“I can’t go across the strings fast enough. It’s very frustrating.” Steve Morse is adapting to playing with arthritis, but says “my time of doing the performance grind is closing"

Steve Morse of Deep Purple performs live on stage at Hard Rock Live in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on February 10, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida.
Steve Morse performs with Deep Purple at Hard Rock Live in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in Hollywood, Florida, February 10, 2022. (Image credit: Johnny Louis/Getty Images)

Steve Morse's gigging days are numbered. He's made peace with it as he continues to battle arthritis in his right-hand wrist.

But he’s moving heaven and earth — and adapting his playing style — to stave off the inevitable.

The guitar virtuoso believes that his issues are the result of “practicing about 10,000 notes a day for decades.” He’s left with no cartilage in the wrist of his picking hand, and that’s making every day full of uncertainty, and he’s having to dig deep in his bank of knowledge for workarounds.

“When I say I’ll do something, I’m used to doing it, and doing it excellently,” he tells MusicRadar. “Right now, I don’t know.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen: When I wake up, am I going to be able to move my hand or not? So far, I have been able to. So far, I have been able to make every gig. But I dunno.

“I can’t play the C section of 'Tumeni Notes,'” he adds. “I can’t go across the strings fast enough, so I can’t do it. It’s very frustrating.”

After making his name in the Dixie Dregs and Kansas, Morse retired to become a commercial airline pilot before he was pulled back into the game by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He later became Deep Purple's longest serving guitarist.

Now, however, his entire focus is on adapting his technique to the ravages of arthritis.

“I have had to come up with new ways of picking — several new ways — because different bones in my joint have different pain levels when I change the angle,” says the guitarist, who is currently on tour with the Steve Morse Band. “So during the set, you’ll see me change. During the show tonight, I’ll be changing positions constantly.

“I have to practice those different ways of holding the pick, and the different angles, and whether to bend my arm or pick from the elbow. It’s a lot. I mean, you have to really, really, really want to play to deal with the advance of arthritis.”

Steve Morse

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Morse isn’t shying away from the inevitable end days, but he’s planning ahead, knowing that things will have to continue to change so he can continue, in one way or another, to play, write, and perform.

“I think my time of doing the performance grind is closing,” he says. “That window is closing, but my time for writing, and possibly performing with some help, with some other musicians, is very possible. I see a future.”

Acceptance, however, doesn’t make the bitter bill of reality any easier to swallow.

“It’s very frustrating at times, dealing with this stuff, but on the other hand, my friends who know me know me as a handyman, and I will try to fix anything better than accept the fact that it’s broken,” he concludes. “I will take it apart and rewire it. I will make it work somehow. And that’s the way I feel about my playing. It’s broke, but I’m gonna find a way.”

Steve Morse Band - Break Through (Official Music Video) - YouTube Steve Morse Band - Break Through (Official Music Video) - YouTube
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The guitarist has previously said he visited a sports doctor about the state of his wrist, who, in turn, laughed at him. That makes the fact that he’s still out there touring, and readying a brand new Steve Morse Band album, Triangulation, all the more impressive.

It's his first ‘solo’ record since 2009, and his first release since leaving Deep Purple in 2022, a decision made, in part, in light of his wife’s battle with cancer. Janine Morse has now sadly passed, and so he and his son collaborated on the track, “Taken By an Angel.”

“That song is new territory for me,” he confesses. “It was put together for my late wife's memorial service, with my son Kevin playing along. It brought tears to many folks' eyes because Janine was a huge part of my life and career.

“People knew her from the Steve Morse Band tours. She was the smiling face opening CDs for me to sign, selling T-shirts, listening to people's stories in the crowd, and taking photos for VIP visits.”

For more on Morse, check out his five go-to ideas for playing and writing, and his wonderful take on a Jeff Beck classic.

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A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to ProgGuitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.