what do you do about sore fingers?

I happens with everybody... just hold out and callouses will form so you dont feel the pain anymore... but it happens with everbody, its normal. 8)

What I did was I'd stab my right hand's fingers, that way the left hand wouldn't feel too bad.

^kidding

Don't be such a wuss.

Kidding, again.

It'll hurt. Eventually that will go away though. Get your pinky to hurt as well. Make sure you are using it. I didn't start using it till much later, and that always made me mad, so get it into the action.

Ibuprofen will lessen the pain some because it is an anti-inflamatory.
It will take a few weeks to develop calluses and gradually you will be able to play without any pain at all.
If you start getting sharp pains in your wrist or numbness and tingling in your fingers, stop playing and re-examine your technic.
Your wrist should be relatively strait. If it is not try raising the neck of your guitar some.

hey, I'm just getting into play accoustic guitar... and I'm picking it up pretty well I think... the only thing that's holding me back is how darn sore my middle 3 fingers on my left hand get after fretting... should I just stop being a wuss, or is there some secret solution I'm not aware of?

The tenderness will go away in a while, once the tips of your fingers start to develop their caps. In the meantime...

SUFFER NEOPHYTE!Stop being such a wuss!
You have to pay yer dues with the tenda finga blues.

:wink:

That's the wonderful pain that every new guitarist goes through. It'll die down once your fingertips toughen up. Stop when it starts hurting too bad to continue and start again when it stops (for the most part). You'll start to notice that you can go longer and longer before you have to stop.

You'll also get some cool skin peeling, I had fun trying to see how big a chunk of skin would come off at once.

ahhhh I remember those days... after 5 years I cant even push a pin through my caluses... and it always impresses the girls!!!

oh man... Im such a loser....

You'll also get some cool skin peeling, I had fun trying to see how big a chunk of skin would come off at once.

I've been playing for about a month and my fingers are now completely peeled. Do I let the skin peel off itself? I think I read somewhere around here that picking the skin would just reveal a very soft layer underneath that would hurt like heck when played. So anything to prevent it, or do I just roll with it?

I've never had a peeling problem. In the beginning, at the suggestion of several players, I started sanding down any rough edges with either an emery board or light sandpaper. It seems to have worked for me. Now I don't get many rough edges and no peeling.

Not that long ago I was a music shop and I asked if they sold anything for my finger tips. The sales associate told me "Hey man, it's a part of rock n' roll."

"my finger's bleeding!"

If u dont pick off the peeling skin you'll leave it on your strings... it can get pretty nasty... especially if u have sweaty palms like I do.......... come to think of it, I need some new strings...

I have added an acoustic to my arsenal to play. Now my fingers are a bit sore again. Higher action and thicker strings make a difference. 12's vs the 9's I am use to :)

:P lord_ariez Now that is funny, want to really impress the girls let the girls slam their car doors on your finger tips for laughs.

Anyways my fingers never used to hurt to bad, maybe because I used to lift weights without gloves. When they did hurt I just played pass the pain, then I dipped my finger tips into rubbing alcohol.