Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi! So sorry to hear about your injury... its very good you immediately stopped! I think tomo has said this too, but "uncomfortable" is okay, but pain is never ok!

I have wrist pain on my fretting hand (left hand) when I play too much bc of a past injury. Its not necessarily only because of practicing, but the excessive practicing triggers my inflammation.

-when to completely stop practicing: as soon as i feel not tightness or soreness but pain that feels like its radiating / wont stop even after i rest my hands.

-how to restart /intensity: In the end, I needed to fully rest 1 week and only have light playing for 1 week (maximum of 30 minutes per day, and no barre chords, only triads at most).

-prevention: left thumb pain maybe about pressing hard on the fretboard-- Jeffrey has already given excellent advice. i also have some ideas that could help

try to pull the guitar to your body with your finger instead of gripping the guitar with your thumb and fingers AND at the same time, push the body of the guitar with your own body. this creates a kind of counter balance, and if done correctly, you should be able to play barre chords without your thumb touching the neck at all!

After proving to myself I can play barre chords without my thumb, I added thumb back in naturally to my grip and found i didnt rely on it as much as before.

P.s, when fretting hand is hurt, its a very good time to listen to music deeply and practice your rhythm with your hands and feet (tomo's book has a v good guide on this too!).

Get well soon!

Sunny

I made a short recording to try and demonstrate what i meant. Hopefully helpful!

Hi, I've felt that so I adjusted. Because of the below Ive been pain free for about 1 1/2 years.

What I did to ensure I can keep playing :)
1. Focus on light touch, soft hands, More triads, less full bar chords
2. Lightest strings possible always
3. Practice more on Electric than acoustic. I use a Thinline so I dont have to have an amp always.
4. I can't do a lot of repetitive scales so I don't :). That always causes me issues.
5. If I do overdo it and have persistent pain I take a couple off and do more meditating on what I want to learn or listen to more music.

Thank you Kazufumi for sharing. So sorry to hear that. Which exercise made that pain?

Once you feek pain, any sort of pain. Do not play! Stop playing!

I pracrice 10 - 15 minutes and take a break a few minutes.
Do not use a headphone because you cannot hear any finger noises so it is easy to use more pressure.

I made this video for hand exercises & stretching exercises.

Tomo

Thank you Kim & Cruz for encouragement & suggestions.

Tomo

Thank you Jeff for encourage & suggestion. I know you really fixed your heavy hand (Left hand)

Tomo

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for your kind words and helpful suggestions.

You’re absolutely right — I don’t want this to become serious. I appreciate the reminders about thumb placement, posture, and playing with a strap. Those small adjustments can probably make a big difference over time.

I’ll review my technique more carefully while I rest.

Thank you again for your encouragement.

Kazufumi

Hi Sammi,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response and encouragement.

Your comparison to physical training really resonated with me — building strength gradually instead of jumping from 0 to 100 makes perfect sense. I think I may have increased intensity too quickly.

I especially appreciate your reminder that pain is a signal and to be kind to myself. That’s something I will keep in mind moving forward.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Kazufumi

Hi Kazufumi,

I hope you are feeling better!
I don't have too much to add but I wanted to offer my experiences to help. You will get to the other end of this soon!

I had some hand pain, I feel like I
re-learned(/ing) how to touch the guitar.

A few days ago I pulled something between neck and should which made me take a few days off from R37/R73.
Seems tender but mostly ok now and I was able to do a little bit last night. I have been playing with my heaviest guitar over the last month while my lightest one is at the luthier's shop. I think this caused the pain so I am working on being aware of how I am sitting or standing with the heavy one.

Actually I think the pain is a great opportunity to find and fix the apparent cause.

I like what Sammi is saying!
Have to listen to body feedback signals.

I am doing what Tomo and Sunny and everyone suggested above, those ideas helped me so much! Middle path also for practice!

Things I keep in mind is noting how the fb is pushing my fingers. Not fingers pressing fb. (Sunny explained same above. I feel like it's a magic trick because my right forearm is pressing right side of the guitar back. Then the neck pivots forward because the fulcrum is my belly and neck at the strap!)

And I try to find minimal finger pressure to make the note and sustain it.

Posture is also important because poor posture affects back pain, which creates hand pain for me after a while.
Jeff mentioned this above, strap is essential.
Plus thumb position! Plus always learning.

