I've had an injection for tennis elbow and yesterday I picked up a guitar for the first time in 6 weeks. I'm probably still benefitting from the injection. Before the injection I couldn't move my arm and had acute pain. Arm is currently only a bit sore but I don't want to aggrave it.
All I'm doing is touching (not pressing down) the strings to learn and practice where notes are. This is frustrating of course and I don't get to hear the notes, so it's a big compromise, but I get to feel I'm doing some guitar.
I could work on my right hand techniques but that's probably not going to sound very good, I can mute with my left though.
Could really use serious suggestions about what I could be learning/practicing (I'm kind of an advanced beginner about to move to intermediate). I'm very likely still needing to rest my left arm as much as possible.
Comments
Plus you bypassed this bit:
serious suggestions about what I could be learning/practicing
I would also point out this is a community where people support each other.
Can't think of anything much I could be doing with my arm as it is. At least I get to wear my recently acquired Tele and look fairly cool.
The problem is when you are gripping - that can make tennis elbow worse
How about getting a nut riser, and practising lap steel for a few weeks until you recover, or normal bottleneck slide if you prefer that sound?
Thanks for the prompt about slide, it crossed my mind, and if over-gripping caused/worsened the issue, slice should be safe enough. Worth a try.
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they are a bit of a tonguetwister but quite amazing for independence and articulation. Not sure if they might still be too much for the elbow though; I had it in my right arm a few years ago and just rested it till it was completely cured which was a few months.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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I'm really tempted to get hold of a slide tomorrow but I fear I'll be pushing it too far. Definately one for later though. Love the sound of slide.
That's actually good advice to someone who used to just neck down painkillers and carry on regardless of the pain. I do need to rest more. Think it's the right hand techniques for now as suggested by CarpeDiem.
Thank you all for your input, I feel a lot less despondent about it now.