My fingers hurt when I play the guitar?

Question

I've recently gotten back into playing the guitar. I'm not that great, still consider myself as a beginner. However, my finger tips hurt a ton when I play. I know I'm supposed to eventually get over the stage and develop callouses. but the problem is that I think my strings are way too tight. I have to exert a lot of pressure especially on the first fret.

I'm not sure what the problem can be, other than that I'm out of practice. Did I change my strings the worng way?

By the way, I'm using the lightest bronze strings and since these are one of the softest, I really feel like there is something wrong.

Answer 1

1) Your finger tips are gonna hurt until you develop calluses. Lay off and let them heal a bit or you'll just wind up with blisters that will take even longer to heal. Ice or ice water helps relieve the pain. Don't try to ignore the pain and keep playing. In the end it is very counter-productive because you wing up tensing your hand, arms, shoulders, etc etc. and that leads to poor posture and poor technique that is very hard to unlearn.

2) After your fingers heal, practice in shorter sessions to build those calluses. When learning to walk ya gotta take baby steps before you can run. It takes about 6-8 weeks to build fairly good calluses and it will take a year for them to develop fully if you practice 15-30 minutes a day.

3) If you have properly tuned up (using a tuning fork or electronic tuner), the tension in the strings is what you have to live with, so either the "action" is too high (strings too high off the fingerboard) because the bridge or nut saddles are too high, and / or the neck is warped, and / or the tension rod in the neck is mis-adjusted.

4) Take your guitar to a music store that sells guitars and has a knowledgeable staff. They should be able to confirm if the above is true and they can probably fix the problem or offer other good suggestions.

5) When your fingers hurt too much to play, practice fingerings without pressing hard on the strings (or get a cheap guitar with no strings on it). You need to build hand and finger "memory" anyway as well as the stretches your fingers need to make between frets. Expand your repetoire and try learning to play slide guitar too, where you don't need to finger the strings so much.

6) Hang in there! This is where too many aspiring guitar players give up. I had a heck of a time in the beginning because I started with a horrible old plywood Harmony 12 string acoustic! But someone gave me this same advice and now, 35 years later, I'm still playing. Not great, but not bad either. And if I lay off too long...back to the baby steps to rebuilt the calluses, although it only takes a week or two because the skin on my fingers has become so thick over the years.

p.s. And don't ignore your pinky! It's way useful, so build strength and a good callus on the little guy.

Answer 2

Well, make sure the neck isn't warped, if it's warped the action needs to be lowered and the strings are probably too far away from the fret board.

Take it to a guitar 'mechanic' if it is...

That's about all I can tell you. I don't know what else it could be except for the fact that you haven't played in a while and that might be the only thing, but if you feel like there is something wrong, but all means, don't risk the guitar and get it checked out.

Good luck!

Answer 3

My Fingers Hurt

Answer 4

You aren't doing anything wrong. You are getting callouses and you need to keep playing. If you quit when your fingers hurt and you play again in the future they are just going to hurt again until you get callouses. It's just a normal part of guitar playing.

Answer 5

Maybe you should take your guitar to a store where a professional can put the strings on properly for you,it might help.If this doesn't help, then you should see a Dr.My husband has the calluses,no pain though.Hope this helps:)Good luck

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

fingerfriendlyguitar.com No more finger pain - ever!