just got my guitar yesterday, been doing 3 chords for ages n my fingers kill, does it ever get better, cos it's like pins and needles in the ends of my fingers it's really weird anyone got any suggestions ?

it's just the muscles of your fingers getting used to the exercise....


it would be the same as if you did hours of weights for the first time....


ya gotta ease into it, but keep doing it, untill your fingers get stronger and used to it.

thanks, it's mainly the end of my fingers pressing on the strings that hurt, i guess it will go away, can't stop practising though even though it hurts, even though i know 3 chords only

no pain no gain shane[img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]later as you keep playing the tips of your fingers will turn hard and leathery and all traces of pain will be gone.enjoy[img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img]

thats perfectly normal, just like niallo said they will eventually turn hard and the pain will slowly go away.

Played till my fingers bled ..t'was the summer of 69


Dry your eyes and get on with it man! [img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img][img]smileys/smiley20.gif[/img]

you that old, man???[img]smileys/smiley3.gif[/img]

Nope, not that old, but I am THAT cheeky [img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]

my fingers killed when i started but i couldnt not play i was addicted [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]mines finally starting to feel no pain

I have a similar problem that I can't seem to fix either. I have been playing cello for 7+ years and lately I can't play for more than 5 minutes w/o having to stop cause my joints hurt so bad. I am only 18 this should not happen... grrr [img]smileys/smiley19.gif[/img]

yea joint pain is different....that has to do most likely with incorrect positioning of the hands...the same happens with guitar...if you hold your wrist wrong when playing a chord your joints begin to experience pain and certain problems could set in..

when you get to the point where u can burn your finger with a lighter and not feel it then you know you've broken them in fully[img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]

well it depends on how often you play...i got to that point rather quickly, but i played about 3 to 4 hours a day. so it depends.

i think if you can do that you know your dead[img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

I don't think it is from improper hand position [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]

ehh im sorry...i really dont know what to say...does your family have a history of joint problems (arthritis)?

Repetetive Strain Injury?

I get RSI the odd time - usually only when I'm playing some mad solo or the likes. I've been assured that if I "warmed up properly" it wouldn't happen but whatever...[img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

yea...its a pain, but in all honesty you should warm up....for example...i played basketball my whole life...always told to warm up and then ice...never did...now...my knees and back are shot...hurt all the time and its only gonna get worse...

with guitars, after a while, the tips of the fingersof the fret hand get pads of hard skin, it sounds disgusting but its really cool to show off to yer mates.


say your in a restaurant and a hot plate comes over, you can put the tip of a finger of your fret hand on it and you feel any heat, but when a mate does, they burn their finger!! its awsome...

you dont feel any heat*

no history of joint probs in my hand... but maybe I will try to strengthen my joints by sqeezing one of those lil balls filled with sand.. stress balls I think they are called.[img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]

my fingertips practically were </span>bleeding
when i first started to play. it killed so bad. it look a little while
but it doesn't hurt like that anymore. you just gotta keep practicing,
a lot, and make it a point to toughen up your fingers. i would dig my
thumbnail into them throughout the day, and after a while they were so
calloused i could play forever and not feel a thing.

there is a book out called 'ten minute guitar workout'(david mead). sounds like just what you need.


i'm not david mead by the way.

Ah yes i remember when my finger tips were feeling the pain. It hurts a lot less on electric guitars. Im used to it now but my finger tips look and feel gross

ahh the memories :)



we've all had to go through it,

the aches and pain, blood.







now my fingertips are dodgy looking! the price you pay i gueess..

Callosity, like all biological processes,works at different rates for different people. I myself within a week had developed decent enough calluses to play for a while, andwithin a month I had full thick hard calluses. Right now I've no feeling in my fingertips, which is the only draw back. It's just like tan; some people get a whopper tan within two days, while for others it takes two weeks.


