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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Chordie's Chat Corner → Can You Get Hurt Playing???????????
Hi,
Iwas just wondering if you or someone you knowhas got hurt or came close while playing guitar..... because i just took this big first aid course and was thingking, if you did get hurt while playing, what would it look like
I just put medium strings on my acoustic and my left fingertips hurt.
Sadly, I think most musical accidents are alcohol or drug related. I suppose things like carpal tunnel syndrome are possible. When I played horns, I chipped most of my lower front teeth doing horn pops while marching. That's hardly a crisis. Blisters, I guess. If a string broke, it could cause a cut or injury if a body part got in the way of the recoil. I don't think it's that dangerous of a hobby. Except for the alcohol and drug connection. When I was a teenager and it was time for me to choose which college to attend, I had to choose between careers in music or business. I was playing some gigs in a playhouse orchestra then and got to see the behavior of so-called adults in the industry at cast parties and chose business over music. Coke and pot and extreme quantities of booze abounded. Acid was on its way out and heroine was popular back then, but I didn't see any of either one in use. It may have been at the parties, but I was pretty naive and wouldn't have been looking for it. I joke about booze from time to time, but addiction to it or any intoxicating substance is deadly serious and no joking matter. People get badly messed up.
- Zurf
Hey WbH ,
I've heard of guitarists being electricuted ... I also remember when my little brother , my brother in law , and I used to jam ... My brother in law played through a vintage Gibson Mercury amp and plugged his mic into it also , and my little brother was always flipping the polarity switch on that amp so that my brother in law would get a jolt when he touched his face on the mic ... Can't believe my brother in law kept letting him get away with it ... I would have kicked his butt all over the place , L O L ...
Jerry
Some of the clubs ive played in over the years my strat came in handy as a weapon for defensive purposes,one night some gal who was dancing started flirting with me and her boyfriend came after me durring the song I got in a couple good ones but he got in some better ones and after it ended I had to have a few stitches at the hospital but before I left he got me a beer, go figure 
Hey Russell ,
That's probably why you see Les Pauls played in a lot of these clubs , L O L ...
Actually though , if I had to use an instrument for self defense , I would want a bass that I used to have ... It was a Peavey T-40 ... That thing weighed a ton ... Thick solid maple ... I know that thing would have stopped at least a small caliber round too ....
L O L .........
Jerry
You sure go through a lot just to get a free beer Russ. Lol
Most guys buy the girl a drink... You get the girls boyfriend to buy you one
yea I had a Les Paul and it was formidable 
Hey Russell ,
That's probably why you see Les Pauls played in a lot of these clubs , L O L ...
Actually though , if I had to use an instrument for self defense , I would want a bass that I used to have ... It was a Peavey T-40 ... That thing weighed a ton ... Thick solid maple ... I know that thing would have stopped at least a small caliber round too ....
L O L .........
Jerry
I think it was more or less a guilt trip his girlfriend most likely explained the whole thing and if thats the only way to get a free beer im happy with pepsi
You sure go through a lot just to get a free beer Russ. Lol
Most guys buy the girl a drink... You get the girls boyfriend to buy you one
Only your feelings.
Hi,
Iwas just wondering if you or someone you knowhas got hurt or came close while playing guitar..... because i just took this big first aid course and was thingking, if you did get hurt while playing, what would it look like
Many, many years ago I was playing guitar/keyboards in a "church band "( I'm not 100 % positive but i'm petty sure there were no drugs or alcohol involved). The drummer and bass player had a heated dispute over how a part was supposed to be played. The argument grew into down right ugly, full flown " church brawl". A cymbal stand hit my left elbow on the "funny bone" zone. There was nothing funny about this incident however and this was my first and last session with this "church band"........................
Toney I hope this didn't happen in the church,I cant remember an incident where the band members duked it out over an arrangement but there were some "heated discussions" but most of them were resolved usually we just argued over who was going home with a lady
Many years ago when I used to go busking I couldn't finger pick (not enough volume from an acoustic) so it was a pick all the way. A number of times while on an upstroke, my long index fingernail would get caught under the top E string and slice the fingernail well into the quick. Talk about pain pain and blood, but as a true pro' I very rarely missed the beat as I continued.
Ah me, I have suffered for my art 
Yowzer KajiMa. That is a resounding YES YOU CAN GET HURT PLAYING.
Worse things have happened to better people!
(but you can see blood spatters through the soundhole of my old geetar) 
Went to see Jeff Healy once and he was winding out his guitar and fell off a 5 foot high stage.
When he hit the floor his electric guitar made an awful noise, a biker type dude picked him up,
he got back up on the stage and carried on the show, with Jeff bieng blind he said wow that was
a wild fall. He wasn't hurt and the show was great. It was quite the thing to see Jeff Healy on stage givivg it his all and then in a second flat on the floor. When it happened there was a hush over the crowd.
Badeye.. 
Was playing a bar near the Navy base when a chair whizzed by inches from my head as a row started. That didn't hurt.
This drunk backed into the stage and sat down hard striking my mike stand and bloodying my lower lip with the microphone. That hurt some.
A drunk guy pulled a gun on another drunk with his back to me. The second drunk swung a chair at the one with the gun. The gunman put out a hand to fend off the chair and then shot himself through that same hand. No pain for me. The slug hit the ceiling over my head.
I had a Mossrite twin neck guitar that had to weigh 40 pounds. The narrow strap dug into my left shoulder and gave me arthritis in my left index finger. A wider strap fixed the problem. Minimal pain for me.
Hey tubatooter1940, that sounds DANGEROUS!!! 
Word of advice: If you get into a venue and there is sawdust/sand on the floor, chickenwire protecting stage and/or bar staff tell them that your name is different to that on the posters, you'd got the wrong venue and turn round and leave! 
IVE GOT BEAT UP AND ELECTRACUTED LOADS OF TIMES.......MAKES ME STRONGER
Oysterboy -
You may want to consider lessons. :^)
- Zurf
Some of us are not as resilliant as we used to be and can't afford to replace our expensive kit.
If oysterboy is who I think he is he's played at the Queen Vic' here a few times, nice Taylor, multi instrumentalist (pipes??) and well more than competent a musician and singer.
Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5WJ7ynVUhY and look forward to seeing you again in the Vic' soon John!
I'm sure he's quite good. I was giving him a little good natured ribbing about his playing getting him beat up and electrocuted.
- Zurf
Sorry Zurf, not a crit to you rather than a shout out to John.
Oh, and I realised you were talking 'bout the electrocuted thing, .
Guys (not to sound like a total know-it-all) but watch it w/ the elec stuff. if you get a big enough jolt it will kill every cell in the vincinity of the electrocution. After about five days the area will be black, as in dead black.
I'm saying this so that there will be more awareness in this area, i'd hate to hear of a musicion who couldn't play anymore because of an electrical burn.
Stay Safe!
Ben :sticking tongue out:
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Chordie's Chat Corner → Can You Get Hurt Playing???????????
