Fretting Frustration- Old Injury Come To Call

W

Wirednot

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Syracuse NY area
Wowsers. Playing through Soul Asylum’s Runaway Train https://tabs4ukulele.com/bands/soul-asylum/runaway-train.html
And realizing that my left hand doesn’t work well transitioning in and out of Em. Had a really nasty motorcycle accident 25+ years ago, lots of pins and screws and such to get the wrist back to usable after 13 different breaks. I’ve come to appreciate what those military docs were able to for me back then. But fast forward to today and that is the first chord progression to actually cause me pain.

I’m realizing I play with palm almost flat against back of neck, and it’s really hard to stretch my big hand to be more thumb-proper and not lose control or have pain. Time to start learning some exercises to try to condition for this seemingly simple task. Funny what you discover as you go...

Lee
 
Hi, Lee! I am sorry for your old injury and pain on your hand. I am teaching a friend of mine who's survived from throat cancer. He still has a bit of
numbness on his fingers by side effect of anti cancer drags. But he is doing very good.

I've taught him how to hold uku in this manner.

Just put your left hand in front of you and relax (the left figure below). Put the neck of ukulele into your hand (the right figure). That's all.



This is very easy and relax position. Many pro guitarist and pro ukers hold like this, because they practice and play so long time.
 
Whilst I don't use them myself, it sounds like you would benefit from using a strap. :)

Edit: My 'neck' tends to sit in the crook of my thumb, &/or rests on the bottom of my index finger.
 
Last edited:
Thanks very much for that- will certainly start putting comfort over “you must hold it THUSLY!” which I’ve been imposing on myself. Also, *might* try playing left-handed as I’m semi-ambidextrous.
 
Here’s the silly thing on that- I have a strap on one uke, and rarely leverage it in any way. I let it hang down, never even put it around my neck. Will give that a try, and see if the added point of control helps. Thanks!
 
Wirednot said:
Here’s the silly thing on that- I have a strap on one uke, and rarely leverage it in any way. I let it hang down, never even put it around my neck. Will give that a try, and see if the added point of control helps. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have left hand finger issues that are getting progressively worse, operation will happen this winter. I have straps on all my ukes in the guitar set up fashion, buttons on the heel of neck and bottom. I cannot over emphasis what a huge difference it makes. My left hand does not need to hold up the uke and fret the neck at the same time. You are free to position your hand so fretting is easiest. Really and truly makes a big difference.....do it and see for yourself
 
All of the above, and E minor is a tough chord for lots of people to get in and out of for some reason -- including me. One of the key things I've found is to use something like Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot-Camp http://ukulelebootcamp.weebly.com/ and work the chords for any given key over and over again -- while paying lots of attention to how you finger them. I've found that by looking at what I'm doing and pondering the mechanics of it I can often find a better fingering than I started with, something that makes the transition from one chord to the next easier and more efficient.
 
ahoy

as others have stated

find using a strap a great help
much less wrist pain
have Magic Fluke strap on Flea
Uke Leash on other ukes

yours truly
mac
 
Not much to add here as far a strap advice. That's what you need to try. Also, check out some stretching exercises for guitarists/ukuleleists on youtube and I cant recommend this enough, ice ice ice! I've been trying to get over tennis elbow from over playing and I've found helpful info on the tube but ice is the key for injury.

If the pain doesn't go away I would suggest PT. Sounds like you had a difficult and extensive fix with all the pins. You really should consider having it looked at.

This advice is coming as I sit here every day talking myself out of going to have my neck worked on. I haven't been able to turn my neck to the right for two weeks. You'd think Id go and have it looked at but clearly, I am as stubborn as a man is about these things.

Don't follow my example!
 
Hi again, Lee!

Em chord is difficult one for us. Because it's finger location is unusual. I think you can make B type shape (see the figure B below) above and without contact fret. But you may not make figure A. Don't worry, actually none of my friends could do it before this exercise. I think you can see the problem is only ring finger now. The position of ring finger is unusual on figure A. Ring finger is always behind the middle in our life like figure B. Hence we need to hook the ring finger on the 3rd string. The exercise is quite simple. Grab the neck of your ukulele like C. All of your fingers should be bent enough in order to make a good lever. Make the lever shown in the figure and feel the tension of your forearm and elbow.



Feel this lever on your ring finger (r on the figure D), this finger is different from index (i) and middle (m). If you were lucky your ring finger can stay in the right position on the 3rd string without pain. :)
 
Lee,
I know that dealing with pain is a b----. I am a pain expert.
First, make sure that the neck, if you decide to play right handed, fits your hand right. A neck that is too big or too small can really cause problems. You are lucky to be ambidextrous. One of my frfiends plays left handed, and she's very good.
Next, Aaron Keim says, use the least amount of pressure on the frets as you can. You don't need to press the string into the fretboard, just lightly onto the fret. That's what frets is for!
This takes quite a bit of finesse, so don't hurry.
My motto....
If it hurts, don't do it!
 
ZZ's pic is generally considered the "guitarists" fretting hand position. Most non-guitarists use the "classical" thumb behind the neck. It's not like everyone in the ukulele world does it one way. I have some painful arthritis in my thumb joints and agree with going for comfort.
 
I don't know if this would be helpful or not, but I play the Em by just playing a G major chord with the addition of the pinky fretting the 4th fret of the C string.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Anyone got any tips on supplements, lotions, potions, spells or incantations to help with annoying arthritis in fretting hand?
Replies
14
Views
527
ploverwing
ploverwing
Jerryc41
Fretting Question
Replies
13
Views
596
TimWilson
TimWilson
K
Long Nails on the Fretting Hand
Replies
14
Views
722
captain-janeway
captain-janeway
ploverwing
Pressure of fretting fingers
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
Nickie
Nickie
don_b
How To Get Better At Coordinating a Finger Pick Pluck On The Attack Hand With A Fret Change On The Fretting Hand?
Replies
8
Views
445
VegasGeorge
VegasGeorge
Top Bottom