# Does anyone tense their forearm and/or upper arm when picking fast?



## Max Dread (Aug 16, 2011)

Hi all

I'm just curious about this one....... 

I know the general advice is for the arm to remain relaxed when picking fast rhythms. But I'm also aware of how much technique can vary from player to player. So.... 

....do any guitarists out their tense their forearm/upper arm/both when picking? Or has anyone heard of any guitarists discussing this aspect of their playing in interviews etc. and describing a tense arm when picking fast? Or does everyone relax the arm?

Cheers

Max


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## stuglue (Aug 16, 2011)

I can feel it, and it doesn't take much for it to happen, I work on relaxing my forearm so that it doesn't seize up


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## Konfyouzd (Aug 16, 2011)

This usually happens when I try to leave my speed comfort zone.


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## Kr1zalid (Aug 16, 2011)

Max Dread said:


> ....do any guitarists out their tense their forearm/upper arm/both when picking?


 
Picking slow? Nope. Fast? Not when I did correct warm-ups long enough. With palm mutes all the way? Again, warm-up is the key here.



> Or has anyone heard of any guitarists discussing this aspect of their playing in interviews etc. and describing a tense arm when picking fast?


 
AFAIK, there's been some threads around SS.org lately about this topic, here's one of it:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/be...rm-biceps-get-really-tired-while-playing.html

John Petrucci did mentioned something in his Guitar Discipline video about avoiding cramps/injury stuffs on your arms when playing and he showed all the stretch exercises and warm-ups...

Other than that...nope...



> Or does everyone relax the arm?


 
That's the key and practice makes perfect.


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## Solodini (Aug 17, 2011)

Yeah, I can't think of any benefit to tensing the muscle. It seems like just a waste of energy.


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## Max Dread (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks to all for the feedback, and thanks Kr1zalid for the linkage. I'll check that out and have a hunt around for other similar related threads. 

The only point I could think of (in tensing the arm) would be to hit the strings harder/more aggressively.... Not that I'm certain the two would necessarily correlate, just thoughts really....


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## Guitarchitect (Aug 19, 2011)

Your forearm wlll have _some_ tension with picking but in general, anything you can do to avoid tension in either hand will help facilitate playing.

Try focusing on picking from the wrist and grabbing the pick with the minimum amount of pressure that you need to hold it. 

Imagine you have a tack hammer in your hand and you're just swinging it with the wrist ever so slightly... That's kind of the wrist motion to shoot for. Small, light and effortless movements

Good luck!


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## ShiftKey (Aug 19, 2011)

I only feel my arm tightening up when playing galloping 'Iron maiden'-esque styles of music, im very aware of it them but cant help it.


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## starslight (Aug 19, 2011)

Max Dread said:


> The only point I could think of (in tensing the arm) would be to hit the strings harder/more aggressively.... Not that I'm certain the two would necessarily correlate, just thoughts really....



Paul Gilbert shows an interesting exercise in dynamics on his Intense Rock 2 video. He plays one note over and over again, quiet to loud, back down again, then loud again, etc., but without picking any harder.

All he does is vary the amount of pick that's hitting the strings. To pick as quietly as possible, just hit the string with the very tip of the pick, as little as you can use and still sound a note. To increase the volume, just push the pick deeper into the strings, down towards the body of the guitar. You don't have to exert any more energy or tense up or change anything at all about your technique to play louder. 

I think this is one of the reasons Paul, especially compared to some other players, always looks so relaxed, even when he's playing terrifying death licks.


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