I’ve wanted to play guitar for over 20 years now and I’m finally doing it.
So far I’ve learned chords A, D, and G.
Should my fingers be sore? A book I bought says learning guitar shouldn’t be painful, but it seems to get some chords clear, I must push down pretty hard (and pain ensues).
Does anyone have any pointers?
(I didn’t even buy a case for the guitar I just bought, that way it’s in a stand in my living room STARING at me. I’ve fallen victim to the out-of-sight-out-of-mind failed hobbies too many damn times).
“Not supposed to be painful?” How is pressing metal strings onto a wooden board not going to hurt when you start doing it? Maybe it shouldn’t hurt too much, but it’s uncomfortable and takes getting used to.
Are you saying your fingertips hurt? If so, I’d say that’s normal. If it’s your wrist or a different part of your hand, you should rethink the way you’re placing your fretting hand.
Your fingertips will hurt. If you play a guitar with low action and very light strings it will hurt less but it will still hurt. Play through the pain for about 30 minutes a day and it will stop hurting so bad in about a month or so.
Good luck and stick with it. The first few months really are the hardest all the way around. Get through them and you will have a great time.
I have been playing guitar for a long time and I’ve given lessons and it does hurt. You will build up callouses and then it won’t hurt until you bend a string really far and the meat of your finger kind of separates from the underside of your nail… hard to explain, but it’s kind of like a paper cut just for guitar players.
I recently started right hand tapping. I had never done it before. Building the callous on my right hand was just as tough as it was building them up on my left. Point being, no amount of experience makes building up first time callouses easier.
I’ll wait to see if some of the more erudite musical types have suggestions.
Heavier strings take more force to hold down than lighter strings. Strings that are farther away from the fretboard take more force to push down to the frets than strings that are close (but you can’t just lower the strings, because that screws with the action and the sound and may make the guitar buzz like a chainsaw if the strings start hitting the frets because you’ve lowered them too much).
When I started playing the guitar, I played until my fingers hurt too much to continue. The next day, I again played it until my fingers hurt too much to continue. Eventually, you build up callouses and it won’t hurt. To some degree, there’s nothing you can do about that. It’s part of learning to play. Lighter strings may help a bit. DO NOT put butter on your fingertips or any of those other old wives tales you may hear. Most of the time stuff like that actually makes the problem worse. Just keep playing. It will take a while, but you will eventually be able to play without pain.
Another more expensive way to ease into the pain thing is to buy an inexpensive (still in the $200 range) classical guitar with nylon strings and work with that until you build up some calluses. Then go back to your metal string guitar. But even those calluses will be painful to come by. It’s part of the mystique of guitar playing. Whoever told you it wouldn’t hurt some just wanted to sell you a guitar or never played one herself.
You will experience pain for a few weeks or months and eventually it will go away if you keep it up. Wait until you get the index finger cramp from practicing barre-chords. Once, back when I played in a rock band, I played three nights in a row, three sets per night, 10-12 songs per set. By the third night I was experiencing pain again just like when I was a beginner. That’s after 17 years of callouses.
Yes, the pain will go away in a few weeks (maybe a month or three) if you keep at it.
If the pain seems really excessive, your guitar may need a setup (adjustment) and/or some lighter strings. I can’t tell you without seeing the guitar. Seek out the advice of a guitar-playing friend who can look at the instrument.
Yes, leave it out of the case. Whenever I put my guitars in their cases, I end up going four or five days without playing them. Not cool.
Have fun! The great thing about the guitar is that it goes from tedious to rewarding very quickly in comparison to most other instruments. In my era B.G. (before guitar) I played the trumpet in school. I did four years of trumpet, and it was a full year before I was playing stuff that was actually fun as opposed to feeling like a chore. By comparison, I was playing “Wild Thing” and “Blitzkreig Bop” within a week of picking up the guitar and I never looked back.
Tip for the sore fingers (possibly placebo effect):
Stir a teaspoon of alum in about 2 cups of warm water. Dip your fretting hand in the water, pull it out, and let it air-dry with your fingers pointing down. The idea is that the astringent properties of alum toughen up your fingertips.
Run your fingers under hot water for a couple of minutes before playing. It will soften them up an be less painful. But I wouldn’t sweat it, your fingers will get used to it soon enough.
Chords. Memorizing chords sucks and IMO not a great way to learn. Trot down to the local music store and buy yourself a music book of popular songs. Play and sing along with yourself and you’ll learn chords as you need them. This will expose you to a great number of common chords and it’s a lot more fun. Oh, yeah… learn tab.
Longtime, semi-pro player here. Nothing to add regarding pain or calluses - the other posters have done a nice job. “Learning won’t hurt” - yeah, right!
You might search either here or in Cafe Society on “guitar” - there are a bunch of threads that are similar in nature to this one you started - basically about how to approach sticking with it. They might be helpful to you.
Best of luck and do whatever you need to in order to stick with it - that’s what really matters!
Yes. I still do it before rehearsals and gigs, and I have calluses from hell.
Yes, definitely. This goes to my statement above that guitar can become fun and rewarding very quickly. No better way to do that than learn songs you like.
Absolutely, but also learn to read standard musical notation if you don’t know it already.
Wow, thanks for the advice, peeps. I’ll do the hot water thing when I get home tonight.
I was more or less memorzing the chords so my fingers would get use to the movement and I’d get more precise. I guess I’m looking at learning to play music I like as a reward for at least learning to play the chords and getting some calluses.
To play enjoyably (or good) your body needs to get used to making chord changes naturally. This is why I recommend playing as many different songs as possible while learning chords. Later, you can practice your favorite song over and over to get it perfect.
Dudley my friend your fingers are going to hurt like the dickens . As a fellow guitar player something that will make a world of difference to you is called a gripmaster . Search it on the internet or aquire one at a music store you’ll be going full shred in no time . Cut your teeth with acoustic the heavier strings the better then when you pick up a Strat or a Les Paul or a Ibanez it will be as smooth as silk . And keep at . Keep your axe with you as much as possible . Strum and pick as often as you can soon it will feel like second nature to hold your lady In your hands. I have given some of my favorites names as they have thier own personalities kind of . One of my favorites was "Patricia " what a sweetie .
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I’ve been toying around with a guitar for about 3 weeks now. My fingers are just starting to not hurt as much after playing for an hour. So that problem will solve itself soon enough.
One of the best resources I have found is online collections of guitar tabs. Google for “guitar tabs”. The first couple sites that come up are quite good.
Dudley , I had to stop back by and tell you GET AN ELECTRIC. Screw letting your fingers get hard.Buy a nice mid level Jackson and 100 watt Fender bass amp and maybe a Ibanez tube screamer pedal.(I own an original ) Hook them all together and burn the house down. My friend, you’ll be sportin’ wood that could split a diamond . I’ve been saying I’m kind of like a cowboy ? Upon further review it’s more like Ted Nugent without the bow hunting and his woman thing . I’ve never felt more power than cutting some chiller caps and having a few cocktails . I shit you not.
chiller caps: creating music that causes those goose pimples to cover your arms
