My fingers hurt

mikerino
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 5:48 pm

I practice almost every day and I have been for over a year and still I get caluses on my fingers to the point that the strings get stuck in the cracks then they fall off and I get new ones. I have to stop playing sometimes because it hurts. I am practicing Goodbye Blue Sky, Is There Anybody Out there and barre chords. Any advice? Is this just how it is or are they going to harden up someday? My son thinks I am pressing too hard.
Thanks
Mike


BigBear
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:21 pm

mikerino wrote:
I practice almost every day and I have been for over a year and still I get caluses on my fingers to the point that the strings get stuck in the cracks then they fall off and I get new ones. I have to stop playing sometimes because it hurts. I am practicing Goodbye Blue Sky, Is There Anybody Out there and barre chords. Any advice? Is this just how it is or are they going to harden up someday? My son thinks I am pressing too hard.
Hey Mike, welcome to TG and the forum. Glad to have you! If you haven't done so already we'd love to have you post a little about yourself and your guitar aspirations on the Please Introduce Yourself Here thread!

Excellent choice of songs to be working on! I love PF and they've always been a little inaccessible until I joined here. Bring on David Gilmour!! :lol:

You really shouldn't be having finger pain this long after playing seriously for a year unless you are playing for long periods of time. I played a 3-1/2 hour jam a few weeks ago and my fingers hurt like hell!! The calluses are completely normal. You can watch Neil and see that he gets some pretty deep grooves in his fingertips. I do too!

As far as pressing too hard, you only need to press hard enough to get a clear, clean tone, nothing more. But it's hard to back off on the pressure. You might have to "untrain" yourself! Barre chords are particularly challenging and for me take a good amount of pressure.

Anyway, welcome and Happy Playin'

Rick


Junebug
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:41 pm

I mentioned this same thing to my guitar instructor. What he did was that he unhooked the strings off of my guitar and then shaved a millimeter or so off of the bridge, (or nut) which brought the strings closer to the neck of the guitar. So, now when I play, the strings are a little bit nicer to my fingers.


BigBear
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:49 pm

Junebug wrote:
I mentioned this same thing to my guitar instructor. What he did was that he unhooked the strings off of my guitar and then shaved a millimeter or so off of the bridge, (or nut) which brought the strings closer to the neck of the guitar. So, now when I play, the strings are a little bit nicer to my fingers.
Hey Junebug, welcome to you too! Glad to have you!

I've said this before in several posts but the single best thing an amateur guitarist can do is take your guitar to a competent luthier, spend $35 to $75 and have them set up your guitar properly. They will straighten the neck, file any misbehaving frets and set the nut and bridge correctly. I even did this with a brand new Taylor guitar. Playing a guitar with a crummy action just isn't worth the frustration!

Anyway, welcome again and thanks for posting your experience with your instructor! We are all trying to help each other here.

Happy playin!


jfletchey
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:43 pm

I have found that one of two things is usually the culprit when fingers remain tender after extensive "breaking in". The action of the guitar is too high or the string gage is too heavy. Sometimes just going to a lower gage string (.10 or .11 gage 1st string) will solve both problems because it will reduce the tension on the neck. You also might consider a coated string (Elixir or EXP) or the Martin Silk and Steel which has smaller gage 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th strings. The only solution for high action is a good luthier set-up. Hope this is helpful. Don't give up. The rewards are worth the effort.

Indiana Jim


haoli25
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:51 pm

Excellent suggestions Indiana Jim. Thanks.


Another thing you can do if you have access to one, play a 12 string for about a week. Since the strings are not hitting the same exact spot as with a 6 string, it allows you to keep the calluses and toughen them up a little.


wrench
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:23 pm

mikerino,

Your dues ought to be paid in full after a year of playing every day.

If you are still getting pain, your daily injury is exceeding your daily healing capacity. Cut your daily session off as soon as the pain begins. After about a week, you should notice the sessions getting longer and longer to the point where the pain starts.

I've been playing five months, and I played two three-hour sessions yesterday with no pain. Two months ago I was still crying like a little girl (no offense intended ladies). This method made the difference for me.

I know of two signs of pressing too hard. I think it was Ric here in the forum who noted that you may be squeezing too hard if you notice your jaws are clenched while playing. He was right about that because my teeth were killing me, and with some conscious effort found I was able to use significantly less pressure. Most important though, is hand position because it has everything to do with applying force to strings in an efficient manner. See Neil's videos for details on this, but if you're using poor hand position you need to apply excessive force to try to achieve clean notes.

Another sign of excessive force is string wear against the frets. If you're really pressing excessively, you can see spots worn onto the strings where they contact the frets. This is most visible on the wound strings.

wrench


BigBear
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Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:33 pm

jfletchey wrote:
I have found that one of two things is usually the culprit when fingers remain tender after extensive "breaking in". The action of the guitar is too high or the string gage is too heavy. Sometimes just going to a lower gage string (.10 or .11 gage 1st string) will solve both problems because it will reduce the tension on the neck. You also might consider a coated string (Elixir or EXP) or the Martin Silk and Steel which has smaller gage 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th strings. The only solution for high action is a good luthier set-up. Hope this is helpful. Don't give up. The rewards are worth the effort.

Indiana Jim
Jim- great post! Have you tried Cleartone coated strings? I'd been using Nano's and they were okay but someone turned me on to the Cleartones and I'm in love! They are a little more expensive than EXP's or Elixirs but they seem to last forever and I've been playing the heck out of them! I'm going to put them on my Les Paul next. Supposed to be excellent electric guitar strings also!


jfletchey
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Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:43 am

I have not tried Cleartones but will put them on my list to try when I need a new set. I am always searching for new and better methods.


mikerino
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Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:22 pm

Wow I didn't know I was going to get so much help. Thanks everyone. I have an acoustic with a .10 guage E string and an electric with very small guage strings. The electric is the gentler of the two but other people play both of them and think they are fine. I like the suggestion of getting them professionally set up.
OK, going over to the introduce yourself page.


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