Browse by topic
Thumbs, fingers, wrists, forearms, arthritis, gripping pressure, and the hand fatigue that can make playing feel harder than it should.
Start here
Choose the article closest to the question you are carrying into your playing.
Hands, Wrists & Joints
The short version Why Your Thumb Hurts at the Base When You Play Guitar (And What to Do Without Stopping) Pain at the base of the thumb is one of the most common complaints in gu…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Before you blame your forearm, check your shoulder. Reach your strumming arm across your chest right now, not a stretch, just a reach. See how far it gets before something pulls t…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
You know that F chord? The full barre, thumb crushing into the back of the neck, index finger flattened across all six strings like you're trying to squeeze juice from a stone one?…
The complete collection
Hands, Wrists & Joints
There's a pattern worth naming before you try any of the usual fixes. You notice the tension in your thumb, so you stop playing, shake your hand out, stretch it back a bit, maybe…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
The short version The Complete Guide to Playing Guitar With Joint Pain Joint pain doesn't have to end your playing. This guide pulls together everything on this site abo…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Your thumb shouldn't be the limiting factor in how long you can play. But here's the thing: For a lot of guitarists, especially those who've been at it for years or who came back…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Two Minutes That Change How Your Hands Feel for the Next Hour This is more than another generic warm up, this is waking your hands up so they actually listen. Have you ever sat d…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Do you get that dreaded thumb tension every time you pick up your guitar? Maybe it's a dull ache and fatigue after twenty minutes of playing. Maybe it's sharp sensation during barr…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
You don't have to quit guitar just because your hands are giving you grief. So you've been playing for a while now, maybe decades, maybe just a few years and somewhere along the w…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Sensitive and stiff joints don’t mean the music has to stop. They do mean you need to change how you move. As both a guitarist and a movement specialist with training in manual os…
Hands, Wrists & Joints
Your hands are your instruments too: treat them like VIPs, not afterthoughts. Do your fingers stiffen or tighten up after a few minutes of playing? It’s bloody frustrating right!…
Need a different starting point?
