How not to develop calluses when playing guitar?
pandora asked:
I just started playing guitar. My fingers are almost bleeding. I’ve heard from different people that with time you’ll develop calluses. Are there any covers for the fingertips or something so my fingers don’t hurt and don’t get calluses?
I just started playing guitar. My fingers are almost bleeding. I’ve heard from different people that with time you’ll develop calluses. Are there any covers for the fingertips or something so my fingers don’t hurt and don’t get calluses?
Well, if you get calluses then your fingers won’t hurt anymore when you play again. Calluses are desirable so that you don’ feel the pain. RandomPerson
im gna use my answer in another question;…
“hahaha, i remember when i started learning guitar. i was around 10, and once i played, i just wanted to keep on playing, and being a beginner, my hands started to hurt, alot. so, being me, wanting to play more, i tried alot of stupid stuff, i tried to put some cloth on my fingers so that my fingers won’t get hurt, but of course, that didn’t work.XD i was discouraged and stopped for a while, but then i just kept on playing through the pain, and my fingers toughened up after a couple of weeks, and they stopped hurting. simply, just keep on practicing and your fingers will adapt and get stronger naturally! no pain no gain like they say!”
btw, if u get calluses, that is GOOD, like the first person said. they toughen up your fingers and STOP ur fingers from hurting. there is no such thing as a cover! calluses ARE the cover! insertnamehere
Guiter players NEED CALLUSES.
It’s an important step in the guitar learning process. If you never have calluses, you will be the first great guitar player in the WORLD to not have a single callus! It will also mean you’re not very good.
Play through it, it doesn’t take long. 2 months from now, you won’t feel a thing. RANMAN
I can’t imagine trying to play with any sort of fingertip protector….if such a thing even existed. In time, your fingers will toughen up. Every guitar player has experienced this. You may want to take it slowly….stop playing whenever your fingers start hurting. Many short practice sessions….rather than a few long sessions might be a good strategy.
You should also take a look at your guitar. There are things that can be done to make it easier to press the strings. The simplest thing is to change to the lightest gauge strings you can find. For an acoustic guitar, that will be a set that uses a .010 high string. If you play electric, you can easily find .009 strings. Light strings are easier to press. There is some sacrifice in tone and volume, but you can change back to heavier strings when your fingers toughen up.
It’s also possible that your string height or “action” is set too high. This can be adjusted on all but the cheapest guitars. A combination of low action and light strings will go a long way towards giving you less pain.
When I started playing, I had a horrible guitar with strings like barbed wire. My friends and I would bang our fingers against concrete walls to toughen them up and we wore our callouses like a badge of courage. Nowadays, I’m in a couple of gigging bands, so I play and practice a lot. I don’t really have callouses…just slightly tougher skin in my fingertips. The difference is largely that I’m using better guitars that are set up properly. TommyMc
There are no covers for the fingertips.
The only way to make your fingertips stop hurting is to play through the pain for a few weeks until you develop those calluses everybody has been telling you about. Calluses are a very GOOD thing for guitarists.
Don’t worry, the calluses aren’t thick, ugly and obvious — they’re basically invisible. Nobody looking at your hands will even know you have them unless they happen to rub their fingers across the tips of your left hand fingers. RachelS165
Calluses are what you want! They are not noticeable and will protect your finger tips from the pain that is bothering you now. It’s like walking around barefoot. It hurts in the beginning, but you toughen up over time. Just don’t chew the calluses off when you get them or you have to start all over again! Tasty as hell, however. : ) Icametoteach
Any decent guitar player will have callouses. They are the only way your fingers will be able to stand playing certian aspects of the guitar. You can use the same thing as tony iommi. He chopped off the tip of his fingers in an accident so he couldnt play guitar. He made himself some fingertips out of cloth and lether and then he became the guitarist in black sabbath and probably one f the most famous guitarists ever. Guitar Wizard