First seven-string.. Is this normal?

[KillingStrings]

Hi there.
I started playing guitar again after a 1 year break (due to me being an exchange student) so since my break I've been playing for a bit more than a month. It feels so good to play again.
I also got my first seven-string a week ago (Schecter Damien Elite 7 FR, so sexy!)
My normal six-string is an Ibanez RG350DX, which I love too.

So basically, a few hours ago, I was sitting there playing some right/left hand coordination practices on my seven-string (because my Ibanez is being fixed at a store)
After probably 1 hour of practicing (with some fooling around every once in a while, playing random stuff on the guitar), I had decided just to do the coordination practice a few times more and then take a break. Then suddenly, I felt this pain in my wrist when I played. It wasn't consistent, it was like every 2 seconds, you know, that "stabbing" or "piercing" pain or whatever you call it. In my wrist.
Decided to stop playing instantly and it wore off after a minute or two. I just felt it again for a minute a little while ago.

Could it be an injury, or wouldn't that be more painful?
Does it just need rest, and how long?
Or could anything else be wrong?
I'm thinking it could be because I'm used to play on 6-string guitars and I did the exercise on a 7-string.

 

[SirMyghin]

Pain is never normal. How is your posture, what position do you play in, etc. Pickups / a vid showing you as you play would help a bit here.

 

[KillingStrings]

Pain is never normal. How is your posture, what position do you play in, etc. Pickups / a vid showing you as you play would help a bit here.

As you see, I play sitting down while looking at my fretting hand.

What I just thought was that my wrist is most likely in a wrong angle?

 

[Interloper]

Pain is never normal however, switching from an Ibanez neck to a sevenstring schecter can be a pretty big leap for some people. I have no experience with either of those guitars but when I got my RG2550 and played it exclusively for a good week, I did notice my fretting hand getting sore. That was coming from playing a Horizon NT-II exclusively for about 2 years. There is not a huge difference between the two necks but it was enough to where my hand had to get used to the change. After about a week it went away and I can now switch between necks with no problems.

Just saw the pic you posted. You might try playing classical style. I find it very uncomfortable to play with the guitar parallel to the ground like that, classical style makes a much more ergonomic position for your fretting hand.

 

[KillingStrings]

I see. And I meant "normal" as in "normal switching from an Ibanez to this 7 string Schecter", because it really is quite a bit bigger in my opinion

 

[Nonservium]

I would approach the transition a bit slower. Make sure you stretch good before each session and work on the exercises you mentioned at a slower pace for a while. Let your hands adapt.

I've found, recently, that proper stretching makes that process much easier. I stepped back into a 7 string around August and have taken it slow getting back into it. There was much less muscle aches this time around.

Edit: This is the stretching I've been doing in case you're interested

 

[KillingStrings]

Thanks! Guess you're right Nonservium, when I played those exercises I did speed it up quite a lot. So that might have been it. I'll take more care when playing on my 7 now though.
And thanks a lot for that video, I'll have a look and make sure I do it before I play.

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Am I the only one who freaked out at the position of his right arm?

 

[KillingStrings]

Thanks! Guess you're right Nonservium, when I played those exercises I did speed it up quite a lot. So that might have been it. I'll take more care when playing on my 7 now though.
And thanks a lot for that video, I'll have a look and make sure I do it before I play.

 

[SirMyghin]

^ Nope.

Your neck is very flat (parallel to the floor) and your left wrist angle is quite severe due to it. Your left shoulder is drooped to make up for this posture to boot. Your right shoulder appears elevated in turn, to get your right wrist to a 'decent' angle. Pair that with also being hunched over the guitar.

TLDR: Terrible posture.

What I would recommend, straightening your right wrist angle. This will likely need to have the neck tilted up more. Square your shoulders, and straighted up that back.

Easiest way to achieve this? Move the guitar to the other leg. I did that years ago and haven't looked back. It was necessary to allow me to play at all.

 

[KillingStrings]

Am I the only one who freaked out at the position of his right arm?

Might be because I had to click the webcam, there's a slight delay on it so I had to hurry back with my right arm

 

[KillingStrings]

^ Nope.

Your neck is very flat (parallel to the floor) and your left wrist angle is quite severe due to it. Your left shoulder is drooped to make up for this posture to boot. Your right shoulder appears elevated in turn, to get your right wrist to a 'decent' angle. Pair that with also being hunched over the guitar.

TLDR: Terrible posture.

What I would recommend, straightening your right wrist angle. This will likely need to have the neck tilted up more. Square your shoulders, and straighted up that back.

Easiest way to achieve this? Move the guitar to the other leg. I did that years ago and haven't looked back. It was necessary to allow me to play at all.

I see. What a fail. Thank you so much!

 

[SirMyghin]

Sometimes it takes pain to improve these things, my wrists got fucked up during my education so I too had to correct a problem like that.

 

[KillingStrings]

Is this a normal mistake? Because I sure do feel like an idiot
Anyhow, I'm really happy you gave me that advice!

 

[Nonservium]

You should never feel like an idiot over an honest mistake sir. That's how you learn.

 

[KillingStrings]

^ Nope.

Your neck is very flat (parallel to the floor) and your left wrist angle is quite severe due to it. Your left shoulder is drooped to make up for this posture to boot. Your right shoulder appears elevated in turn, to get your right wrist to a 'decent' angle. Pair that with also being hunched over the guitar.

TLDR: Terrible posture.

What I would recommend, straightening your right wrist angle. This will likely need to have the neck tilted up more. Square your shoulders, and straighted up that back.

Easiest way to achieve this? Move the guitar to the other leg. I did that years ago and haven't looked back. It was necessary to allow me to play at all.

Is this a better posture, sir? I straightened that back and tried placing the guitar a bit differently on my right leg.
Also I have never liked playing with it on my left leg, I have always found it uncomfortable and really hard.
But yeah, that's how I'd play. Any adjustments that would be better for my arms etc.?

 

[Grimbold]

Am I the only one who freaked out at the position of his right arm?

thats what i was going to say!

 

[Overtone]

That looks a lot better. You could try playing with a strap even when sitting. Also, don't give up on the left leg style if you haven't tried it with your foot resting on something to give your leg some elevation.

I like to find the best position for the guitar when standing up and then try to find a way where I can keep that position when I'm sitting. That helps a lot for long, intense sessions, whereas if I'm just noodling I'm fine with the guitar in a much more casual position.

Overall when I get pains it is because of tension somewhere... usually it's from slouching so I just straighten up a bit. Occasionally it's because I'm so focused on learning a new passage that I just kind of lose track of one limb and end up doing something dumb with it, tensing up or whatever.

 

[KillingStrings]

Yeah, much more comfortable, don't know why I was sitting like that before.
And yes, I do have a strap, problem is that it slides off when sitting. Tried fixing it but I can only seem to loosen it. Meh. Used to play with one that was fitting, but I lost it a long time ago.
Thanks for the advice however!

 

[Overtone]

It's definitely ok to play without the strap sitting but long term you're going to have to figure something out anyway! I have a feeling it's just being stubborn and you can get it shorter unless it's already as short as it goes.

And bad habits just have a way of sneaking up and it usually isn't noticeable until one is spending a more significant time and all the contortion and tension takes it's toll. In college I picked up a TERRIBLE habit of playing with my left (fretting hand) elbow resting against the side of my torso, and as soon as I started playing for a bigger amount of time I noticed all the problems I was having and had to break that habit.