Picking hand pain

[Mikeg]

ive been playing with my fingers for the entire time ive been playing, but last week i decided to dabble into using a plectrum. ive got the techniche but after about 5 minutes of playing my hand begins to cramp up. This happens when i TRY to play the guitar aswell.
Any advise?

[danbowskill]

just keep practicing! i get massive cramps sometimes when the nerves hit at certain gigs or diging in to hard when playing
not very often though,have been mainly pick playing 19 years.
i find the height of you bass when playing can make a big differnce(as been to low/high)your hand can be to much the crab-spaz(no offence) position.

Edited December 6, 2010 by danbowskill

[xilddx]

[quote name='Mikeg' post='1049718' date='Dec 6 2010, 07:04 PM']ive been playing with my fingers for the entire time ive been playing, but last week i decided to dabble into using a plectrum. ive got the techniche but after about 5 minutes of playing my hand begins to cramp up. This happens when i TRY to play the guitar aswell.
Any advise?[/quote]
Do NOT play through the pain whatever you do. You can cause damage. Stop until the pain goes.

You are probably holding the pick too tight. Take it slowly and relax. It's the same as a beginner fretting strings far too hard.

[robocorpse]

I get that if I haven't played for a few days, especially if theres a gap in rehearsals. I "crab spazzed" (great phrase!) at a gig the other week and had to jettison the pick and use my ring finger and little finger to finish the song, tough when its RAWK at Motorhead speeds, but I pulled it off by wacking the overdrive on and hitting it hard. I do have that Thunderbird far too low, but its kinda essential for the visuals although it does knack my right wrist a bit. Having broken my thumb twice hasn't helped either. Ooh, me leg, price of radishes, I remember when this was all fields....

[Cat Burrito]

New techniques should be practiced little & often to build up the new style. And I agree don't play through the pain

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='Mikeg' post='1049718' date='Dec 6 2010, 07:04 PM']ive been playing with my fingers for the entire time ive been playing, but last week i decided to dabble into using a plectrum. ive got the techniche but after about 5 minutes of playing my hand begins to cramp up. This happens when i TRY to play the guitar as well.
Any advise?[/quote]
As stated earlier... DON'T attempt to play through it. It [i]could[/i] just be that your hand isn't used to it & that it'll pass, but better to play it safe.

How are you picking? Are you keeping your hand steady & flexing your thumb and forefinger (like some guitarists do) or are you holding the pick steady and letting your wrist do the work? Also, what gauge of pick are you using?

The former is generally regarded as Bad Practice for bass players, the latter is far more the norm. To get the best out of it, you may need to adjust your strap so that your wrist is relaxed. Make sure your wrist is free to move & that you're not catching/pinning your forearm on the edge of the bass.

Pick choice is hugely personal (even more so than strings & almost as much as setup preferences), but it is certainly possible to use a pick that's too thin, & ditto one that's too thick. Too thin & you're likely to attack harder to get the effect which could impose strain on your hand. Too thick & you're at risk of forcing the pick through the strings and giving your hand a small, but cumulative, physical shock on each stroke. In both cases in the short-term you'll just ache, but over time Unpleasantness could ensue.

Have a look into the Carol Kaye method. After all, she has played on every record ever recorded ever & uses a pick, so she must have it right.

For your delectation, two threads on TalkBass that could well be relevant:

Firstly a post that reads very much like yours, with a very good reply from Fergie Fulton (who knows quite a lot about this kind of stuff from personal experience):
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716002"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716002[/url]

Secondly an overview & discussion about the Carol Kaye Pick method:
[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452467"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452467[/url]

To top it off, have a look at this guy - he's close to getting his bus pass but can still do this for 2hrs a night:



Doesn't look like he's straining, does he?

Pete.

[Chris2112]

I'd say a lot of of this pain may be caused by the angle your wrist is at. Is your wrist straight or is the joint at an angle when you're picking?

I always say that picking comes from fractionally small movements of the elbow modulated by the wrist. It should not be about swinging the wrist or flexing the fingers. If there is an angle in the joint of your wrist (IE there is not a straight line between your elbow and your hand) you could be compressing the inner workings of the wrist. Blood vessels, nerves and tendons will not react well to being squashed. For some people, they can get away with playing with their bass round their knees and their wrist bent like a fish hook. For others, they get a lot of pain quickly.

My advice would be to try raising your bass up if you wear it low. I find that, if you were to draw a horizontal line over your body where your elbow naturally hangs when standing, optimum picking is achieved by keeping your picking hand on or above this line. Hold the pick lightly to avoid muscle craps in your hands and take it slow.

As has been said, never play through the pain as you could due more serious damage. It may well be worth investing time in a good warm up routine prior to playing, as adivsed by the likes of Stuart Hamm and Billy Sheehan.