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!

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 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....I wouldn't recommend that...didn't work too good! 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