Stiff right elbow after much tremelo - what am I doing wrong?

[maxr]

A bunch of us had a little alfresco playing session in UK the other day - about 2 hours playing French, English and Irish folk tunes with short breaks. I attempted a lot of tremelo on these tunes, although some were quite fast reels and jigs so that was straight tune playing. It was great fun, but two mornings later, my right elbow is really stiff, with sore muscles, particularly the big one one on top of the joint towards the forearm. Am I doing something wrong, like directing tremelo from the wrong place, or holding the mando too far to my right (ie towards the picking hand) or is this just the natural result of playing tremolo on and off at medium to highish volume for 2hrs for the first time? I was picking near the fingerboard end (Eastman 305 so no Florida) or up to about 1" below it.

Thanks, Max

[Frankdolin]

Your probably not doing anything wrong. Work on relaxing so you don't tense up, easier said... And if you run a couple miles and never usually run, your gonna hurt in places you didn't remember were there. Just heal and then try to build up from there. Good luck!

[Tom Wright]

Ideally, tremolo should come from the wrist, but if you need a fast one, arm tends to join in. Some of us are faster than others, and perhaps don't chase a fast tremolo, instead try for grace,

Sore muscles from exercise are not a worry, sore fingertips will get tougher, but sore joints means do it less, or differently. Joints don't toughen up, they get cartilage problems and tendonitis.

Arm and hand pain should teach you to find lower-effort technique. You can risk some pain, but long-term injury can result from overuse of joints. I speak from experience, having dealt with various forms of joint issues from a life in professional music performance.

[MediumMando5722]

In one of his instruction videos, Bryan Sutton stressed paying attention to anything tensing up when you play. His advice is to stop, figure out what’s causing the tension, and remedy it on the spot. Makes sense to make this part of the practice routine, so you’ll ideally practice playing with no tension.

[maxr]

Thanks for all that, guys. I could feel my right arm aching slightly at the time, but only when I straightened it out between tunes. I'm pretty certain this is just a muscle or two that's not used to it.

[Ky Slim]

Ideally, tremolo should come from the wrist, but if you need a fast one, arm tends to join in. Some of us are faster than others, and perhaps don't chase a fast tremolo, instead try for grace,

Sore muscles from exercise are not a worry, sore fingertips will get tougher, but sore joints means do it less, or differently. Joints don't toughen up, they get cartilage problems and tendonitis.

Arm and hand pain should teach you to find lower-effort technique. You can risk some pain, but long-term injury can result from overuse of joints. I speak from experience, having dealt with various forms of joint issues from a life in professional music performance.

I think Tom nails it here. Muscle soreness 24-48 hours after exercise is normal but joint pain is a different animal. Get hydrated and take a break

Check this out about Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness