[cybersmyth]

I've been playing real steady for almost 3 months now. I average 1 hour a night of practice and take a couple hours of lessons with an old Chet Atkins style finger picker friend of mine every week. He's 65 and sometimes he doesn't remember what it was like when he was first starting. So I need some input from people that are a little closer to when they were beginners

My questions is, do your fingers ever stop hurting??!! I have pretty good calluses built, they're not rock solid yet, but they're real firm. After about an hour or so my fingers start hurting and if I play for 2 hours or more they REALLY start throbbing and hurt too bad for me to keep playing. I figured this would have gone away by now, like I said I've been playing for 3 months regularly. Do your fingers always hurt like this, or will mine get stronger?

Thanks,
-Joe

[Kirk Lorange]

Mine still hurt if I play for a few hours without stopping, and I've been doing it for decades! Even good thick calluses don't prevent that. it's just not a natural thing to do.

[Perverted Hermit]

I have a few questions and or suggestions for your finger pain...

Are you playing acoustic or electric?
How is the action set on your guitar? (If it's too high you'll have to press too hard to get a clean note...if it's too low you'll get nothing but buzz)
What gauge strings are you using? (Heavier gauge strings take more pressure...if you have delicate fingers you might want to drop the guage)
How old are your strings? are they corroded and ready to be replaced? New strings might help...

Many newer guitarists just apply too much finger pressure (Too much pressure can actually make your guitar sound out of tune...in addition to hurting your fingers).

Go to your local music store and see if they have a thing called "Finger Ease" it's a little spray can of stuff that you spray on your strings (it really does help). An alternative is "Fast Fret"...it's a little greasier feeling but also helps.

Hope I helped...

[Ranger]

How is the action set on your guitar?

Action is how tight your strings are, right? (just trying to learn things)

[Shabbadoo]

No, what he means is how far away from the fretboard are your strings. If they are high above the fretboard, you will need to press the strings harder to get the string to hit the fret. Some guitars have an adjustable bridge, that can be moved up and down to adjust the height of the strings...although I've never messed around with them.

[Spyder F16]

Originally Posted by Ranger

Action is how tight your strings are, right? (just trying to learn things)

On a Tremolo style bridge, there should be little screws in the parts that the strings go through, they face up off the guitar face, and are turned by an allen wrench. If you turn the screws to the right, you set the action(Hieght of strings above the fretboard) higher. If you turn left, you drop it.

When you drop the action, it's easier to play, and you can play faster. However if you make it too low, the biggest issue is buzzing, primairly in the 'bass' strings. If it's too high, you will have problems with hand cramps, as well as speed loss due to having to press down harder and farther to get the notes you want fretted.

Usually if you do tweak the action, you also have to reset the inotation on the guitar on the strings that you tweaked.