Finger strength

[Av8tormike]

Based on my experience, if my finger is placed properly in the fret, it takes less pressure than if it’s not. Experiment with different placements and pressures.

[Hop]

Thank you. Placement is pretty exacting or are there sweet spots?

[Moose408]

As close to the fret as possible without being on the fret. You want just enough pressure so that the string doesn’t buzz.

[jumpinjeff]

This is a really useful question! I was an over presser for years. Figuring this out is set me on the path for corrective measures. I invented my own drills to fix this issue. It involves seeing how lightly I can press the string to make the sound I want to hear. I found there is a minuscule amount of pressure between clear notes and muted notes. Once there I mess around with the varying degrees of muting vs. clear ringing out tone. There is a proviso here: the harder the tips of your finger are the less energy it takes to make a clear sound. Finger tip texture matters. There is only one way I know to get those tips rock like, many many many hours in the saddle. When you think you have callouses, keep going they get tougher. When I get the tension out of mind and arm/hand/fingers my precision and accuracy improve. Controlling speed is key here. Slow enough to play without tension and getting the sound you desire. Final analysis: play more, develop finger texture; target tension as the governor for speed.

[Hop]

Awesome tip, thanks

[Bud6333]

also don’t let you playing slack as those calluses will start to shed…. ewe

[petelanger]

I think I have my hands in dishwater too often, softening those calluses. I need to probably play more but I am playing every day typically for at least 30 minutes.

[DiscostewLA]

Press only as hard as you have to get a clean tone. Practice playing lighter and lighter just until it sounds bad and then press a little bit harder than that. I practiced that for a while and still go back to it when I feel like my hand is getting crampy or tired. It’s usually not because I’m playing too long or something too hard, but that I’m just squeezing too hard. Rock on!

[ALPS]

<div>What strings are you using? If you are using mediums, you might want to try lights. You might also want to have a guitar tech check the action. I play mostly finger style and tend to like a lower action. Not so low that I have string buzz, but lower than the typical factory set up. A good guitar tech could lower the action and make it easier to play, without string buzz. If you play mostly with a pick and get aggressive with picking/strumming, you probably want the action a bit higher.</div>

[Hop]

Wow, had no idea. Don’t know what strings or quality. Will research or stop at a local shop. Pretty sure my guitar is a beginner setup but good to explore. Open to further suggestions. Thanks.

[Loraine]

Hey Hop, I have to agree with the others that if your fingers are placed properly, you don’t need to use much pressure at all and it does get easier over time, a lot of the foundational skills teach you speed and strength with the fingers too. By strength I don’t mean how hard to hold a note or chord, but more, the skills you need for playing. In developing your ability to place your fingers correctly on the fret board through muscle memory and the ability to hammer on and pull off and other techniques that require a little bit more strength in the fingers, especially with a pinky, which is our weakest digit on our hand. All this just comes with time, and the guitar does take time to learn. However, if you keep at it, you will get it and it will come much, much easier, than things do in the beginning. Good luck with it.

[Hop]

Thank you, good to know time and patience will help.

[Carol-3M-Stillhand]

@Hop you very well may be over-doing things on the strings… Most people use up way too much energy by pressing too hard on the strings. This just makes your entire fretting hand tense up and that can make everything more difficult. It also pulls your note sharp when you fret with too much pressure. Perhaps the reason Tony P. looks so relaxed when he plays is that he only uses the minimal pressure to avoid buzzing.

Some suggested exercises for you would be to try some drills without even using your thumb on the back of the neck. (I did this when I had tendonitis in my fretting hand thumb). Doing this makes your other fingers realize just how lightly they need to press to get a clean tone. You really don’t need the vice grip from behind with your thumb and letting that go helps you play alot more relaxed.

The other exercise I’d suggest would be to do the “spider exercise” but for each note you play, keep on that note while fretting with less and less pressure each time, until you get a buzz. The one right before the buzz is your minimal fretting pressure (MFP). That will eventually make it into your muscle memory and you will never be clinching down on the neck with your fretting hand. Play relaxed, play better.

Hope that all makes sense. Enjoy and have fun!!!! C

[Hop]

I’m definitely tense. Will try the exercises, appreciated. Can’t imagine “thumbless.” Good idea.

[jumpinjeff]

Another fantastic tool Stillhand! MFP! On it, or should I say….off it. : )

[CHEzjeje]

plek it!

[Hop]

I’m good at pleks. Probably not the technically correct ones tho 😉

[CHEzjeje]

<div>I had a local shop plek one of my acoustics and man oh man.. here is a sweetwater info page. It’s the same if you have a tech, fret dress and set up the guitar. We don’t have a good one around here. I did have a luthier fret dress and set up a guitar by hand and that was Greg Voros at Gruhn guitar. He is the best!!! but a machine will do in a pinch. </div>

Plek Your New Guitar | Sweetwater

sweetwater.com

Plek Your New Guitar | Sweetwater

Sweetwater's Plek Pro option gives your new guitar a custom setup, optimized for ultra-smooth playability, singing sustain, total note clarity, supreme choke-free bending, and minimal fret buzz and rattle — just the way you like it!

[Hop]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the guidance and encouragement. I’m just beginning to build calluses and can only tolerate the pain for 20 minutes or so. Then return for another session, and another. Will implement your suggestions.

[jumpinjeff]

I tried to get out of dishes for that very reason. My wife smiled and handed me some gloves. : ) I am careful not to play until my calluses have thoroughly dried. I have peeled them, playing when they had softened from waterlog. They seem to be fine though as long as I give them time to dry.

[Hop]

Yes, had the same sense. Getting better as my calluses build up. Mine are getting there but still breakdown while playing. Thank you!