Been playing six months and I am starting to get too much tension in my frailing hand. Now I am thinking I have a bad habit. Hopefully I can describe this...
When I start playing my middle finger wants to go straight at the first knuckle.
In order for my other fingers to get out of the way they also go straight at the first knuckle.
Then as I play for a few minutes my index finger wants to tighten and rise up at the first knuckle.
Then everything gets tense.
It seems almost every clawhammer player has their hand more curled than mine, so not straight at the first knuckles. I.e in a fully relaxed position. I've tried it and I cannot for the life of me make it work. What is the trick?
As soon as I try to hit a string my middle finger straightens out! If I try and keep my fingers very stiff in that position I may as well be wearing boxing gloves and trying to play!
So I am thinking I am doing something fundamentally wrong. I've tried squeezing my fingers together, changing angle of the banjo, rotating my wrist away from the head, etc.
Thanks, Groover