Hardened finger tips

phatboi3000

Hi everyone,

I've only recently started playing guitar and the pain caused by continuous playing is seriously cutting the length of my practicing sessions. It becomes difficult to make chords sound right when you can't press down hard enough >☹ .Is there a way to hardening one's finger tips quicker?

thanx

MiKeZilLA

Ja well i started playin a coupla months ago and had some people suggesting spirits and all manner of other things truth is i have no clue if there is any other way but yeah the pains part of payin ya dues and the worst of the pain doesn't last that long. In the interim i suggest shorter practice sessions, more often, stopping before the pain becomes so sharp you struggle to hold down the strings. Depending how often you practicing you'll be past the worst of it in a week or two

FatBoy

Hi

I have heard numerous ideas, some say dip your fingers in methylated spirits, other say put a drop of superglue on your finger tips etc etc. I think you should just make your initial practice session shorter, but more regular. They will harden up soon enough.

And never wash dishes again! Extended stays in water made my callouses fall off!

NorioDS

I remember what that feels like!

I don't know if it ACTUALLY helps but I used to dip my finger tips in Meths. Seems to have helped but that was many years ago. These days, a few hours of playing brings back the hard finger tips.

NorioDS

Agree with the dishes! Even a long shower stuffs up my callouses and it's a damn irritation!

phatboi3000

cool thanx guys - I think I'm going to swing the dishes idea past my chick first, and see if i can't get out of doing the dishes for a while ?
It's going to be hard cutting down on my practicing sessions - I feel like here's so much to learn, and so little time...but that's probably always the case when you're pretty new at something?

AlanRatcliffe

Practice. You'll build up the calluses soon enough - play till it hurts then take a break. You can "power through" and keep on playing (many of us do as we are so fired up by the first rush of enthusiasm that we don't want to stop ? ). Meths, vinegar, etc. help a little by hardening the skin, but not enough to bother about, IMO, and do nothing for building calluses.

A big part of learning to play is that you learn to lighten up and only apply enough pressure to fret the string and no more - most new players actually push too hard, partly to compensate for the fingers not wanting to hold the right positions. The more you practice, the more accustomed your fingers and muscles will get to fretting and the lighter you'll play and the less pain you'll have. I got an electric 12-string a year or so ago and even though I have serious calluses built up over 25 years, I went through an "adjustment period", suffering pain until I learned just how much pressure to apply.

Sorry, there are no real shortcuts. To quote Bumblefoot "Guitars Suck!" (but in a good way).

FatBoy

It's going to be hard cutting down on my practicing sessions - I feel like here's so much to learn, and so little time...but that's probably always the case when you're pretty new at something?

You don't really have to cut down, just space it out a bit more, rather play 6 half hour sessions in a day than doing one 3 hour session. And yea you can try to push through the pain and play non stop, but be careful not to overdo it and cause blood blisters, it will just leave you with new baby skin and you are back to square one (lesson learned from a drunken night of guitar in a bar)

NorioDS

Along with what Fritz has said... consistent, shorter practise sessions will improve your commitment to memory. Both muscle and otherwise. Long sessions are great but not at the expense of real growth which is achieved by picking your axe up at least once a day and practising / learning something new!

phatboi3000

For sure! Thanx everyone for the advice - especially about the blood blisters Fritz ...ouch! At the moment I think the only pain worst than my fingers tips, is the pain of struggling through this 8 hour working day knowing my guitar is sitting at home just waiting to be played... ?

Wessel

Hardened finger tips comes mostly from pressing down to hard with your fretting hand.Espescialy while playing electric this happens allot

Something that helped me with this while playing lead is the lightness of hand technicque.Practice playing some licks slowly but with each pick stroke consentrate on how hard you are pressing down on your fretting finger.Try to do this until you use the minimum effort possible to play the note with your fretting hand.This will help with speed building,cramps and would decrease the necesity of hardened finger tips.

The hardened fingers will always apear after a while.But its better if it comes with time.

phatboi3000 wrote: At the moment I think the only pain worst than my fingers tips, is the pain of struggling through this 8 hour working day knowing my guitar is sitting at home just waiting to be played... ?

Try to set practicing goals in your mind while working so that when you jam when you come home , you use your time effectivelly

Manfred-Klose

I've been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and it comes with time.....

recently started playing bass, that is painful to your right hand if you are not use to thick strings, i aplied some surgical spirits, it helped a little bit.