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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | My nephew has been playing the tar out of his new guitar. I told him to play it until his fingers got pretty sore & then give 'em a break for a few hours. Is there anything that could be done to ease the soreness & get callouses asap? It's been so long since I've had really sore fingers I don't remember anything, other than my mom gave me some stuff to soak 'em in when I was a kid. Witchhazel maybe?
tia
Nils |
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December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I used to use a lighter, but I don't recommend that. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | the only way to build up your fingers is by using them. |
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January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | Try hemp oil. You should be able to get it at a health food store. |
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December 2002
Posts: 68
Location: Texas | There is no substitute for playing alot. Although right now I have pretty good callouses, on any given week of the month you can find me with a callous that has torn off from lack of moisturizers or from me biting them off on as a bad habit.
In my opinion, finger strength far out ways rough finger tips. Good strings and strong fingers are my recipe.
-Shaft |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Thanks for the replies. I couldn't think of anything besides give 'em a break regularly & go for it.
Nils |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Nils
Make sure the guitar they are playing is set up well, so the suffering is not unnesessary. |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | This is a subject that interests me as I have been playing for many years and I spend a lot of time setting up my instrumnts so I can play for 3 or 4 hours without ruining my fingers. It is one thing to jam with your friends for an hour or so, and another to play at warp speed for 4 hours as most gigs require. The instruments have 5o be set up for comfort. |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | I find my most soreness comes from playing barre chords. On a couple of songs we play I play barre chords throughout the song while the other guitar plays the regular postion on the first four frets or so. I can only keep that up for a couple of songs, need to strengthen my thumb!
I bought one of those finger exercisers, but never got into the habit of using it....
My fellow guitarist is female and newer to playing guitar then the rest of us in the band - she just doesn't have the strength to play barre chords - we often show her how to use a capo to make it easier and to play some chords up the neck but not bar across the neck, but just deaden the bottom string (or whatever) as the other guitar or mandolin picks up the notes.
No better way than to play, play, play.... |
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November 2002
Posts: 27
Location: North Carolina | I use one of those finger execisers every once in a while. When I first started playing I used it for about 4 days and my calloses came on fast. It was given me so I didn't have all the correct exercises to use. I wish I could have seen some exercises for Barr chords. My hands hurt after playing them for a while. |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | IMHO
The best exercise is playing, and playing at the speed you would play in a band. But, it only seems to work when you jam with somebody or play in a band, sitting around the house tends to lead to goofing off and not putting out full effort. But, what the heck, sometime in life we have to slow down.
Bailey (I'm not ready yet) |
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Tenderfingers?