I've got callus on my strumming thumb now![img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]I can smack acoustic steel strings as hard as I want with no pain whatsoever! That took me ages to develop; I think you actually have to give yourself blisters for that to develop.


You can get callus on any part of your skin; for example Thai Boxers have callus on their knuckles, shins, elbows and knees.


All medical practitioners will tell you thatcallus is a bad thing, because:


A) It leaves you wide open to infection


B) Your skin is effectively left numb


It's interesting to read up on it:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callus


Here's a random little excerpt:


Deal portering is heavy and dangerous work which cannot safely be undertaken by any save experienced men. The shoulder of an experienced deal porter is said to develop a callosity which enables it to bear the weight and friction of a load of planks. But even with a hardened shoulder the deal porter has an unenviable task. To carry over a shaking slippery plankway a bundle of shaking slippery planks, when a fall would almost certainly mean serious injury, is work for specialists."

hey yea, these guys got it right, your fingers with soon calus over and get hard, i had the same problem...everyone that plays guitar get it, just keep playing and soon itll get better, kinda off topic but, i once met this guy that lived in Jamaca and he played baseball for years without gloves and he caught the ball bare handed and soon his whole hand calused over and he could catch the ball nomatter how fast you threw it without it hurting his hand, so yeah, cool, so keep jammin man, and learn some more chords haha kidding, itll come, later...=TBone

Youre gonna have to lose the arm![img]smileys/smiley13.gif[/img]

How about the guitar itself, sometimes I try guitars that are really hard to play because the strings are so high off the fretboard.....

oh god...it the same with bongo players..their whole hand covers over..ewwww..i know its natural and all for the music but...[img]smileys/smiley11.gif[/img]


My fingers are sufficently hard so i dont feel much pain anymore - except when ya play outside in the cold...oh the blood..oh the horror..


keep playing - itll come!!

try vinegar on the tips of the fingers, that sometimes helps toughen them up, but there really is no substitute for an initial period of suffering, after which all will be well!

Just keep playing, eventually you will get calluses and you wont be able to feel it anymore.

thank you, very interesting to read!!! cause a friend of mine that's a pharmacist told me her husband uses methylated spirits, you know the purple cleaning spirits... she didn't seem to have any major medical thing against it but i guess i didn't ask cause i wanted to try it :) it kinda numbs them and must be really really bad but it does kinda work if you don't care what could possibly happen you!!! :)

A cheat for beginners is that you can put a tiny quantity of superglue on the tips of your fingers. (Make sure the skin is in good condition first obviously and don't use on fingers made raw by practising!)

speaking of bongo players and super glue, the drummer from guster, brian has beat the hell out of his hands and on the intro of their dvd you see him closing up some open skin on his fingertips with superglue. The man is an animal!

I found myself pressing my finger tips on anything with an edge throughout the day when i wasnt playing the guitar. I have been playing for two weeks now and they are finally starting to not bother me.

Good luck

play more, build MASSIVE CALLUSES (i cant spell) ...learn "msg in a bottle" thatll toughen you up good :D

on a simliar topic, over the last couple of days my fingers have been aching like hell non stop, its really painful:smiley6: Anyone know what it might be from?

in what sense? joints? skin?

i've been playing quite a while but i think u need to progress right, the first time i played i went crazy on an electric and blistered up my fingers so i couldn't play at all for about a week, then i learn't properly on nylon strings. the transition from nylon to steel is a killer, then i thought i was cured my fingers touhgened up and everything but rescently i've been trying out some crazyly good finger picking stuff and ragtime is simply a killer and i'm feeling like i did back in th'ol' days. as madona would say "like a virgin". if it wasn't for the pain i'd never go to sleep or do anything but guitar.

edit: and i'm picking with my nails now

Nah its a joint thing. I've been playing quite a while so i dont think its my hands asjusting to playing or anything, I'm not even sure if its guitar related. All I know is that its driving me nuts:smiley21:

Thanks for your help though!:smiley1: