Just relax
A certain amount amount of muscle tension is a good thing for guitar players, what you need to learn is how much do you need, and where and when do you need it. Here are a few things that can help.
- You don't need tension in your shoulders. The more relaxed they are the better you're overall posture will be.
- You do need some tension in your forearms and your hands for specific techniques but you need to be able to reduce that tension immediately when you no longer need it.
- It will be important to be aware of when you need tension, when you don't and how to relax when you need to.
- You may need to learn some relaxation skills, if it were that easy we'd all be doing it.
This last point is very important and one that can be often overlooked. If you find it difficult to 'just relax' then I'd strongly suggest you look at my program at TeachingTheWorldToRelax.com. I originally devised the program for guitar players but have moved it off to clear up some space here and because I feel that it would be useful for lots of people.