needs to play on a guitar more often to improve.. but how can you practice often when you live in singapore? so a gripmaster comes into play for me when i am travelling! its fun! it does helps ALOT,imo.

 

[bin4christ]

i thought i was the only one with this problem. happens mostly on acoustic but can happen on electrics too. 1st realised this when playing chad kroeger's hero some time back. but i've injured my hands many times in the past so..