Neck pressure

I am currently working through Uncle Rod's chord worksheets (a huge recommendation for anyone trying to work through chord progressions) and I noticed that I am constantly changed the pressure of my thumb on the neck (back side of the fretboard). After awhile it makes my thumb sore. Is this normal or am I putting to much pressure with my thumb? It depends on the chord but I am constantly ajdusting the pressure to make sure I hold the ukulele in a comfortable position. I'm starting to think I need to focus on my right arm to hold the body better.
Anyone else have this problem? Is it normal?

I think it is pretty normal.. I know I had thumb soreness to for awhile. I got a uke leash and was able to stop worrying about holding the neck and pressure for the chords and just playing my chords.. It was a great investment for sure.. and I love Uncle Rods Bootcamp too..

Yeah, I was starting to put some thought into a uke leash for sure

Hi bueller

It depends on how long you practice but I suspect you are applying too much pressure. Is it your thumb, a joint, or the web (the muscle) that gets sore?

A nice way to check is to look at the nail color of your fretting fingers. If your nail is pink, your pressure is OK. If it's white, you're using too much pressure. It's a common tendency to apply too much when you're new but you can learn to back off as you go along.

I also agree with fitncrafty about a strap. I don't use UkeLeash but I have a strap and that frees up both my hands and I can focus on playing.

Cheers
Chief

Chief,
It's the muscle in my thumb. I think it's just because I am new. Although I don't discount improving my ability to hold the ukulele as a partial remedy.

I think most of us have experienced some cramping in the "V" between the thumb and index finger.
I like to squeeze and release my chord hand while strumming. It adds a little percussion to the mix, stops a chord from ringing and gives my hand a little break.
It's something I have done for so many years that I don't even think about it.
Watch James Hill play, he is really good at the squeeze & release.

Also most beginners tend to squeeze too hard. Find the right touch by experimenting a bit.

Nothing more embarrassing than rocking your way through something like Hotel California, getting it note perfect, and then at the final picking part at the end, have your hand massively cramp up from all the bar chords. You go from cool to tool.

The advice I got is to always put your crampy songs at the beginning of a set instead of the end... not that I'm playing sets, but you get the idea.

Its a perfectly normal and common issue for beginners - the tendency to squeeze everything too hard..

Try to concentrate on a lighter touch - you only need to hold the uke and strings down so they fret cleanly, and a lighter touch is both easier on the hand, but also allows for faster playing

You will get there

I've been playing for a month now and never noticed any real hand fatigue UNTIL I started messing around with the Boot Camp chords two days ago. Before trying Boot Camp I sat in on a Uke Meetup and played real songs for 3 hours with no fatigue at all.

The reason you (and me!) are experiencing fatigue with Boot Camp is because it represents playing that is "above and beyond" that which you might usually experience. It is an exercise like taking your uke hand to the gym. When I mess around with Boot Camp I find myself running through the chord pages again and again continuously for an hour. No wonder my hand hurts!

Cheers.

Skadar that is good news and funny at the same time. I never thought about it, but I noticed the same thing. When I'm working through another source for chords and chord progression I haven't had any fatigue. But once I do Uncle Rod's my hand cramps. I think it means UR's Boot Camp is the way to go.

It could also be the repetition. In a group there are breaks between songs and different keys to break up the muscle use.
I always tell my students to take breaks in a practice session. This is especially important while learning to play barre chords.

My problem isn't that I'm gripping too hard. I've been pretty careful with other musicians checking me on this, and myself checking me on this. It's just that.. my hand cramps.

I did notice that last night - only my 2nd doing Boot Camp - the cramping wasn't nearly as bad. But I did take a breather every 7-10 minutes. I think that went a long way to help.

Yes, in the very early days of my uke playing, I'd get really frustrated at my hands, and Anders would tell me what I'd tell a wind instrument player if their jaw was shot. You're just done. Take a break. It'll get better. And it does, although every instrument comes with some pain tradeoff.

bueller said:

I did notice that last night - only my 2nd doing Boot Camp - the cramping wasn't nearly as bad. But I did take a breather every 7-10 minutes. I think that went a long way to help.

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Hello bueller.

A newbie here as well. Did you ever check the strings action, or the strings hight above the frets close to the nut? I bought a new Korala tenor ukulele, and it was peticulary hard to press on open chords. I did a set-up by myself, and now the uke is a "dream" to play (well now, - not entierly but that is an other issue).

Measure the clearance between the strings and the first fret. Buy yourself a feeler gauge (like the car mechanics use to measure the spark plug gap) or do as I did, if you have a slide caliper in the house. Look around the house for board of different thickness, - I made one of 1.0 mm, two of 0.5 mm, two of 0.3 mm and two of 0.2 mm. Combining these, you have the tools to feel under the strings, - how thick the combination before the string is muted or buzzing.

Mine was 0.75 mm at the first fret, and I took it down to 0.3 mm. I noticed that capoing, the fret after the capo had just 0.2 mm, and used that as a referance.

If you feel this is the problem, I can describe more in detail how to do, if you are interested.