I’ve got some serious pain starting my plucking wrist, just starting module 3. I feel like I have a decent posture, and it doesn’t hurt while playing, but hurts to make a fist or grip things. Any others have this, or advice? Anyone try the “floating thumb” technique?
I dealt with some of this for the first couple weeks though I don’t think it was as bad as what you’re dealing with.
Make sure you don’t have a serious bend in your wrist (like raise your elbow), and RELAX your hand. I find I get pain when I hold my hand in a rigid position because I’m like “panic mode” trying to play something difficult. I try to relax and remind myself that I’m just playing bass, in my living room, not doing brain surgery.
Also there’s a little trigger point in the muscle at the base of your thumb- try massaging that, and also your forearm. It COULD be that you’ve got some muscle knots/spasms causing issues.
If adjusting your form and relaxing doesn’t help, then you need to get it checked out by a medical professional.
Rest your body if you have lasting pain.
It’s not necessary to have pain while playing. I often have to remind myself to relax when I play/learn new things on bass.
Some stuff takes practice, of course. If you experience pain even if you have “proper posture”, reconsider what proper posture means for you.
At the end of the day, you need to be pain-free and able to enjoy what you do.
Best of luck! ![]()
So, for all the talk about the thumb on the fretting hand (pushing into the neck), I think I was doing that with my plucking hand. While I technically had the right position, I was pushing my thumb super hard into the pickup, which caused a lot of tension in my thumb and wrist.
Yeah I definitely do that sometimes! I took the word “anchor” a bit too literally, perhaps.