Picking - fatigue in arm

[SirGrotius]

I'm a finger player, but recently switched over to picking. I used to pick back in the day a bit, but moved away from it for a long time.

Long story short, even after about five minutes or so I start to feel fatigue in my picking arm.

Not my hand, not my wrist, it's my bicep, in particular, which wears down. How weird is that!

As far as I can tell, I only use my hand and wrist to pick and I use up and down strokes when some down picking for beasty parts. I play relatively fast music.

Any ideas to help??

[Craig_S]

Sounds like you're way too stiff or tense. Your arm should be relaxed.

[EricF]

It's a muscular endurance thing. Your body isn't accustomed to using those muscles exactly that way for that long and they fatigue quickly. Keep at it and your body will adapt.

I used to have an issue with a couple of songs in a former band where our guitard would take some really long solos during a live show. Contuniung to pound out a groove would wear my arm out. After my muscles built up some endurance, I was fine.

[SirGrotius]

Thanks for the encouragement. I feel like I've worked out my bicep and tricep in my right arm, so I suppose I'm on my way to building up endurance.

Cheers!

[R. Laevinus]

Originally Posted by EricF

It's a muscular endurance thing. Your body isn't accustomed to using those muscles exactly that way for that long and they fatigue quickly. Keep at it and your body will adapt.

Yep. +1. Picking a bass is one of those few things in music that requires no brains, just brawn. Enjoy it.

[Yerf Dog]

Have you tried raising or lowering your bass? Sometimes the angle will cause a bit of fatigue.

[JimmyM]

Right near your thread, there's this one:

Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method