New to Guitar

[Sean Troy]

Hey all, my daughter and I are learning guitar and we were wondering if anyone knew of a good way to toughen up our finger tips. It's brutal when you first start. Ouch !!

[Chris S Anderson]

I just takes time. Ive played off and on for 20 years and I find myself having to develop tough fingers again and again. Once you get them, keep practicing. It should not take more than a couple weeks to start small callus on each finger. Eventually, the whole tip will be stronger.

Be mindful of the pinky when playing. So many beginners neglect to use their pinky enough. Practice chords and make sure you use your pinky in each practice.

BTW, if you just started, you might not know about tablature. Google 'guitar tabs' and you will find some of your favorite music to play. Google beginner tabs and you will find some nice practice pieces.

Tabs are graphic organizers for the guitar neck and strings. Learn it. It makes reading music fun and easy.

[John Coloccia]

Hey all, my daughter and I are learning guitar and we were wondering if anyone knew of a good way to toughen up our finger tips. It's brutal when you first start. Ouch !!

LOL....you're not going to like it. Play more! :D

I've been playing 20 years, and if I go for a few weeks without any serious playing, even my fingers get a little sore the first time back. Start off slow, don't let them hurt too much, and try to play through it next time. They'll be sore for a couple of minutes, but it'll ease up. Just don't destroy your fingertips. When they're sore, you may want to try some really thin latex gloves to ease the pain a bit. It'll let you keep playing without all that abrasion.

I remember playing to the point that my fingers were raw, and then I'd tape them up and keep going. Don't do that, as attractive as it may sound :D Just keep at it and your fingers will be fine after 3 or 4 weeks. It really doesn't take that long. Your pinky may take a while because most people don't use that very often when they're first starting.

[John Coloccia]

Funny, Chris. It's almost like we collaborated on this or something. That's a Martin OM under my left arm, by the way :)

[Brent Gamble]

I have been playing for over 40 years. If there is any way to toughen 'em up other than playing, I haven't found it yet. I usually play enough that it's not an issue, but even a few days off equals some loss of callouses and tenderness until you get them back. A happy side effect of playing more is that it usually results in better playing.:)

[Jim O'Dell]

A childhood friend of mine tried to use his Mom's hot iron to try to toughen his up:eek:....I wouldn't recommend that...didn't work too good! :rolleyes: Jim.

[Doug Shepard]

Pick up a bass guitar and practice on that a bit. No matter how good my guitar calouses were, every time I found myself playing bass for a while I found out how much tougher bass players fingers had to be.

[Al Willits]

Like said, play more.
Even when I was playing professionally, I'd spend time just doing scales to keep the chops going, sit down in front of the TV and play away.:)

Sooner than you think you'll start to feel calluses.

No Martins here, nice axe but I liked my Hoffman for a acoustic.

Al

[John Coloccia]

I actually just picked the Martin up. I usually hate Martins, and this is one of their low-end OM's. This particular one was just magic, and cheap too.

[Sean Troy]

Thanks all, I thought there was no magic tricks but to keep playing. I've played drums and sax most of my life so the music reading part is easier. I guess I'll practice while the shop is warming up and again when my daughter gets home from school in the afternoons.

[Mark Maleski]

I'm an upright bass player. You think you have it bad? My plucking fingers (index and middle) on my right hand consistently blister whenever I have cause to rapidly ramp up my playing time (summer blues/jazz workshops the most common cause). I practice different plucking mechanics so I can shift the part of my fingers that I pluck with - that doesn't really help you - and use the brush-on superglue (sold for fingernail reapirs/strengthening) when a callus gets pulled off and exposes the tender skin underneath. You could go that route, but really, with a guitar that's overkill. I agree with the other responders - you just have to play through it.

[Mike Langford]

I've heard that Stevie Ray Vaughn use to use super glue on his fingers....

I've played (on and off) for 40 years....now I play every Friday night (usually I do at least 4 songs or more in 3 hrs....'50's-'70's Classic Country) and my callouses are pretty tough but they can still get sore if I don't practice or if I play for to long....

