My fingers hurt

Vee · Feb 4, 2021

I've been playing guitar for a while so I thought I was safe now. My fingers are hard enough and usually I can play without pain, or so I thought.
This week I started learning "Are you gonna go my way" by Lenny Kravitz, and OMG, the bends on fret 2! Hello finger pain. It's been a while.
Super fun to play though, but I think I'm going to be in pain for a few days before I get used to this one. No pain, no gain, right?

SigurdReginson · Feb 4, 2021

Oh! Electric or accoustic? If you really wanna feel the pain, you could try it on a 12 string.

Martin · Feb 4, 2021

Vee said:
I've been playing guitar for a while so I thought I was safe now. My fingers are hard enough and usually I can play without pain, or so I thought.
This week I started learning "Are you gonna go my way" by Lenny Kravitz, and OMG, the bends on fret 2! Hello finger pain. It's been a while.
Super fun to play though, but I think I'm going to be in pain for a few days before I get used to this one. No pain, no gain, right?

I've started mucking about on my bass guitar again recently. If it hurts, I stop.

ChristineM · Feb 4, 2021

Meerkat said:
I've started mucking about on my bass guitar again recently. If it hurts, I stop.

I have a friend who plays bass, the tips of his fingers on his right hand are like iron

Jainarayan · Feb 4, 2021

They still hurt.

But probably not as bad as this sitarist’s.

Martin · Feb 4, 2021

ChristineM said:
I have a friend who plays bass, the tips of his fingers on his right hand are like iron

It's my left hand fingertips I struggle with.
Though when it occasionally sounds right, the discomfort seems less important.

Vee · Feb 4, 2021

SigurdReginson said:
Oh! Electric or accoustic? If you really wanna feel the pain, you could try it on a 12 string.

Mostly electric, sometimes acoustic. I've never had a chance to try a 12 strings. Might be hard but the sound is amazing

Vee · Feb 4, 2021

Jainarayan said:
They still hurt.

View attachment 47498

But probably not as bad as this sitarist’s.

View attachment 47499

That's scary

Vee · Feb 4, 2021

Meerkat said:
It's my left hand fingertips I struggle with.
Though when it occasionally sounds right, the discomfort seems less important.

Keep playing. It gets better and when you start playing good music you'll love it

SigurdReginson · Feb 4, 2021

Vee said:
Mostly electric, sometimes acoustic. I've never had a chance to try a 12 strings. Might be hard but the sound is amazing

They do sound great! If it gets too painful, you could try the mountain dulcimer. My fingers have gotten nice and soft since playing one... All my calluses are gone.

SalixIncendium · Feb 4, 2021

I’m not sure the hardness ever goes away entirely. I retired from playing bass 20 years ago and the pads of my fingertips are still thicker on my left hand than on my right.

Shadow Wolf · Feb 4, 2021

ChristineM said:
I have a friend who plays bass, the tips of his fingers on his right hand are like iron

I don't play as much, so my finger tips have softened up. But I'm starting to get some grooves worn in and thicken up on my left hand from guitar.

Jainarayan · Feb 5, 2021

Vee said:
Mostly electric, sometimes acoustic. I've never had a chance to try a 12 strings. Might be hard but the sound is amazing

Not hard at all. Finger picking takes a little more getting used to because the strings are closer. I’m a rhythm player, so for me it doesn’t matter. The sound is amazing, a nice fat ringing sound. But out of tune a 12 string sounds like cats fighting.

. Changing the strings is time consuming and tedious.

Jainarayan · Feb 5, 2021

SigurdReginson said:
Oh! Electric or accoustic? If you really wanna feel the pain, you could try it on a 12 string.

And I think a 12 string is less painful, at least mine is.

Martin · Feb 6, 2021

Vee said:
Keep playing. It gets better and when you start playing good music you'll love it

Yes, I play a little every day - probably not long enough, but I dont want it to feel like a chore. I usually just play along with recorded music, improvising melodies with the bass.
I practice scales too, but that gets awful boring!

Jainarayan · Feb 6, 2021

Meerkat said:
Yes, I play a little every day - probably not long enough, but I dont want it to feel like a chore. I usually just play along with recorded music, improvising melodies with the bass.
I practice scales too, but that gets awful boring!

I play mostly with my iTunes too but I’m getting bold, playing and trying to sing on my own. I can play and sing with the recordings but sometimes the timing of the vocals and chord changes is “challenging”. I think I’ve spent a total of 47 minutes ever practicing scales. I started out playing melody lines, so I got to know the fretboard.

Revoltingest · Feb 6, 2021

Vee said:
I've been playing guitar for a while so I thought I was safe now. My fingers are hard enough and usually I can play without pain, or so I thought.
This week I started learning "Are you gonna go my way" by Lenny Kravitz, and OMG, the bends on fret 2! Hello finger pain. It's been a while.
Super fun to play though, but I think I'm going to be in pain for a few days before I get used to this one. No pain, no gain, right?

Switch to a theremin.

Martin · Feb 24, 2021

Are barre chords a thing on the bass? For example a barre on the 5th fret, and melodies above that?

Jainarayan · Feb 24, 2021

Meerkat said:
Are barre chords a thing on the bass? For example a barre on the 5th fret, and melodies above that?

You could play a barre chord, or any chord, on a bass but the sound would be overpowering. I think it would definitely overpower the guitar(s). Also, the best you could probably do with an F maj, for example, on a bass is F5... F power chord. Remember, bass strings are the same as the 4 lower strings of a guitar, E, A, D, G, so you wouldn’t get the notes on the (non-existent) b and e strings. You also couldn’t play a Bb, Bbm, Bm, Cm, C#m, etc. because the b and e strings aren’t there. Again, I think you’d be limited to power chords. Btw, power chords are my go-tos on guitar for F#, F#m, Fm, Gm, G#, G#m, etc. because biomechanically I can’t form barre chords. And because I’m lazy as ****, so I don’t play those songs.

But mostly because my fingers won’t make them. Did that help or did I make you run out screaming and want to take up the recorder or kazoo? .

Jainarayan · Feb 24, 2021

ChristineM said:
I have a friend who plays bass, the tips of his fingers on his right hand are like iron

Right, because bass players don’t usually use a pick but some do. I tried it but wasn’t a fan. Bass picks do exist and are very thick and rigid. Also, the strings, which are thick, are plucked with the fingertips. So yeah, the fingers of both hands get calloused.

My fingers hurt

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