The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #102062 Message #3452559
Posted By: JohnInKansas
15-Dec-12 - 10:26 PM
Thread Name: How to harden fingers(guitars)
Subject: RE: How to harden fingers(guitars)
As a "once a year" mandolin player for a couple of decades, the "wisdom" I discovered is that if it HURTS you need to stop playing.
For quite a while, other interests prevented more than extremely rare practice sessions, so I invariably arrived at the annual festival with completely "virgin" fingers. Of course I tried the "tough it out and be macho" approach, along with chemical and other abuses and a variety of "protective armor plates" with the usual scant success.
I eventually learned that if I pick up the instrument and:
a. play a couple of familiar tunes, beginning with 10 or 20 minutes, and STOP AT THE FIRST SIGN OF PAIN
b. wait about an hour before picking it up again and repeat playing for (perhaps) 15 to 30 minutes, and STOP AT THE FIRST SIGN OF PAIN.
c. by third or rarely by the fourth repetition of this cycle, I was generally ready to play for up to a couple of hours WITH NO PAIN
d. by the second or third day I could safely insert slides, hammerdowns, pulloffs, and any other unnecesary gimmicks, ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT (with NO PAIN). [and with only a little brew toward the end to keep things limber ...]
If you've already injured yourself, the best course is just to put it away for a week or two, and then start over and do it right, exercising but not abusing your tender tips, resting long enough for some recovery, and then repeating until your fingers are ready to go. Properly done, with uninjured body parts it takes perhaps 5 or 6 hours, including no more than a couple of hours of actual playing. It might take a little longer (more repetitions) for a beginner with undeveloped fretting technique, but in any case it will ultimately be quicker than any "blood and guts" methods or "armor plating."
Once toughened, a lapse of more than a couple of days when you don't play at all might want a short repeat to get back to speed, but unless you've "lost it all" a single short cycle stopping at the first sign of pain, should make you ready to stand up and play.
Toughing it through the pain can take at least a couple of weeks of continued painful abuse to injured flesh before you really quite hurting and can resume progress with the lesson plan or enjoying the sessions.
It has worked for me.
YMMV
John