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Post subject: Help for aching finger tips?
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:09 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:55 am
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I'm learning blues guitar and am having a great time. But last night I had a crippling incident. My third finger started to hurt so much that I had to quit playing. The song I've been working on is such that almost literally every other note has a bend, hammer-on, pull-off, slide, drop, or vibrato. This has taken a toll on my as-yet fully undeveloped callouses.

Today the finger is still tender and I feel I need to rest it.

Should I just practice scales for a few days or is there some kind of guitarist magic to help protect the finger tip while it heals?

Thanks.


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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:32 am
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Professional Musician
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You answered your own question, rest your fingers. I have a few broken fingers from teaching Martial Arts years ago and sometimes my fingers hurt bad. I rest them for a day or two then go back to practicing.


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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:11 pm
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Rock Star
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That's normal, your fingers are not get used. With the time you will get a horn skin. Make a pause and start again next day.

cheers :D


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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:25 am
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When I started out I tried to devote a lot of time to playing each day to build the callouses. My fingers hurt like crazy but after a night and most of the day's rest, and sometimes placing in cold water (sounds weird but it helped) I was back the next day.

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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:45 am
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Hobbyist
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After 3 or 4 hours of playing when my fingers get a bit tender to the touch, I'll break out the slide for some open G fun....gives the fingers a good rest. Worth a shot if they are a bit worn out.


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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:49 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Stevie Ray Vaughan, because he played with large gauge strings, would sometimes injure his fingers by actually ripping off his callouses. He would glue them back on using super glue. He would sometimes even dip the tips of his fingers in super glue and then stick them on his forearm. He would then rip his fingers away...poof... instant callouses.

This is a true story, as reported by his long time guitar technician, Rene Martinez.

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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:02 am
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Roadie
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When I first started playing 23 years ago, I used to play till my fingers would actually break open and bleed sometimes because I wanted to be a great guitar player so very bad. Like Warpfield brought up, I used #13's for a while doing extremely drop tuned riffs and ripped the callous' off my fingers as well (ouch). Your best bet is to take a break for a night and come back at it the following day. Eventually your digits will be like mine and be like rocks, but sometimes they'll "shed" from a ton of sliding and bending. Good luck brother and NEVER give up man!!! :D

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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:04 am
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Roadie
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:34 am
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my fingers just started peeling except from the little because i dont use it very much & it's weak :( . Just rest them and then play again. dont hurt them too much because then you wont be able to play not at least one note!


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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:54 pm
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Professional Musician
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You might also want to get a professional setup done on your guitar. If the action is nice and low your fingers will have less stress on them.


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