Wanting to ceep my fingers

[pineappletrain]

So there comes some time when you get inte the mood to play the guitar more then usual, i have been in such mood now for 1 week and still are but my fingers are not.
The problem is that when playing mutch my fingers get sore and that leads to not being able to play proporly for maybe 2 days, so dose anyone got somthing to speed up the healing process cause its rather iritating not being able to play and if i ceep playing eaven if it hurts then the soreness dont go away, any good tips ? It would be my Left hand im talking about (not strumming hand)

[Chasplaya]

Play frequently but maybe for shorter periods each time

[pineappletrain]

Hmm yes but i cant help myselfe from playing its to mutch fun haha

[tovo]

Mate I had a very mean (Welsh) Physical Training Instructor named Taffy (go figure!) who used to like to say "pain is weakness leaving the body". Didn't help much! I think the finger pain is just something you have to deal with until the callous grow and you will have no more pain. Play until you can't play anymore, rest a bit, play some more.

[Lavallee]

I agree with Chas and Tovo, there is no magic, you just have to build thoses calluses, if you play often, the pain wil go away fairly quickly. It is when you stop for too long that you loose what you just gain. You can always play a song, have beer, play another song, have another beer....

Marc

[TGMatt]

Your fingers will in a very short time develop callouses and you will be able to play for much longer periods. I have been playing for many years, but if I change to a liter guage of sting and play for a long period, my fingers will hurt for a bit. No one ever said playing guitar was not without it's draw backs. I never ----ever----ever let anyone I was playing with know my fingers hurt. But like John Lennon once said "I got blisters on my fingers" So hang in there bro.

PG

[mmmbldo]

You could try some extra light strings for awhile, or you might try silk and steel strings. I have never tried the silk and steel, but I gather the bass strings are similar to classicals. Every now and then I read something suggesting them to ease problems with new players' fingers.

[michelew]

When I started in April this year (after a 30 year gap), I played until I had blisters on my fingers. From then I sort of did a combination of resting when they were too sore, breaking up my playing and just putting up with the pain. My callouses formed fairly quickly in the scheme of things. Now I need to maintain them.

One thing that I did have a problem with initially, however, was pain in my wrist and shooting nerve stuff up my left arm. Part of the problem was that my guitar wasn't set up properly. I took it to a guitar repair guy who lowered the action and that made the world of difference.

As others have said, you need the right gauge strings too or it will be too hard and not fun.

So in short:
- make sure your guitar is set up properly
- consider lighter strings
- and play within your discomfort tolerances.

Your callouses will build up quicker that you might image.

Good luck and have fun.

Michele

[jayswett]

My experience was similar to Michelle's. I will just emphasize the idea that the calluses come fairly quickly.

[cosmicmechanic]

I guess this is "Horse Medicine":

I know of pro musicians that dab "crazy glue" on their fingertips to
enhance their endurance, and even repair (ugh!) existing injuries.

so ... ask your guitar doctor if "crazy glue" is right for you