stinging fingers/alt guitars

[wilbanba]

just got an ibanez jampack beginner kit

played for 1 hr and my left fingertips are stinging

is this typical for a newbie?

 

i am thinking about switching to yamaha (FG730S) or another nice solid top for my 1st as it will be some time before i consider buying a new guitar

is this a good idea?

[Jeffnu2003]

No pain, no gain. It will take some time to get your fingers toughened up, but eventually the pain will go away.

[Bitt81]

If this is your first attempt at playing a steel string guitar, your fingers will definitely feel it after one hour of playing. In time you will build up strength and calouses (spelling?) and that feeling won't last.

That being said, if the guitar is not set up properly, that will make it more difficult to make that transition.

As far as the Yamaha vs. Ibenez goes, Yamaha gets a fair amount of respect on this forum and the Ibenez is intended as a beginner guitar. The solid top should make for better tone over time but only your ears can determine which way you want to go and how much you should spend.

[guitarist21]

Fingertips hurting = perfectly normal. After playing for a while you'll develop callouses on your fingers and it won't hurt so much.

If you have the jampack and will have to sell it to get a solid topped Yamaha, I don't think its worth it. You don't have to have a solid top to learn to play. I started off on a plywood cheapie and didn't get a new guitar for several years- I didn't need one. Its not like anyone else was going to hear me play anyway. Just IMO.

Ellen

[wilbanba]

i also have a picture chord book and a Mel Bay beginner book and noted that there are different fingerings for chords, some are def. simpler than others

is it more sound (pun) to start w/ std. (?) fingering or the EZ type or is this even an imp. distinction?

[Fireproof]

You should definitely expect sore fingers when you first start. That will quickly go away...just keep at it.

[Cripes]

Soreness, extreme soreness, blood, infection, minor amputation of the tips, rehab, callouses. Small price to pay.

Keep your fretting hand fingernails short but not to the quick or that will add to the discomfort. The "real" story everyone here has already told you. You might use a little mineral oil on the strings right now to help when you lift off your fingers. Much of the soreness is from rubbing across and down the strings rather than from just pressing them.

[DeepEnd]

Originally posted by wilbanba i also have a picture chord book and a Mel Bay beginner book and noted that there are different fingerings for chords, some are def. simpler than others is it more sound (pun) to start w/ std. (?) fingering or the EZ type or is this even an imp. distinction?

Go ahead and start with simple versions of chords. You can work your way "up" from there. It's easier to go from one chord to another if you don't have to spend the better part of a minute just getting your fingers in position. I've been playing for 30+ years and I'm still experimenting with different ways of playing chords.

[learn'r]

wilbanba,
welcome to the world of guitar!

I couldn't add any more advice.

your calluses will become your trophies.

be patient with yourself.

[wilbanba]

2nd day: reviewed for 10, practiced for 20, music appreciation (clapton) for 30

trying to mix it up so i don't get fatigued and frustrated

in process of learning G and D7

finding diff w/ changing chords w/o looking, how do you develop a feel for where the frets are?

[guitarist21]

Originally posted by wilbanba finding diff w/ changing chords w/o looking, how do you develop a feel for where the frets are?

 

 

Takes a long time. Takes a few months of looking where your fingers are every time.

 

Ellen

[Fireproof]

Originally posted by guitarist21 Takes a long time. Takes a few months of looking where your fingers are every time. Ellen

 

 

Yep - just takes lots and lots of practice.

 

In the meantime, find 3 chords that you want to practice, and then choose a very basic strum and timing, and try to make the transition from chord to chord IN TIME to the timing...even if you have to go really slow.

 

Something like this:

 

G, 2, 3, 4 | D, 2, 3, 4 | Am, 2, 3, 4 | Am, 2, 3, 4 | repeat

[guitarist21]

Originally posted by Fireproof ...even if you have to go really slow.

Slow is the key, I think. I started playing guitar when I was extremely little and I was, on the whole, a rather slow kid. That forced me to move slowly, but also gave me the space to be incredibly thorough.