[Paul Atkins]

Same way you get to Carnegie Hall.

[Mark P. Miller]

When starting out, it can sometimes be useful to switch to light/extra light gauge strings.

Tuning everything down a half step or full step can help too.

[Sean Troy]

When starting out, it can sometimes be useful to switch to light/extra light gauge strings.

Tuning everything down a half step or full step can help too.

Good info, thanks

[Chris S Anderson]

Funny, Chris. It's almost like we collaborated on this or something. That's a Martin OM under my left arm, by the way :)


we're like twins, only different and not related and not like twins at all.

[Bryan Morgan]

I've taught guitar and everyone is right, ya just have to practice. Longer the practice sessions the better... BUT, give your fingers time to heal as well. Well, longer is better as long as you correcting mistakes. If you just keep repeating the same mistakes they become muscle memory and are a little harder to undo. There is a little device called a Riff Grip (also sold under different names) that helps with finger strength if you don't have a guitar handy. Finger strength and dexterity are as or more important than callouses. Practice doesn't have to be playing the same boring things over and over... you can plop down in front of the boob tube and try playing the commercial jingles or TV theme songs. Its practicing without sitting there doing only one thing over and over, which gets boring quick and turns a lot of people off. It gets your body used to playing different parts of the neck and in different musical styles.

Good luck with your endeavor! Guitar is a great thing to learn if you want to put the time in. I've been playing over 20 years and I still suck at it, but it always makes me happy when I play.

Guitar and music in general is what I live for (though sadly not my day job). The only reason I'm on this woodworking site is to read up on tools and techniques that people are using to build guitars. :)

[Dennis Peacock]

One thing that I've learned over the years of playing music...bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, and finally resting on bass guitar....is that the "action" of your instrument has a lot to do with how much pressure you need to apply to get a clear note/chord out of your instrument.

Learning to play guitar on an Electric Guitar with light gauge strings on it and with the action adjust for easier play without "fret buzz" will be the easiest way to learn how to play without too much pain. You will still have hurting fingers, but that will decrease over time. If your instrument is hard to play or requires a good amount of pressure to get a clear note or chord out of it? Then you need to take it and have it adjusted properly.

Learning how to play with a hard to play instrument not only creates more pain quicker for your fingers, but it also slows down your moves and can tire you quiet quickly. Many things are tied directly to excessive pressure while fretting your instrument...bass or guitar....doesn't matter. I was blown away at how much BETTER my bass played after I had a guy adjust it to his playing preference. The action was too high and intonation was out as well. Now I play with "half the finger pressure" and now I'm getting faster finger moves and better notes because I'm not having to apply as much pressure to fret the notes any more. Makes a huge difference in playing speed, accuracy, and how long you can play without stopping.

Volumes have been written and discussed on strings, intonation, neck action, pickups, and even the size of the frets. But......NOTHING can ever take the place of you spending time in the "wood shed" strumming and picking on your guitar. There are no shortcuts. I'm teaching my youngest son now how to play acoustic guitar.

Hang in there and practice together...there's motivation in all of it for each of you. :D

[Chris Ricker]

When I started, my instructor suggested soaking my finger tips in Which Hazel to draw the moisture out and build calluses faster.
I don't know if it helped but eventually playing was more comfortable.

hope this helps, don't give up!!

[Sean Troy]

I've been practicing for several days now and really enjoy it. My finger tips are pretty sore but not enough to stop. I do need to work on dexterity. My wife was cracking up watching me try to fit 3 fingers in one fret.

[Jim Tobias]

I also just started lessons about 4 montha ago and love it. BUT, it takes a lot of time and woodworking eats into that. I have decided that I WILL learn to play, but it won;t be real quick because I:
[LIST]
still have a job
can't give up woodworking
still have to sleep

The callouses do get better. If you lay off a few days, the fingers get soft.

Jim