Hello

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Permalink Reply by Robert M Krajcirik on January 3, 2010 at 8:25am

Don't feel alone, my fingers have been sore also. That is part of the learning from what I am told. Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa McCormick : Guitar Life on January 3, 2010 at 8:36am

Hi Kate and Robert-

Welcome! Your poor fingertips will toughen up over time, not to worry. Bravo to you for learning to play!

Best wishes, Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Newbie Dean on January 3, 2010 at 8:43am

Welcome.............SORE fingers are the norm!! If you don't have sore fingers there's something wrong with what you're doing! I've been at this guitar thing for almost 9 months now and my fingers still hurt. They usually go numb after about 5 minutes of practicing. The one thing that I've found, though, is that when a chord isn't sounding "right", the solution isn't to press harder; check your finger position. I find I really don't need to press the strings THROUGH the fret board. I too practice a lot. Being retired I have plenty of time to "plunk", especially here in northern Wisconsin at this time of year. But it's fun and I'm having a riot learning to play. I hope you're having as much fun as I am.

Dean

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Permalink Reply by John Gundrum on January 3, 2010 at 10:25am

Yes, fingers will toughen up over time. I've played guitar for over 25 years but slacked off for a while there. In the past 3 years or so I've played a lot more and am also teaching as well. So that puts a lot of time on the fingers. I didn't realize how much so until this past Christmas eve when a brought the guitar to a relative's house to play. At the end of the night around midnight someone was leaving and asked if my fingers were hurting because of how long I was playing. I had to think about it but they weren't! I had been playing for several hours before going and while there I play for another 3-4 hours!

Calluses build up over time so don't be discouraged. Another note about hands is this. Keep the fingernails on your left hand trimmed. Long nails promote bad habits and does not help with improving your playing. This is not the case for right hand fingernails. Depending on the style (classical, fingerstyle - anything without the use of a pick) having longer nails properly trimmed helps immensely with bringing out the tone. You can do without and just flesh it and this depends entirely on personal preference.

John

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Permalink Reply by Clark Ellison on January 3, 2010 at 9:40am

As beginners we tend to strain our fingers and hands trying to hold the string down to get a clear sound. Check to see how much daylight is under the strings as they run down the neck. Too little and they buzz, too much and they are hard to press, especially near the nut. Many of us purchase guitars that really need to be set up before we start to play but when asked what we want, we do not have a clue. Lighter strings also help unless you have frets that sit high above the neck and those cause us to bend the string changing the sound. As time passes, if we practice, we learn and make changes in every aspect of our playing including how we want the guitar set up and which strings we like. Then one day you wake to find you have come down with GAS. It is expensive and there seems to be no cure. Just remember to keep a lot of wall space open for guitar hangers so as you acquire more and more of them, you can get to them to play each one often. By that time your sore fingers will be a faded memory.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Bonsor on January 3, 2010 at 10:38am

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the replies.

I expected sore fingers. But I'm so not a quitter. LOL I heard if I rub alcohol onto my fingertips that this will help toughen them? I had read somewhere that's what Eric Clapton did.

I began guitar lessons last week and have managed to zip through A,E,G,C,D Em,Am and Dm chords. I have a drum mp3 that increases tempo as it plays and I practice along with that.

I have no idea how to read music so I have a feeling some of this may be a long process. But I'll enjoy my learning experiences.

Funny thing-I grew up playing drums. I have a double Rogers back in Canada. LOL
I just decided about 3 weeks ago I want to play a guitar so I got one on ebay

:( The string broke so we took it to the music store in Chesterfield and the guy said it's be cheaper to bin it, so my husband asked him what would be a good guitar for me and he showed us the Epiphone and that's what I have. I love it to bits.

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Permalink Reply by Walt Pilcher on January 3, 2010 at 12:42pm

Kate,

It sounds like you are a fast learner, but also really dedicated.

The great thing about guitar is that you don't have to read music to be able to play right from the beginning as long as you know some chords, and it looks like you have already learned some good basic ones. But if you want to write your own music or learn fingerstyle it would definitely help to know a little music theory such as how to read the notes on a piece of sheet music, how to find the notes on a keyboard as well as a guitar fretboard, what chords are in which keys, the Nashville numbering system for chord progressions, etc. I found a good DVD that helped me a lot with this (and I had no musical background or training). It's called "Music Theory Made Easy," by Paul Baloche, a well known musician and worship leader. Web page: http://www.leadworship.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=41 I presume it's available in the UK. I'm not associated with Paul Baloche in any way, but just thought I'd pass this on to you because it helped me.

Keep having fun with your guitar!

Walt

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