Ah, sore fingers!
No one likes the horrid feeling of painful fingers getting in the way.
Well, the other day a student in my membership programme asked me about this…
He’s played for years, has done gigs, and is starting to suffer from arthritis.
Now push has come to shove, and he’s finally decided to break the chains of pressing too hard and get help in overcoming his old bad habits.
So we got a little deep on technique.
The first thing I asked him was about how his guitar is set up.
This is a crucial first step if you too suffer from sore fingers.
Ask yourself:
Is the action of your guitar too high?
Does it take a lot of force to get the strings pushed down to the frets?
Is there a big visible gap between the strings and the fretboard?
It’s not always obvious to the naked eye…
So if you have more than one guitar knocking around, then that’s great.
…As the chances are, there will be some difference between the action of these guitars.
Some will “play” nicer than others for sure, even in subtle ways.
To test them out, try playing a note (let’s say fret 12 of the G string) on both guitars.
Compare how it feels playing the same note on both guitars.
(Of course, if you only have one guitar, this is when it’s worth popping to a guitar shop or trying out a friend’s guitar.)
If one guitar is far harder to play than the other, it will need a setup (or you may just need another guitar).
Anyway, this one little test can be very eye-opening for many of you.
…Especially if you’ve only ever played one or two guitars.
Of course, it’s absolutely essential you make it a habit to press with a light touch (using “Minimum Pressure Required”).
If not, your fingers will be sore no matter what guitar you play.
For more detailed help with this, my “Anti-Tension” exercises will help.
These are specific exercises made to quickly reduce tension and fretting hand issues.
…And the best place to get them is in my barre chords course…
Find out more about The Ultimate Guide to Barre Chords
Not only will you learn the exact methods on how to play barre chords quickly and from the ground up, but the “Anti-tension exercises” will help improve all your playing too.
Have a great evening!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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