I like what Cruz is saying too.
Problem solving! ✊🏾
That is awesome actually Cruz!
18 mos w/o pain! You are doing something right, sound like, well done man.
Tomo says this too, middle path with playing, with just enough practice.
But I think it takes sometime to find the balance point. And the only way to find it, I think, is to find the extremes.

Important to know, you just need to heal/rest, then you will be ok for practicing again soon.

Hi Sunil,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this. I really appreciate how thoughtfully you explained your experience.

Your point about “re-learning how to touch the guitar” really resonated with me. I think that is exactly what I need to do — not just rest, but re-learn how lightly and efficiently I can play.

The way you described creating counter-balance with the body and right forearm instead of pressing with the thumb was especially helpful. I realize now how much unnecessary pressure I might have been using.

Also, your reminder about posture and the weight of the guitar makes a lot of sense. I hadn’t fully considered how much that could affect hand pain over time.

I love what you said about pain being an opportunity to find and fix the cause. That really changed my perspective.

Thank you again for the encouragement — I will focus on the “middle path” and healing properly.

Kazufumi

Thank you Matt for sharing your experiance. I do a lot of body stretching and body workout without any heavy weights. Doing these really helping my playing. I copied many body exercise videos from Instagram a few years ago. I made my own routine based on Mike Chang 's 12 exercises. Similar as you transcribe some phrases from YouTube videos!

Tomo

95% of my workout routine is body weight. Push pull legs (search for KBoges on YT) covers everything I do aside from the exercises that are shoulder and elbow specific from my PT. A few of my shoulder/elbow exercises use weights, but nothing more than 25 lbs, and most of my pt exercises are stretching and mobility, not strength. Pushups and dips covers the push. Pull ups and rows covers the pull and squats and lunges covers the legs. I also run 3-4 times a week. I really feel it when I don't get my workouts in. I love the fact that I can get a full workout in with nothing but a bar to hang from and the floor.

Hi Matt,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience — I really appreciate it.

Your reminder that rest is probably the most important thing really stayed with me. I tend to think I can “solve” things through more practice, so your words were grounding.

I also found your point about slow, deliberate stretching — not pushing into discomfort — very helpful. That distinction is important. And what you said about massage and blood flow makes a lot of sense.

It’s reassuring to hear from someone with so much experience who has navigated similar issues and continued playing.
I’m hoping this is just a small bump in the road for me as well.

Thank you again for the thoughtful advice.

Kazufumi

I'm happy to hear you're back to playing without pain Kazufumi, that is really great news!

Interesting that the doctor found the injury to be accumulated over a long time. It makes me wonder if I am using my hands wrong. Also glad you have access to wonderful healthcare. It should be a human right.

It's so great that you were able to get the medical help you needed! Its Inspiring how you learned from your pain.

Your initial post made me reconsider the ergonomics of my own playing, and I've started to try to be more aware of how my posture affects my ability to relax.

I play an acoustic sitting down, and I've realized that keeping my knees at more or less 90 degrees is *very important* for feeling stable and getting the support I need from the ground. It also makes it less tiring to sit straight! I always "knew" this but I did not notice how crucial this was. Now I feel it was staring me at the face as that is Tomo's position in every lesson, lol! (and he has as video about it (FT, Grip, Thumb Position). I always felt lazy about it, but now I prioritize it.

I still feel tension the tension in my shoulders and my hands (both picking and fretting hand) regardless and I noticed I have the habit of gritting my teeth and not breathing when I'm doing something hard, which doesn't help! Trying to stay relaxed while the mind is working hard is more difficult I think.

When I notice i'm gritting my teeth, I shake my shoulders and remind myself to breath deeply, even through my mouth, which somehow makes my playing feel more light too! Not to get too armchair-science-y but I think the extra oxygen and instinctual relaxation that comes from opening my mouth helps! Even though I do feel conscious about it, I think I can get over it eventually

I heard Tomo say we should limit practicing one thing to ten minutes at a time too, but honestly I always felt tempted to just keep going. Your story helped emphasize its importance in my brain, thank you!

That is great. Happy for your recovery Kazufumi!

Hi Sunil,

Thank you for your kind words.
Yes, the doctor said the inflammation was likely caused by accumulated load over many years, not just recent guitar practice.
It made me reflect on how important it is to pay attention to technique and relaxation while playing. I’m also very grateful that I could receive good medical care.

Hi Kim,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Your comments about posture and breathing really resonate with me. I also realized that when my posture is stable, it becomes much easier to relax my hands. Your reminder about noticing tension and taking a breath is very helpful. I will keep that in mind during practice.