Hand cramping problem

[aeolian]

I've been playing with a hobby band for over a year now and we routinely practice between 2 to 3 hours once a week and I never experienced any problems. Lately we decided to play out a bit to see how we do. We played at our own BBQ back in June and last night at an open mic. At the BBQ, after playing for about an hour and a half my fretting hand cramped up and I had difficulties moving a couple of fingers. It was a warm sunny day with temperature around 80. After taking a break we finished the last few songs, but my hand cramped up again playing the last song. By the way, I play a lot of barre chords for our songs.

Last night we tried our hands at an open mic. Prior to going over to the venue we practiced for about an hour and a half. At the open mic, I made sure I hydrate myself and drank plenty of water. But starting with the second song I noticed signs of my fretting hand cramping up again. I thought may be I'm too tense and consciously played more relaxed and I made it through our 35 minutes without further problems.

All of it makes me wonder why this is happening and if there is some preventative measures I can take to minimize the chance of this happening again. We are due to play again this coming weekend for a neighborhood party and we plan to do about 2 dozens songs over a couple of hours, and I sure don't want to have this problem crop up again.

Any advice or help is appreciated.

[deeaa]

-snip-
Any advice or help is appreciated.

I've been told Magnesium helps with cramping.

I never really had bad cramping issues, but I do always make sure I don't have to play lots of full barre chords for a long time or several songs in a row. I also tend to re-chord barre songs at least partially to open chords or something...because I just feel I might soon cramp if I forced myself to play too much barre chords. Human hand ain't supposed to be held in that position and fingers applying force :-)

But our bassist of yore had it bad, and he ate a lot of magnesium pills and said it helped. Maybe worth a try, wouldn't bet on it anyhow.

[pes_laul]

I've never had this problem with guitar but when I play bass for a while I notice it starting to cramp. What I usually do is play the same thing just do a variation like deaa said.

[Spudman]

Often times it's a signal that you are squeezing the neck too hard for extended periods and not really changing your hand shape.

A couple of things you can do is to consciously take a deep breath when you realize that you are squeezing too hard. Get your hand and whole body to relax. Experiment with just how much pressure it takes to fret a chord cleanly and try to work on not going beyond that pressure. Your body will build memory after a while and it will become your default pressure.

Check your guitar's action and make sure it isn't too high. Maybe even go to a lighter string gauge for a while if you can.

It used to happen to me a lot when I started out playing because I was playing barre chords and rhythm so my hand didn't move or change shape much. It got better with time as I consciously lightened up and changed positions too. Now days it will creep up if I'm tense or the guitar and amph aren't working together and I'm trying to force the magic. I end up playing too hard and fretting too hard, much more so than I need to.

[bigG]

I once heard it said that playing a guitar should not be work, or hard to do. In other words, whether playing licks or chording, it should take a very slight pressure - not a hard squeeze like grabbing a baseball bat.

Note in the Arlen Roth vids posted on here how simply and easily he frets everything, almost as if just a toss off, not all clenched and stiff.

Lighten up, become more fluid...

Spud's post made this come to mind. Hope it helps.

[sumitomo]

[QUOTE=Spudman]Often times it's a signal that you are squeezing the neck too hard for extended periods and not really changing your hand shape.

Hit the nail on the head here Spud,Let's say I'm practicing and doing some bends and vibrato,next thing you know I'm chording hard to get it to sound clean(gong)just because I press hard to bend and shake 'em I need to ease up on the pressure chording and make it automatic and that takes more practice,but at least I realize what I'm doing.I love it when someone poses a prob and the more experienced guys say remember ect.Sumi:D:rockon: :dude:

[Jimi75]

+100 what Spud said plus
you should definitely stop doing this here with your left hand before gigs:

LckurGxf25o

[player]

really now? less is good when it comes to fretting chords and do not forget your thumb is a pivot point even with barre chords or movable nut chords as I've heard them called before.if you can try playing with minimum amount of pressure(just enough to make it clean).
back in the day the band and I used to play or form chords without touching the strings then do it ve with only absolute minimum pressure needed(these were practice sessions) but you only need a little NOT a lot at any given time.memory muscle will take care f you if you take care of it.above all you gotta have fun as that is what playing is about Not Work if pain and/or cramping persists please seek proper medical attention.huge sign of bad habits being formed and no one wants that ever.

[wingsdad]

...Any advice or help is appreciated.
Aeolian...you're not exactly a greenhorn player...it may not be a matter of rookie-prone neeck squeezing...might be a touch of arthritis. :whatever: You don't have to be Methusala to develop it...I started to feel bits of it when I was gigging in my early 30's. I took to wearing warm gloves for at least an hour or so, en route to gigs (de riguer for handling gear, of course), like a pitcher wears a warm-up jacket to keep the arm limber. If it was a cooler venue, the gloves went on during breaks to keep the hands warm.

[player]

Aeolian...you're not exactly a greenhorn player...it may not be a matter of rookie-prone neeck squeezing...might be a touch of arthritis. :whatever: You don't have to be Methusala to develop it...I started to feel bits of it when I was gigging in my early 30's. I took to wearing warm gloves for at least an hour or so, en route to gigs (de riguer for handling gear, of course), like a pitcher wears a warm-up jacket to keep the arm limber. If it was a cooler venue, the gloves went on during breaks to keep the hands warm.
safe to say I happen to be close to double the early number but guess I have been blessed in a manner of speaking to Not meet up with Arthur(at least not yet),in those back in the days it was in my teens, 20's - late 30's(in Chicago weather).knew others that became affilicted with RA(talk about putting a crimp in your style)that ended many a budding career in the 60's middle/late 70's... Yes I do feel Lucky :D

[wingsdad]

The arthritic condition in my left hand developed as a result of an unfotunate NY City music business injury to my hand & fingers many years earlier...'77. I retired from gigging in '85. I still have it. I just have to warm up a while; then, when it hits, I just have to stop.