Sore Guitar Fingers!

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Starting out to play guitar is without doubt an exciting adventure. The choosing and buying of your first guitar whether it is a full electric set up or beautiful new acoustic guitar is a memorable experience for anyone.

To turn the dream of becoming an accomplished guitar player from a fantasy into a reality though takes a dedication to learn and practice with that new guitar until it almost becomes an extension of yourself.

One of the first problems that most new guitar players will come up against though is that they get sore guitar fingers and it can hurt!

In order for most people to play even the most basic exercises the muscles in their hands need to adjust and strengthen to accommodate the unaccustomed hand and wrist positions. Then the lateral stretching of the guitar fingers of the left hand required in moving between the guitar frets, and of the right hand guitar fingers holding the pick over a prolonged period has to be got used to.    

Exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles and tendons within the hand will gradually improve playing ability and reduce aching and cramp but it will take a matter of weeks rather than days. The understandable enthusiasm to get going has to be tempered with the reality check that it will take time to develop and maintain this hand and guitar finger strength.

Sports shops often sell devices to build grip strength which cost very little and yet can be very effective if used regularly. Squeezing a soft rubber ball is also a good exercise and can be done anywhere and anytime and gives good results.

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A good exercise to strengthen tendons in the guitar fingers is to hold the hands together as though in prayer. Spread the fingers apart as far as possible and press the fingertips of the two hands together and gradually push the two palms back together keeping pressure on the fingertips. This helps stretch the tendons in the guitar fingers and open the fingers apart. This is always a good exercise to do ahead of a practice session on the guitar.

A very common problem for new guitar players is that the finger tips of the left hand develop splits and become sore from pressing on the guitar strings. There are many opinions on how best to deal with sore guitar fingers but the best way is surely to avoid them in the first place. By starting off with very short practice sessions and building the session time gradually the ends of the fingers have a chance to toughen before they split. An application of surgical spirit regularly applied to your finger tips will hasten the hardening of the skin and reduce the chance of sore guitar fingers, apparently.

If your sore guitar fingers do split at their tips then many people now advocate the use of super glue or a substance like Dermabond to seal cracks in the skin and this allows practice to continue almost uninterrupted. But really if your guitar fingers do start to get sore then it is best to back off a while and let them heal for a day or so before you play again.

It takes a while for hands and fingers to acclimatise to playing the guitar so the rule is be patient and practice often but practice in short sessions. They do say – no pain, no gain, after all.

The joy to be found in playing the guitar properly is in the end worth it even if you have had to go through some rather sore guitar fingers to get there!

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