Pain question

[Flatpicker]

Could anybody explain this to me.
I have been trying to use my pinky more often and move from a blues based playing style to a more neo-classical style like Malmsteen and Randy.

Here's the problem, ever since I tried to do this I am getting pain in my left hand going from my pinky to my elbow. I don't know what I am doing wrong and don't know how to correct this without not trying to play this way.
I have the Setina speed mechanics book and am trying to go slow and work up the speed, putting my fingers just behind the actual fret and maintaining a (what I think) good straight wrist and a good arch to the fingers.

Any Ideas?

[Argos]

Re: Pain question

Pain is bad! Stop playing until you've figured out what you're doing wrong before you seriously injure yourself!

The problem here is we can't attempt to tell you what you're doing wrong without actually seeing what you're doing. Can you post anything of yourself playing?

Other than that, I suppose the best advice I can give is to find the best teacher you can and have him take a look at your technique and posture. From what I know and have worked through, I would guess that your probably holding the guitar in a less than favourable position, and you're seriously tensing up your pinky, wrist and elbow in reaction to it. Play through SLOWLY (we're talking 10-20 seconds PER NOTE) and try and zero in on the tension in your hands and arm. Once you've become aware of that tension, you can begin to fix it.

Or maybe that's not your problem. As I said, diagnosing playing problems is rather hit or miss with no visual cues to go on.