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Home Articles Sore Fingers Guitar?

Sore Fingers Guitar?

August 16, 2011 By jeanw 5 Comments

Sore Fingers GuitarSore Fingers Guitar? Here are a dozen solutions and tips.

1. The first tip for sore fingers guitar is to get an easy to play guitar. Nylon string guitars and electric guitars are much easier on your hands. It’s much easier to hold down the strings.

2. With a classical or acoustic guitar, lower the action. It’s the distance from the string to the actual neck.  Aim for around 1.5mm at the 1st fret and 5mm at the 12th fret of your guitar. Your fingers will not hurt as much when the action is lower.

3. If you are using a steel string acoustic, start with strings that have a lighter gauge. Lighter gauge strings can help your fingers from getting too sore.

4. Try soaking your fingers in vinegar for half a minute. Let them dry and then start practicing.

5. After you wash your hands, use rubbing alcohol on the tips of your fingers then play after they are dry.

More Sore Fingers Guitar Solutions

Click the ‘Read More’ for more tips…

6. Take a day off from playing. Sounds obvious, but that can help too. Just don’t take too many days off.

7. One of my subscribers uses an Australian leather conditioner called ‘Dubbin’ that keeps your fingers both soft and tough.

8. Another subscriber used a quilter’s thimble that is made of silicone. They are inexpensive and help with sore fingers guitar solutions.

9. A quick and easy tip is to put ice on your finger tips both before and after practicing. No need to buy anything at the store. Just look in your refrigerator.

10.  Another idea is to get some Alum spice, mix it with water and put it on your fingers. Dissolve some Alum in water and soak your fingertips for a few minutes. Dry and play. Repeat for a few days and the “toughness” increases. It’s found in the spice section of most grocery stores.

11. One subscriber shared that he would slide his fingers up and down the strings until they hurt. He repeated this every 10 minutes on and off for three days and after that his fingers all had thick calluses.

12. Don’t hold the strings down too tightly. You only need to press the string to the metal fret… you do not need to touch the wood of the fretboard. If you don’t over press the strings, it should help you to avoid sore fingers guitar.

A bonus tip for avoiding painful fingertips is to build up to longer practice sessions. Start playing the guitar in short time frames and build up the time as your fingers adjust to the instrument.

There you go… 13 solutions to sore fingers guitar problems.

Filed Under: Articles, Guitar Technique, Thoughts Tagged With: guitar, sore finger solutions, sore fingers

Comments

  1. sore fingers mama says

    August 24, 2011 at 12:45 am

    I picked raspberries the other day and the acid stripped all my hard earned callouses.

    Reply
    • admin says

      August 24, 2011 at 1:21 am

      How frustrating! I haven’t heard that one before. Hopefully they will come back quickly. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jella says

    April 26, 2013 at 6:46 am

    My fingers are gone red and it really sores …

    Reply
    • jeanw says

      May 2, 2013 at 11:39 pm

      It’s probably because your guitar has high tension steel strings? Try somme of the tips in the article and see if that helps. You may want to give them a little rest too. All the best, Jean

      Reply
      • drishyan says

        August 10, 2013 at 12:04 pm

        This really makes it feel better

        Reply

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