Tension

Excess muscular tension will destroy anything you attempt on the guitar.

It will nullify days, months even years of practice.

It affects every note that you produce on the instrument.

If it remains unchecked, you will practice tension so deep into your playing that it will take a long time to undo. There is also a good chance that tension in your hands, arms etc will damage the body.

This sounds very alarmist but it is true. Muscular tension will affect your timing, fluidity, speed and tone on the guitar. It is of utmost importance that you learn to identify this tension and eliminate it from your playing.

Understand that there is always a certain amount of tension in the body. Muscles contract to move limbs. This creates tension. This is normal, but what you need to look out for is any excess tension in your entire body when you play the guitar.

You want your muscles to work together in harmony to create music on the instrument

To identify this tension means to pay extremely close attention to your body while you are playing and even when your hands are at rest on the guitar. Learn to feel, learn to listen to your body. Scan from the top of your head to your toes and make sure every part of you feels easy and relaxed. “Feel” every note you play, see what the action of playing that note does to your body, if it causes tension, make an effort to relax into the note.

There are some common areas where most people feel tension when they play. These are:

Neck

Shoulders

Biceps (mostly right/picking hand)

Forearms

Wrists

Remember, muscular tension spreads. Tension you have in your right shoulder for example, will soon start moving down your arm. This is why it is of great importance that you get rid of excess tension the moment you feel it. DO NOT let it spread, and DO NOT allow it into your playing. One of the worst mistakes any guitar player can make is thinking that tension will go away. It will not. You must make a conscious effort to get rid of it. The longer you live with it, the harder it will become for you to get rid of it.

Always apply the R.A.C.S concept. This will be your first step to playing in a relaxed fashion.

How to get rid of tension:

Here are a few ways to get rid of tension in the muscles as you play.

1. Deep breathing exercises: Something as simple as taking 20 slow, deep breaths before starting a practice / performance session can be of great help. Remember to keep breathing smoothly and naturally after you have done your breathing exercises. (Research some breathing techniques, you will be pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness)
2. A process of tensing and then relaxing the muscles, starting at the top of the head and working down to the toes will help maintain a relaxed state as well as teaching you what relaxation actually feels like. There are many books and Internet resources that will be able to elaborate on this process.
3. If you feel tension manifesting itself in your body as you play, simply stop playing, relax, breathe, and start playing again.
4. Sometime you may want to play through the tension. The process will work as follows. Play, slow down as you feel the tension starting, focus your attention on the body part that is causing the tension and start relaxing  the movement  more as you continue playing. Maintain your speed as you decrease the tension in the body part causing the problem. Continue until you feel comfortable to speed up to your original speed. Speed up slightly, relax into the motion, decrease the tension even more. You may also find this is an excellent way to build speed on the guitar. Speed up slightly, relax into the motion, decrease the tension. Apply RACS.

Key points to remember:

1. Always play in a relaxed fashion. You want to make relaxation a HABIT when you play the guitar.
2. Learn to listen to your body
3. Pay attention to what your body is doing as you play.
4. No amount of correct technique is going to help you if you play with unnecessary tension.

Extra help:

Here are some additional ways to help with your mission toward relaxation.

Go for a proper therapeutic massage so that you learn what your body feels like in its relaxed state. Have this done by a professional. You may find it becomes a regular appointment.

Yoga or the Martial arts. These teach relaxation, muscle control, mental focus and many other things. They will also be great for your general state of health and well-being.

Meditation. So much can be said about the benefits of this. Calming the mind will assist greatly in calming the body.

Regular exercise. Always consult your physician first if you are unsure of your fitness level or general state of health. The same applies for point 2 above.

Putting the guitar down for a day or two. Now all the guitar fanatics will be screaming at me about this one, but a break from the guitar can be a great help. Focus on other things, introduce balance into your life. Even more importantly, let your muscles, joints and tendons recover from playing for a while. While you are away from the guitar, you may also discover some helpful insights into what you were doing on the guitar. Please note, having said this, that I am NOT advocating lack of practice or general laziness here.

Terms Of Use Sitemap

Copyright © 2008 Theory Z Software Solutions