Is learning how to play the guitar supposed to hurt so damn much?

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: JDub02
try an electric. the difference is night and day. I still can't play an F on an acoustic guitar. Just can't get all the strings down with 1 finger.

No don't!

Most if the people I know who started with electric never developed the finger strngth to play acoustic properly.

And acoustic guitars get more chicks.

That's kinda odd b/c I had been playing with an electric (standard Fender Strat) for about 4 years and realized I didn't like the electric guitar, so I just recently picked up a Takamine acoustic and have no problems playing any chords or my fingers hurting. Then again, I did get rid of the D'addario's that were on stock and put on some Elixirs (which I must say, kick ass). The only thing I can't do on my acoustic that I could do on my electric is bends Well I can, but I'm still having issues getting it to sound right, for obvious reasons.

 

[cheetoden]

No pain, no gain!

 

[cerebusPu]

i cant wait to start on my guitar coming in on saturday or monday.

bleeding fingers here i come!

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: PanzerIV
He. First thing that came to mind when I saw your topic was this line from the song Summer of '69: "I got my first real six string bought it at the five and dime. Played it till my fingers bled. Was the summer of '69 me and some guys from school Had a band and..."

My thoughts=Beatles/Helter Skelter=I got blisters on my fingers!

 

[ebaycj]

Play it til your fingers bleed, it will then be the summer of sixty nine.

 

[Harvey]

Yes, it's supposed to hurt that much. You need muscle strength and callouses, and there is no shortcut. If you get to where you're playing and enjoying it, it's defintely worth the effort. :music: :wine:

 

[Lithium381]

i took the easy way out, learned on a nylon, then went to acoustic, then went to electric, EASY

 

[TheNinja]

already been mentioned but I'll just say that it will take a while to build up the thick skin on your fingers, probably a couple of months to really get comfortable and be able to play for a couple hours without sore fingers. Then you problem will be your hand/wrist (as mentioned earlier) but that will get stronger as well. I only get slightly sore fingers when I play bass for long periods of time now....sliding and pressing down those monster strings with the left, and plucking with your right fingers will get ya.

 

[PatboyX]

ive been playing for a while and when the summer and winter hits its highest highs and lowest lows thats when i still feel the pain. my skin peels like crazy on my hands so although i have strong fingertips, the area directly around them gets all sorts of irritated.
i think its a good thing to learn on a rough acoustic. makes you work for it.

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: JDub02
try an electric. the difference is night and day. I still can't play an F on an acoustic guitar. Just can't get all the strings down with 1 finger.

i take it you're playing barred F...try open string: x03210

-Vivan

 

[BD2003]

Well, Ive been going on and off throughout the day, basically when my fingers will allow me to play just a little more. I can pull of a G chord pretty easily, but the D chord is torture...I cant hold the strings for more than a few seconds before I have to let go and even then I'm pretty bad at not muting other strings...but then again it is my first day.

Cant wait to be able to play some songs that I know, but that seems to be quite a bit off. Should be fun getting there though. Hopefully I can get the callouses soon cause I'd like to play more already. They're just shy of bloody right now.

To the people who already know how to play...how long did it take you before you were able to play some basic songs?

 

[thomsbrain]

*nelson* HA-HA!

last weekend i played guitar for a couple hours, then played some piano, then my band had a recording session where i recorded guitar for 8 hours straight, then slept for two hours, got up, and we played an hour-long show. and my fingers weren't even tired, bitch!

anyway, basically when you start you just need to take it easy for a while. if you have pain, you need to stop and give your fingers a chance to heal. i know sometimes it's hard to put it down, but there's no sense getting all cut up.

 

[Eli]

Yes.

And if you ever stop playing for more than a few weeks, your fingers will hurt for a few days again..