lifereinspired
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Is there a "right way" to fret? (trying to figure out wrist/hand position)
I'm just starting to learn uke & leaning from videos, books, online, etc. Im working hard on learning & practicing chords but I'm almost terrified of developing a bad habit that will be hard to break later on or will limit me in what I can do later on because of it.
Is there only one "right way" or perhaps the better way to say it is is there a "right hand shape" to fret? In this case, Im not even talking about finger positions as much as wrist position. I'm trying to get only the very end tips of my fingers on the strings and to drop my wrist down so that for the most part, the palm of my hand is parallel to the neck/fretboard and I have a lot of space in the "hold" made by my rounded fingers. I've been drilling moving between G & Em (the full switch, not just moving the pinkie up to the C string) but I've been noticing that I'm getting a lot of pain in the inside my wrist when I stop doing the chords. I don't know if I'm exaggerating the drop wrist position and rounded fingers with space to the fretboard or if it's simply because I'm new at this (I tend to think the former as I tend to be a "more is better" person). Since I have a genetic disorder that affects my connective tissue, this makes it easier for me to get injured doing such things - so I just want to be smart about it. The other issue I've had difficulty with on fretting is that the neck moves when I switch chords making things infinitely harder. I've added a temporary neck strap after reading that so many people here in this community use them (which was encouraging!). This has helped a bit already but it also has bearing on my fretting hold. I was watching a video that someone posted here in the forum and the player is incredible. The first thing I noticed is that she does a very different hold that looks secure on the neck and perhaps more natural for bending fingers. The thing I'm finding is that if you leave a lot of space between your fretting fingers/hand and the fretboard (with your thumb on the back} when you release your fingers to switch chords, you have no opposing force to hold the neck still. Is that making sense? Should I be trying to do more what the girl is in the video? I've watched every "how to hold a uke" video I can find as well as reading articles & forum posts but I'm still not very clear on the best position of the fretting hand and I desperately don't want to create bad habits starting out. How much wrist/hand pain is normal for starting out (not including fingertips, of course) and how much is saying that I'm using an unnatural position for me?
Here's the video! This fretting/hold position more along the fretboard rather than fingers perpendicular to it certainly hasn't held this girl back or limited/diminished what she's able to do. So how much is about "doing it right" and how much is about "doing it right and comfortable *for you*"? https://youtu.be/4tNdNFACU00
Any thoughts and advice would be hugely appreciated! Thanks so much!
Edit:
PS As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So I decided to take a few snaps to get your thoughts. I think in doing this I may have helped answer my question but still would like to hear from people who know more than I do. The photos show different angles of the two wrist positions: forced dropped and more relaxed. In particular, as well as the forced dropped causing significant wrist pain, I have trouble getting my ring finger to bend in from that position to get the string on the too rather the the pad of my finger. This is one thing I noticed from the girl in the video above, her fingers curled very naturally towards the fretboard, not forced. I feel this is moreso for me with the less drastic wrist position. But people who know uke say to make sure there is a lot of room (sort of making a tunnel or hole) between your curled fingers and the fretboard. Is the relaxed position enough "space" in there to be correct? Which way should I proceed to learn? If pain should be my guide, the the relaxed but if I just need to develop strength, I can try to push through. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ogZnszgo5kuGVRrD3
I'm just starting to learn uke & leaning from videos, books, online, etc. Im working hard on learning & practicing chords but I'm almost terrified of developing a bad habit that will be hard to break later on or will limit me in what I can do later on because of it.
Is there only one "right way" or perhaps the better way to say it is is there a "right hand shape" to fret? In this case, Im not even talking about finger positions as much as wrist position. I'm trying to get only the very end tips of my fingers on the strings and to drop my wrist down so that for the most part, the palm of my hand is parallel to the neck/fretboard and I have a lot of space in the "hold" made by my rounded fingers. I've been drilling moving between G & Em (the full switch, not just moving the pinkie up to the C string) but I've been noticing that I'm getting a lot of pain in the inside my wrist when I stop doing the chords. I don't know if I'm exaggerating the drop wrist position and rounded fingers with space to the fretboard or if it's simply because I'm new at this (I tend to think the former as I tend to be a "more is better" person). Since I have a genetic disorder that affects my connective tissue, this makes it easier for me to get injured doing such things - so I just want to be smart about it. The other issue I've had difficulty with on fretting is that the neck moves when I switch chords making things infinitely harder. I've added a temporary neck strap after reading that so many people here in this community use them (which was encouraging!). This has helped a bit already but it also has bearing on my fretting hold. I was watching a video that someone posted here in the forum and the player is incredible. The first thing I noticed is that she does a very different hold that looks secure on the neck and perhaps more natural for bending fingers. The thing I'm finding is that if you leave a lot of space between your fretting fingers/hand and the fretboard (with your thumb on the back} when you release your fingers to switch chords, you have no opposing force to hold the neck still. Is that making sense? Should I be trying to do more what the girl is in the video? I've watched every "how to hold a uke" video I can find as well as reading articles & forum posts but I'm still not very clear on the best position of the fretting hand and I desperately don't want to create bad habits starting out. How much wrist/hand pain is normal for starting out (not including fingertips, of course) and how much is saying that I'm using an unnatural position for me?
Here's the video! This fretting/hold position more along the fretboard rather than fingers perpendicular to it certainly hasn't held this girl back or limited/diminished what she's able to do. So how much is about "doing it right" and how much is about "doing it right and comfortable *for you*"? https://youtu.be/4tNdNFACU00
Any thoughts and advice would be hugely appreciated! Thanks so much!
Edit:
PS As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So I decided to take a few snaps to get your thoughts. I think in doing this I may have helped answer my question but still would like to hear from people who know more than I do. The photos show different angles of the two wrist positions: forced dropped and more relaxed. In particular, as well as the forced dropped causing significant wrist pain, I have trouble getting my ring finger to bend in from that position to get the string on the too rather the the pad of my finger. This is one thing I noticed from the girl in the video above, her fingers curled very naturally towards the fretboard, not forced. I feel this is moreso for me with the less drastic wrist position. But people who know uke say to make sure there is a lot of room (sort of making a tunnel or hole) between your curled fingers and the fretboard. Is the relaxed position enough "space" in there to be correct? Which way should I proceed to learn? If pain should be my guide, the the relaxed but if I just need to develop strength, I can try to push through. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ogZnszgo5kuGVRrD3
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