The first two chords I learned were E major and A minor. I learned them and played them over and over. It was easier to transition between them than, say, G and D, because they have similar shapes. Once I got that transition down, I moved on to a slightly different combination- say, E major and A major.

I also worked on playing incredibly simply melodies on two or three strings (such as Mary Had A Little Lamb and Jingle Bells). That whole process took a really long time, we're talking a year, here. That's a whole year of just simple chord changes and melodies.

My mom thought it was stupid because I came home from guitar lessons and didn't know how to play any whole songs. And the songs I did know were completely pathetic. But I truly believe that moving that slowly benefited me in the long run.

Moral: don't rush yourself. Learning guitar is easier than ever but it still doesn't come over night. Don't take the easy way out, if at all possible and learn to read music if you can.

Ellen

[Fireproof]

Good advice from Ellen.

Take your time! As they say "practice doesn't make perfect...PERFECT practice makes perfect." So concentrate on cleanly forming the chords. After making a chord, pick each string to ensure it rings clean...adjust your fingers and try again if you have too...

Ellen also makes a good point about easy versus hard chords. BUT - I think it also depends on your patience level or tendency to get frustrated. You are going to have to learn them at SOME point in time. But if you are one that gets frustrated easy, you might choose the easy ones for some 'quick wins' and to keep you motivated.

On the other hand, my niece wanted to be able to play a song more than anything. So after hitting the basic chords (E, A, etc) we went to G - D - Am. Then G - D - C. Put those together and she was playing Knockin' On Heaven's Door, one of rock's greatest tunes. (Admittedly, she was playing it REALLY slowly...but you should've seen the smile on her face.)

It wasn't a month later and she was playing a Jewel song and trying to sing along with it.

So as you work on your chord shapes and transitions, it might be helpful to find some easy 3-chord songs to think about as you strum them. Helps to work on your timing.

Keep at it!!! And good for you for finding a great internet resource to help in your learning!

[Dan Hall]

This is a great thread Wil:
There are so many variable in learning to play that it's just not predictable what you'll need or how you'll progress. we're all different. I started playing 46 years ago on a $5.00 guitar from Tijuana and really didn't progress much for several years until I bought a little Gibson B-25 for $150. The Mexican guitar was an OK instrument but had a nut about 2 1/2" wide and my little bitty kids hands just couldn't stretch.

My brother recently asked me to help him select a guitar for his 17 year old step daughter. She has a major musical background in Chorus but had never played an instrument. We got her an Alverez Classical for about $360. She's been playing now for about 6 months, has had maybe 6 lessons, but knows about a dozen songs, all of which she's noodled out herself off CDs!!! Some people just got it.

If you can afford it you might well do better on a better guitar, but don't expect miracles. Practice is still the only way to get better. Some of us have owned countless instruments because we ride the trends and seem to always have GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome) A good player can make almost any Guitar sound good but a guy who is just pretending won't sound good no matter what. Know what I mean?

Anyway, welcome to our world, good luck, and if your fingers are just stinging you ain't playing enough. They should just plain HURT!

Dan

[Dave W.]

Couple of things:

You will find that with some practice, you will not need to press as hard on the strings as you probably are now. It is just kind of a knack that I cannot describe, but it will come as you learn where to put your fingers and what angle to hold them at. If you can, try and keep your thumb in the center of the back of the neck as much as possible. It will give you better leverage until your hand and finger strength increase, and it is also a good habit to start off with.

If you have any interest in fingerpicking (Travis style, etc), a good time to work on that is when your left hand fingers are too sore to fret any notes. Tune the guitar to an open tuning, like Open D (D A D F# A D) and work on fingerpicking right hand patterns. The open tuning sounds more pleasing than standard tuning, and you can fret a note now and then just to hear what happens. You can use a capo to raise the pitch and change keys for a bit of variety. In the beginning you probably want to play as much as possible, and this is a way to still make progress while your left hand is too sore to play.

BTW, for years I have had an inexpensive Yahama classical (nylon string) lying around. If I have had a long layoff from playing, and want to get started again, I pull it out until my fingers get back in shape a bit.

Have fun.