Fingers, ouchies. . .

Just take a few breaks while you are practicing. Play until your fingers just can't take it anymore and then take a break. When the fingers are feeling a little better, start playing again. Eventually you will build calluses on your fingertips. You will find that you can play for longer and longer periods of time without needing a break.

Time and practice.

Don't pick at the callouses as they develop . It's a little strange at first when you don't have much sensation in you fingertips, but that goes away when you get used to it. In the beginning tough there's a fair bit of discomfort.

BTW welcome aboard. Never hesitate to ask any question you have. There are good people here.

Well thanks guys your a big help,

This place isn't like other forums were they tell you to go help yourself. I don't want to be the type of person that just posts one guestion and never comes back to the forums but I don't know enough to answer anyones guestion. But when I learn I'll be back :wink:

Well thanks guys your a big help,

This place isn't like other forums were they tell you to go help yourself. I don't want to be the type of person that just posts one guestion and never comes back to the forums but I don't know enough to answer anyones guestion. But when I learn I'll be back :wink:

Welcome to the asylum for the musically insane.

And don't hesitate to drop in with more questions or to chat on one of the other guitar and music related threads.

White,

Don't count yourself out. As you learn you will find there are others here who ask questions you may be able to answer. Or you may reply to share your experiences in learning. Sometimes that type of support is very important to someone starting out.

In the mean time read, read, read. You'll be surprised at how fast you pick up things.

Take care.

Everyone has had that problem when they first started. It just takes time for your fingertips to react and make thicker skin. Don't pick at them unless you get loose and peeling skin. When that happens on me I take fingernail clippers and cut the excess off.

You can't let things get too rough, it'll make your playing noisier if you don't keep it under control. I've been playing nearly a year and my calouses are pretty much set in on all my fingers. It's gotten to the point where I can use an emery board on them a little to help keep my playing clean.

But you won't need to worry about that for a long time.

If your fingers don't hurt at first, it probably means you're not really serious about learning. So it's a good sign that they hurt.

I think this finger pain stuff can span the range from uncomfortable to worse depending on the person and the number of nerves in each finger. My middle, ring and pinky toughened up gradually though they got real sore for awhile, but my index finger got so sore I coul'nt touch anything much less a guitar string. After a week or so it went away and the callous started developing normallly with much less discomfort. You won't even think about it after awhile. But it's definitely true that you don't want to pick at them or they can peel off then you have to go through the whole thing again.

The bad part is once the callouses develop you can't blame your errors on the pain anymore. The good part is once the major pain is gone it is much easier to work on technique.

Enjoy, the pain will go away soon and like Slydog said if it doesn't go away your not practicing enough... :lol:

lol...don't pick at them eh?

When I'm bored in class, I tend to poke them with a straightned staple... See how far in it can go.Im really a sick, sick individual.

Welcome to the site bud.

I've only been playing a month or so now, and even then not every day yet (I get home from work really late so everyone's asleep) and just when calluses started to form - it peeled off!

So now I'm back to the "Argh, damn that hurts" stage! Managed 8 minutes strumming without having to stop and massage my hand...

-TPO.

PS Completely agree with everyone on how decent this forum is, I've learnt absolutely loads just from reading this site and the attitude on here is so cool! I was reading tons of different guitar sites but gave up to spend all my time on here!

i use an emery board on my finger tips all the time, it helps smooth them out and helps to keep them from peeling. thats what i'd suggest!