Tony’s Acoustic Challenge – The New Way to Learn Guitar › Family Forums › Community Support › Sore fingers from fretting
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Sore fingers from fretting
Posted by andy_e on June 11, 2021 at 5:22 pmDear all, I am troubled by sore fingers after playing for 10 minutes or so. I am trying to press just hard enough to get the right tone but I still probably press too hard. I can feel calluses on my finger tips but they don’t seem super protective. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!
andy_e replied 3 years, 7 months ago 13 Members · 33 Replies -
33 Replies
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Hi Andy,
I don’t know how long you’ve been playing, but I bet it hasn’t been that long. I found that in the beginning it helps to skip a day and play every other day. This way your finger muscles and calluses have a chance to rest and recover. After a month or so you can start trying to play a little longer or every day for no more than 20 minutes. If you can’t, then go back to playing every other day for awhile.
It doesn’t sound like much but it really makes a big difference in my experience. Please give it a try and let me know how you make out.
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Thanks, GuitarGeni, for your response and advice. I appreciate it!
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I agree with Geni. This will get better with time. The callouses will grow. Its also worth doing the daily stretch technique course early on to help with sore fingers, sore hands, sore neck, etc….
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Thanks, Mark! I am unaware of the stretch course – I will look for it. Andy
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It took me about a month before my fingers could take more than 10 minutes. You’ll get there soon, have faith. You probably now have the initial superficial callus, but you really need a thicker layer of thick skin on the fingertips. That takes time. You will feel it grow. I find that playing shorter playing periods more often helps. Stop when it hurts and come back an hour later (if that’s possible with your schedule). If you’re only playing chords, try something from the song vault with flatpicking or fingerpicking, most people tend to press on the strings more when playing chords. Plus, you’re consistently putting pressure with all fingers simultaneously, whereas, with flatpicking, the fingers get small breathers in between.
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Thank you, Alisa – I appreciate your response and your advice. I will work on developing more substantial calluses.
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Hi @andy_e,
It was hard for me to skip lessons everyday because of sore fingertips, so I listened, watched and marked the lesson as a “favorite”, knowing that I needed to try at a later time. I would placed my fingers on the frets but didn’t apply pressure. After a couple of days or even a week, I could go back to the lesson, listen to it and played along with the lesson at the lowest speed. Because I had focused my attention on listening and watching, I understood the lesson better. After a month, I didn’t give it a second thought. I hope all ideas put together will give you something that works well for you.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
Marquita.
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Thanks, Marquita – I appreciate you relating your experience! I will keep your lessons in mind as a progress (I hope)
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Thank you, Marquita, for your encouraging words. Luckily (I guess), work is so busy that I do have to skip some days. I appreciate the approach you described. Sounds wise.
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<div>@andy_e, we’re all well meaning, but none of us are doctors (specifically dermatologists)
Best to you. Education is a worth while thing.
</div>
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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I made sure I never missed a day. Callus will build up on your fingers, don’t worry about that. I picked up an inexpensive 3/4 size Classical guitar (with nylon strings) and I could play for a LOT longer. It saved me 😉
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Thanks, Cadgirl! I appreciate your reply – I have thought about doing that
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Hey @andy_e , I didn’t read the advice that was what I needed when I was troubled by this challenge, so I will share it with you.
Even after I had been playing for a fairly long time I had finger pain. I would get grooves in the tips of my fingers. I learned that if I filed off some of the thick skin around the groove and especially the flaking, peeling skin right in the middle of the callous that got caught on the strings it helped a lot.
Every now and then, when the callous gets so thick that a groove starts to form, I pull out the nail file and take off some of the callous. Not only does this stop the problems the groove causes but my fingers are actually less sore. It’s the thickened pad underneath the skin that I want, not the build up of old, dead skin on the outside. This is simply part of my regular maintenance so I can play guitar every day way too much of the time.
MG 😀
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Mike, very interesting! Thanks for the tip. I will keep that in mind and follow suit if I note permanent grooves forming.
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Hi @andy_e , my 2 cents if you want to hear it. You’re going to have pain in the tips of the fretting fingers – especially if you’re new to, or haven’t played guitar for a while. You’re going to have to deal with it😱 for now, but it will subside through time. How much time? That’s based on how often you play guitar. I say, play until it starts to really bother you, then stop and give those digits a rest. Don’t over do it, but still try to do something with guitar every day. Eventually, you won’t feel any pain, and you won’t be able to feel anything when you try to find something in your pocket(lol) – I know this from experience🤣 Have fun and play guitar🎸
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Funny, Bill (re: not being able to feel what is in my pocket). Thank you for your advice!
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What kind of guitar do you have? Is the string action low or high (is it hard to fret strings because it may need a professional setup)? What kind and gauge of strings do you have (a coated string or lighter gauge string may be a short term help)?
Bill_Brown is right, sometimes it just hurts. I still get pain in my fingers after years of playing.
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John, my guitar has light gauge strings, good action. Do you mind if I ask about the pain you still get? Does it mainly occur in certain situations?
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Like others have said, the calluses will come with time. Meanwhile, you can practice other skills like strumming patterns while muting the strings, use an open tuning and practice finger picking patterns without fretting any strings, flatpicking while muting strings, playing basic harmonics, etc. Basically, there are lots of skills to learn that don’t involve fretting.
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Oh, and don’t play right after washing dishes or showering. The water softens your skin and the calluses will rub off quickly.
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Great ideas, Owen! Thanks for these! And for the warning of soft finger tips after water contact.
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Here’s a cool (pun intended) trick I use if my finger tips are sore/swollen from playing too long or too aggressively – take an ice cube and rub over the calluses for about one minute. Reduces the swelling and discomfort. Agree with others that some times one just has to take a break from playing for 24 hours. After that, play on!
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Thanks, GG! I will remember that tip and give it a try – I appreciate it
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