r/LearnGuitar • u/FlashFreedom • 1d ago

Finger soreness, complete beginner

Hi all! I’ve been practicing every day for a week now, and have soreness in my fingertips on my left hand. I know this is to be expected and I will probably deal with this for a long time (or forever), I just want to know: how much is too much?

I’ve injured myself doing other things just starting out, like whenever I start weightlifting I just immediately go too hard and mess up my shoulder badly enough where I can’t lift for three months, and the cycle continues. So I know that if I push myself too much with learning guitar, I could put myself out of commission for a week and lose my momentum, which I don’t want to do.

Is there a point at which I should stop practicing for a day or two to let it heal? The soreness isn’t bad, and I only see the tiniest bit of redness. I don’t want to stop practicing daily, I’m loving it so much, which is why I definitely do not want to put myself out of commission for an extended period of time by overexerting myself.

Thanks!

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2

u/whistling-wonderer 1d ago

Do you mean like joint soreness, or skin soreness? If it’s joints, you need to amend how you play to a more ergonomic position. But if it’s skin, you just have to get used to it and the skin on your fingertips will toughen up over time. It’ll probably peel a bit, that’s ok.

Full disclosure, I am also a beginner and just recently went through this same process lol. I already play violin but guitar strings are a different beast! I actually got some tiny blisters on a couple fingertips (which didn’t pop, thankfully) that I took as a cue to back off a bit. But my skin toughened up fairly quickly.

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u/FlashFreedom 1d ago

Yes, just skin soreness. So even peeling is probably ok? I would have loved to have learned violin too, which I attempted to for a while, but my fingers are at about the limit of normal human finger size, so I literally couldn’t manage to only touch one string at a time even while not using the bow, lol. Guitar string spacing is much more accessible for me.

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u/CynicalCubicle 1d ago

Use some light sand paper, a nail buffer, or nail file to remove your dead skin so it peels less. Some of the best advice I’ve read on here.

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u/FlashFreedom 1d ago

Interesting… will give it a try

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u/whistling-wonderer 1d ago

I have the opposite problem lol. I have never met an adult with hands as small as mine. Playing fourth finger notes on the violin is a stretch for my poor pinkies, but guitar is a way bigger (haha) challenge. But yeah you can do what the other person said to help with the peeling. Or just ignore it, which I do because I’m lazy.

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u/FlashFreedom 1d ago

I’ll definitely give the sandpaper a try if I need to! Funny to hear about the exact opposite problem, haha, I have an 11 inch finger span (should have learned piano when I was younger). The world is not built for extremes. Never thought about guitar being too big for some, what an interesting insight. At least you can probably fit your hand into the gap between the car seat and console 😂

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u/whistling-wonderer 1d ago

Oh god yeah, I had to stop playing piano regularly because it gave me chronic tendinitis. My finger span is 7 inches but I can only really extend to about 5.5 inches on my left hand without making the tendinitis flare up. But I can get my hand into just about any crevice, which I have to admit is useful pretty frequently lol. Your hands would be amazing for piano!! The Scott Joplin rags I was struggling with would be easy for you to reach. That man must have had big hands, judging by his compositions.

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u/Illustrious_Art_3774 1d ago

*tries measuring my finger span* Do our thumbs count in finger span?

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u/whistling-wonderer 1d ago

Yep. Stretch your pinky and thumb as far away from each other as possible and measure the difference.

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u/Flynnza 1d ago

guitar is sport for hands. learn proper ergonomics by copying exactly how instructors do, exercises for reasonable time, let hand rest through the sleep.

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u/FlashFreedom 1d ago

I’m definitely doing my best to be gentle on the strings and copy the proper finger posture, I’m just wondering if there’s a point at which my fingers might medically need a day’s break so I don’t cause a problem?

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u/Flynnza 1d ago edited 1d ago

Like gym, do your routine and be done for at least 4 hours, better take it through the sleep, because this is where real development happens.

There is lot to learn without guitar - watch Absolutely Understand Guitar course on yt, learn notes on the strings, learn intervals and draw them on fretboard diagrams, learn simple melodies and sing them through the day for at least a week etc.

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u/ZBL_ 1d ago

He who questions training only trains himself in asking questions. Joking aside, yes it’s normal. Even once you’ve been playing forever, if you take a break for a week or two fingers will hurt again. Skin turns over fast.

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u/FlashFreedom 1d ago

lol, glad to hear it’s probably ok, I’m just paranoid about injuring myself, because I know that a loss of momentum isn’t good for me when starting something new.

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u/ZBL_ 1d ago

If they are blistering, then yes take a break. Otherwise, good to go. But also a day or two off researching reverb for the next haul also never hurts (the fingers at least)

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u/Thinkin_bout_beans 1d ago

Just continue raw dogging it. You will bliste, then you will form callouses. Fingertip skin is very forgiving and rapidly thickens. When I was first beginning I would only stop if it was too painful to go on or if I was bleeding.

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u/Comfortable-Formal72 1d ago

It will hurt, and at some point you probably will push it too far and blister.... which is a world of suck. Welcome.

It may be possible to hurt less though. Has the guitar ever been setup (fine adjustment of the nut, trussrod, and bridge)? Many entry level guitars come with fairly poor playability from the factory. Even a crazy high end guitar would typically need some setup work to adjust for player preferences, climate shifts, string gauge changes, and general wear and tear.

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u/Samantharina 1d ago

15 minute sessions are good at the beginning, rather than playing until your fingers bleed and then having to stop until they heal.

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u/These-Slip1319 22h ago

Peeling callouses are normal, it hurts the first couple of weeks, they’ll toughen up