Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze.
Never really noticed that socks but yea my whole hand nearly cramps up after 20-30 mins fairly quick chord changes even at the nut end of guitar ...
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Yes, that's a technique issue. It sounds like you are using the finger and thumb muscles to do all the work. Ideally the finger muscles create the chord shape, and that's it. Pressure is applied by pulling back very gently on the neck - although I'm always hesitant to say "pull back" because in reality, most of the time you can just relax the arm to provide the pressure. Played this way the fingers and thumb will be very relaxed at all times.
Try this:
Create a simple open chord, like G. Place your fingers over the frets but just rest them lightly on the strings. In effect muting those strings. Now relax your arm so that it feels heavy. The elbow should also drop to your side. This relaxing causes the fingers to be pulled into the frets by the weight of the arm. Higher up the neck, or with barre chords, you might need to pull back on the neck a little with the bicep to get enough pressure. But the key here is using the large arm muscles, and not the finger muscles, to create the pressure.
I hope that is somewhat clear. Using this method the fingers will stay very relaxed, and the thumb is also very relaxed. In fact, in most cases the thumb only needs to lightly touch the back of the neck. The thumb should not be applying lots of pressure.